Last modified: Sunday, January 18, 2004 12:49 AM EST Greg and Christine Stevens, shown here with their children, David and Rachel, are to open a Camille's Caf'e9 in Mansfield. (Staff photo by Tom MaGuire) New cafe to open in Mansfield BY MICHAEL GELBWASSER / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF MANSFIELD -- A national upscale outdoor caf'e9 chain's first taste of the New England market will be here. The region's first Camille's Sidewalk Caf'e9 will open in the major retail-hotel complex planned for Mansfield's `` Golden Triangle,'' 72 acres bounded by Interstate 495, Route 140 and School Street, restaurant owners Greg and Christine Stevens say. The Stevenses, of Attleboro, have a deal with Tulsa, Okla.-based Camille's to open restaurants in Bristol and Norfolk counties. The couple ultimately plans to open three Camille's restaurants. The Golden Triangle complex is expected to open in late 2005 or early 2006. The Camille's chain has opened more than 25 restaurants since it was launched in October 1996. Another 14 restaurants are scheduled to open this year. The company expects sales of $13.8 million this year. `` I think it's really important for us to try Foxboro-Mansfield-Norton. I really don't think you can fail,'' Greg Stevens said. Camille's addresses a culinary void in Southeastern Massachusetts, he said. The restaurant offers what it calls `` fast-casual'' dining. The menu features a wide variety of wraps, sandwiches and salads. Tuscan Tomato Soup is its signature item, Stevens says. `` That's what people are looking for, to go out to lunch, wait only two or three minutes, and sit someplace,'' he said. `` I really wanted to find an alternative to fast food places like Burger King and McDonalds.'' `` We're really testing the market for them because the fare there is probably different from what a lot of New England is used to,'' Stevens said. The caf'e9 especially appeals to dieters because the menu lists Weight Watchers points and Atkins' carbohydrate grams for every dish, he said. The restaurant business is a far cry from what the couple have been doing for the past 12 years: selling bicycles. They opened The Bike Shop in Foxboro, then moved it two years ago to West Warwick, R.I., Greg's hometown. Competition from department stores prompted them to explore other options online, Stevens said. Stevens said he managed an Italian restaurant in Rhode Island before opening the bicycle shop. Camille's Web site so intrigued him, Stevens said he traveled to the corporate headquarters last month. `` The food was excellent and the people were pleasant to deal with,'' Stevens said. `` It was exactly what I was looking for, healthy and casual.'' The menu includes 20 to 25 items, he says. However, the company offers another 75 options. `` At any time, we can pull something off the menu that's not going so well and put something else in there,'' Stevens said. The couple now are looking for places to put their restaurants. `` It really belongs in an upscale urban open-air mall,'' Stevens said. `` The Wrentham Outlets would be a great place.'' MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached by calling 508-236-0336 or via e-mail at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.