Hoffman, 33, lived in Manhattan for 10 years, working with special-needs and autistic children. She returned to the Adirondacks a few years ago, going back to school at North Country Community College and eventually accepting a position as a creative arts teacher at Mountain Lake Academy in Lake Placid.

She quickly realized that, unlike Manhattan, Lake Placid had few community workspaces. The spaces that existed often had short hours, too — opening after she had already arrived at work and closing before she went home for the day. She also wanted to find a space where she could enjoy a cup of coffee with her elderly father.

“It was just a passion of mine to be able to bring him somewhere but also be in a community space, and there wasn’t one,” Hoffman said. “And then COVID happened and it just seemed impossible to be anywhere at all to connect.”

One day last year, she decided to take matters into her own hands. The office space at her husband’s business, Hoffman Auto, was mostly vacant due to coronavirus pandemic. So, she decided to explore. She crawled up above the drop ceiling in the space and found a gabled ceiling with an industrial metal beam running across both sides of the peak.

“I saw that there was this cool beam, and I was like, OK, we’re going to paint it, we’re going to turn (the office) into a coffee shop and we’re going to really support the community,” she said.

Capisce opened 15 months later, this past June — just three days before the 2023 Lake Placid Horse Shows. Hoffman said that the response from the community and tourists alike was almost immediate.

“I was able to see how the horse show affects the community,” she said. “I’m shocked; I did not know what they did for our town. I think, in the past when I worked in the service industry, I did not see the value of Ironman or (the horse show) … but (attendees) would come to my coffee shop and say, ‘Hey, all we want to do is support your little town.'”

The shop features traditional espresso bar offerings alongside artisanal baked goods and Italian-inspired treats. There are also gifts for sale in the space — ceramics, vintage clothes and prints by Lake Placid artist Nate Jeffery, whose work is on display throughout the cafe.

When she was designing the space, Hoffman searched for a local artist who worked exclusively in black and white and was willing to hang their art at Capisce.

A mutual friend sent Jeffery her way, and he is now the only artist with work featured at the coffee shop.

Jeffery said this is “one of the better opportunities” he’s experienced as an artist.

“(My art) has been selling really well,” he said. “I think one of the amazing things about this opportunity is that I’m the only artist in there right now, whereas, a lot of times in gallery settings, there’s a breadth of amazing artists to choose from. It’s kind of neat having a coffee shop (where) the vibe and the decor just match my work perfectly.”

To Hoffman, creating a welcoming atmosphere was important.

“I wanted to be a space where, maybe on the holidays, if you’re alone, you can come here,” she said. “Or, maybe if your parents come to town, you can bring them. There’s a couch, there’s vintage seats from the Adirondack Park.”

With its afternoon hours — the shop is open until 4 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays and 6 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays — Hoffman said students from NCCC and Paul Smith’s College have made Capisce a study spot. She also employs local graduates and students at the shop, and wants to find ways for young locals to stay in the area — something that did not feel like an option when she was a recent graduate.

“Everyone says … employees are so hard to find,” she said. “Well, I think we have to be paying them a little bit more. We have to really be paying the staff to stay, and that’s the biggest thing. You have to be competitive and you have to keep your staff. They want to live here. They don’t want to drive from Gabriels.”

In the future, Hoffman hopes the shop becomes a community hub. She wants to hire adults with learning differences and host community workshops on life skills such as how to write a resume or file taxes.

“We want to be bigger than this,” she said. “We’ll see what this space can hold.”