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September 24, 2021

Kaiyden’s coffee shop debuts in Wooster Square

PHOTO | Liese Klein Chidi Onukwugha, right, has opened up a new coffee shop in New Haven's Wooster Square with the help of cafe consultant A.J. Crosby.
By Liese Klein

Growing up in Nigeria, Chidi Onukwugha loved the smell of his dad’s morning coffee. 

“You’ll have to wait until you’re 13 to drink it,” his dad said. 

“I couldn't wait to turn 13!” Onukwugha said with a laugh. Now he’s opening up his very own coffee shop in Wooster Square, a cafe called Kaiyden’s at 595 Chapel St. 

Kaiyden’s debuts with a soft opening Sept. 24 from 2-4 p.m., with an official opening planned for next week. 

After months of searching for the right spot — plus months of working through the pandemic-delayed permitting process — Onukwugha is relieved to finally be welcoming customers. 

“The neighborhood, they've been patient enough,” Onukwugha said. The cafe has been “coming soon” since a sign in the front window was first posted this spring. 

The shop is named for Onukwugha’s grandniece Kaiyden, an adorable 5-year-old who lives in New Haven. 

With a background in social services, Onukwugha first started exploring opening a business a few years ago, and loved the coffee shop concept. Wooster Square, caffeine-deprived since Wooster Square Coffee closed soon after the pandemic struck, struck him as an ideal location, he said. 

“One thing I love about this neighborhood is its sense of pride, how friendly and how nice and how genuine people are,” Onukwugha said. “The people in the neighborhood have really just been welcoming.”

A.J. Crosby, whose brother owns the popular Jitter Bus mobile coffee shop, has signed on to help Onukwugha perfect his cafe’s brewed creations. 

“A cafe in Wooster Square? With the culture around here, the people around here? A coffee shop just makes sense,” Crosby said. 

Kaiyden’s will offer a traditional cafe drinks menu with a focus on premium beans, sourced and roasted by Newington’s Saccuzzo Coffee Co. 

Crosby has trained Onukwugha and the baristas he has hired to make coffee to the exacting standards of Saccuzzo and the Jitter Bus.

“The difference is the quality of how the drink is prepared,” Crosby said. “That’s where that uniqueness will come in.”

Onukwugha has also carefully designed the interior, picking a paint color to match the space’s historic tin paneling and ceiling and installing a capacious counter in the back. He’s been brewing batches of coffee and testing them out with his neighbors, who drop by regularly.

“I wanted to do it right. so here we are,” Onukwugha said. “I’ve made the right move. It’s a great place to be and I feel very welcome.”

Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com

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