By Haley Elder and Grace Kovar
A whimsical leaf-lined arch leads customers into Edge of the Universe cafe, which emulates Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.”
This Edge of the Universe, a combination cafe and art museum, can be found at the edge of Omaha’s Benson neighborhood on 60th and Maple streets.
Co-owners and partners Rachel Evans and Adam Van Osdel, who have backgrounds in museum curation, and said they wanted to use their experience to create a community space. They opened the doors of Edge of the Universe in October 2020.
“We always thought it’d be amazing just to have a place where you could go and just be enveloped in a whole different world,” Evans said. “And that world could keep changing. It could be different themes and different events, and just a place to really just escape everything.”
Their main idea was to have a cafe with a curated theme that changed every three months, having four exhibitions throughout one year.
“With COVID, that’s just been impossible,” Evans said. “Luckily, things have been getting a lot better, so we are working towards our next one. It’ll be our third installment.”
Since opening, the cafe has had two themes: Happily Ever After and Starry Starry Night. Happily Ever After offered guests a fairytale escape, complete with flowers and artwork to match. Starry Starry Night transports guests into Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” as the walls are lined with a mural to mimic the painting.
“We always thought it’d be amazing just to have a place where you could go and just be enveloped in a whole different world,” Evans said. “And that world could keep changing. It could be different themes and different events, and just a place to really just escape everything.”
Their main idea was to have a cafe with a curated theme that changed every three months, having four exhibitions throughout one year.
“With COVID, that’s just been impossible,” Evans said. “Luckily, things have been getting a lot better, so we are working towards our next one. It’ll be our third installment.”
Since opening, the cafe has had two themes: Happily Ever After and Starry Starry Night. Happily Ever After offered guests a fairytale escape, complete with flowers and artwork to match. Starry Starry Night transports guests into Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” as the walls are lined with a mural to mimic the painting.
Evans and Van Osdel work with local artists to help decorate the interior of the building and emulate the current theme.
“It’s a collaborative process,” Van Osdel said. “And since we’re both from a museum and exhibit background, you always want to bring many people to the table.”
The Starry Starry Night theme also involves cocktails and coffee drinks. Some of the drinks are Vincent’s Vice (champagne and absinthe) and Celestial Cider.
Additionally, they feature drinks that venture outside of their theme, such as the Hannah Montana-inspired latte.
“My staff is always coming and telling me like, ‘Oh, I just had this amazing coffee and they had these ingredients and we should try it out,’ and then we try to make it our own,” Evans said. “ One of our brand new ones is the Hannah Montana, and it’s part vanilla, part chocolate, part hazelnut, and it’s insanely good.”
Evans said they plan to switch to a Hawaiian Disco theme just in time for summer.
“We’re very excited,” Evans said. “I know Starry Starry Night has been a really fun one. We know people loved it, but they’re gonna love the next theme just as much.”
