Retirement typically means slowing down, but for Corie Goodloe, it was the perfect time to get to work.

Goodloe realized a decades-long dream Nov. 22 at the grand opening of her new restaurant, Corie’s Cafe. The cafe serves breakfast and lunch items, as well as coffee, alcoholic beverages and pastries. The space, at 15820 Main St. NE in Duvall, has multiple tables for eating, a cozy sunroom for hanging out and a patio, which is “really for the dogs,” said animal-loving Goodloe. The cafe is open every day, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., except Wednesday.

“We just want to bring love and joy through food,” Goodloe told guests at the opening. “So we’re all here cooking, and hoping to cook for, Duvall.”

The menu includes American classics — like eggs benedict and a chicken salad sandwich — and Filipino delicacies, like lumpia (fried spring rolls with shrimp and pork) and the Manila bowl, with garlic rice, adobo chicken, cucumber salad and a fried egg.

Corie’s Cafe is Goodloe’s act two after retiring last year from 25 years in higher education. She raised her son in Sammamish and worked for the University of Washington before working at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Goodloe is no stranger to the Snoqualmie Valley. Some of her dearest friends live in Duvall. They helped find a location for the cafe and, along with other friends, helped her build it out. The whole gang was at the soft opening, attentively taking orders and serving guests.

“They’re the reason why I’m here,” Goodloe said at the opening. “We have a very good group of friends.”

Though this is Goodloe’s first time stepping into the professional culinary world, food has long been a love language of hers. Her son, Michael Goodloe, recalled his mom always cooking for guests when he was growing up.

“She loves cooking for everybody,” he said. “Friends would want to come over specifically to my house, not to hang out, but to have my mom’s cooking.”

Goodloe is working harder than ever to get her business up and running, Michael said, but this work is different.

“When she retired, she was like, let’s just see, let’s just make it a hobby. And now she’s just been working around the clock,” he said. “But it’s her passion.”

As she settles into the business, Goodloe said the menu will likely adapt. She’s hoping to receive customer feedback, either online — tag the cafe on Instagram @CoriesCafeDuvall — or through the surveys she hands out in-store.

For now, Goodloe will continue doing what she knows best: cooking good food and inviting her community in with a smile.

“I really just want to feed people, make them feel welcome and [give them] somewhere to go,” she said.

A plate of lumpia — Filipino fried spring rolls — served with chili sauce at the opening of Corie’s Cafe Nov. 22, 2024. (Grace Gorenflo/Valley Record)

Guests enjoy food and drinks at the opening of Corie’s Cafe, Nov. 22, 2024. (Grace Gorenflo/Valley Record)