A thin layer of syrup covers Melody Ratliff’s kitchen floor.
She’s a petite woman with bouncy curls; her 1899 Victorian home has a bright green front door. There are forks scattered in the front yard and coffee cups forgotten on the shelves in the study.
Ratliff makes herself a simple, two-topping pancake, grabs the last of the coffee and joins the remaining crowd on the sunlit front porch.
It’s 2 p.m. and the end of another successful Flip’s Batter Bar breakfast.
In January 2012, Ratliff and her husband, Spencer, were looking for pancake toppings for their guests’ breakfast one day. They found chocolate and butterscotch chips and searched for other mixings. Their pantry raid sparked the question, “Why hasn’t anyone done a make-your-own pancake place yet?”
She remembers telling her friends that night about the idea she had. They encouraged her to pursue it.
“‘No, this is actually a good idea,’” Melody Ratliff recalled them saying. “‘You should do something with it.’”
So, she did.
At least once almost every month since March 2014, she has whipped up 11 batches of pancake batter: seven buttermilk, two buckwheat, one whole wheat and one dairy free/gluten free.
The batter is turned into about 180 specialty pancakes. Some is made into the “Stella” — lemon poppyseed swirl, blackberries and rosemary syrup. Other batter might become Spencer Ratliff’s favorite: the “Mancake,” which has bacon, Heath bar pieces, smoked paprika and whiskey syrup.
“That’s usually my go-to if I’m not in the mood for a plain buttermilk pancake,” Spencer Ratliff said. “It’s a pretty great scenario for me because I absolutely love pancakes. I could eat them all the time.”
It takes multiple trips to different grocery stores and several days of preparation to get everything — like the bottles of homemade syrup — ready.
Melody Ratliff heads to Three Rivers Market for Cruze buttermilk and JEM Farm sausage and then to Costco, where she saves money buying in bulk. She prioritizes spending money on high-quality ingredients over others that aren’t produced locally, like flour and baking soda.
“I don’t want to become another restaurant that’s too expensive for people to come have breakfast every day of the week,” she said. “I want you to be able to come get a $5 breakfast and still be happy about your food. I don’t want to create this hierarchy of only wealthy people can eat here, I want it to be a healthy mix.”
Currently she doesn’t serve breakfast every day, but it’s in the works. Everything is lined up for Melody Ratliff to open a restaurant. She has the idea and Joe Petre, president of Conversion Properties Inc., has signed on as the investor.
“I am interested in investing in good stories behind good products,” Petre said. “Once I tasted the product, I realized the product was even better than the story.”
All they need now is a location.
Melody is eager to move Flips out of her home, but the pair is waiting for the perfect spot — a house that serves as a commercial property.
“There is something about the actual house where it makes it not awkward to sit at the same table with people you don’t know,” she said.
Newcomers and old friends share spaces and conversation over thick, fluffy pancakes.
“Every time I do it, maybe 10 percent of the people are strangers,” Melody Ratliff said. “It’s always fun asking them how they found out. That’s the most exciting part for me: when it passes my friends’ friends, because then it shows it’s actually a business and not just a supported-by-your-friends thing.”
The next Flips Batter Bar breakfast will be April 12. Details can be found at flipsbatterbar.com.
