‘THE RIGHT FIT’

By CLARA NIEL

cniel@newspost.com

After almost two decades, the owners and founders of The Main Cup are retiring, and announced they are selling their downtown Middletown restaurant.

Bob and Kim Brenengen, who have owned the coffeehouse and restaurant since 2007, are selling The Main Cup operation and building to Sherif Salem and Cherie Nearman, who are married and co-owners of Hootch and Banter in downtown Frederick.

The new owners will keep The Main Cup’s name and original operation going.

They’re looking to add a couple of new menu items, and put their own twist on cocktails, according to a press release on the sale. They would also like to add a brunch option, and have more private dining and entertainment options.

“I think it was an opportunity that we both felt was the right fit,” Bob Brenengen said in an interview on Monday.

“We feel very honored that they chose us to carry on their legacy,” Salem said. “Just walking in here you just feel that energy of the love that they put into this building, in this restaurant, and we’re just excited that we’re able to carry that legacy on but also elevate it.”

In 2002, the Brenengens bought a complex in downtown Middletown along Main Street that included four buildings. One of the buildings opened five years later as The Main Cup.

They purchased them with the intent to renovate and breathe new life into the buildings, all of which are over a century old.

The Main Cup’s name is a nod to the building’s original and historical purpose way back when, when C.F. Main made and sold ice cream.

(See SALE A7)

Cherie Nearman, left, and her husband, Sherif Salem, are buying the Main Cup in Middletown from Bob and Kim Brenengen.

Staff photos by Ric Dugan

The Main Cup in Middletown is being sold.

(SALE from A1) Asked if the sale of The Main Cup included the sale of the other buildings the Brenengens bought in 2002, both couples declined to comment. They also declined to comment on the price of the sale.

Through their work, the Brenengens created a Middletown institution with The Main Cup. In a Facebook post Monday, the Brenengens expressed their gratitude to the community.

“You have been more than customers — you have been family,” they said.

The Brenengens didn’t list The Main Cup for sale and weren’t actively marketing it, the two couples said. Everything happened over the course of six months. The sale is set to close Wednesday afternoon.

The Brenengens have been patrons at Hootch and Banter, which serves American dining in an upscale casual environment.

Salem and Nearman were part of the Washington, D.C., high-end dining scene, and moved to Frederick in 2015 to raise a family. They opened Hootch and Banter that year, as well.

When the two sets of restaurateurs met, they realized they held the same values.

For example, much of the staff at The Main Cup has been around for six or more years, Bob Brenengen said, and not many restaurants can say that.

Bob Brenengen said Salem and Nearman reminded him and his wife of what they were like when they were younger and starting out.

Follow Clara Niel on Twitter: @clarasniel

The bar area of The Main Cup

Staff photo by Ric Dugan