Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria.
Lemoni Café, established in Miami Design District’s Buena Vista neighborhood in 2007, began as a partnership operation between best friends Maria Eugenia Pelati of Argentina and Chef Assia Dahrouch born in the South West region of France of Moroccan descent. With this duo’s combination of friendship, fun spirit and love for the kitchen, both Maria and Assia created Lemoni Café as their cozy and quaint thirty seat eatery that entices the soul with their motto, “Eat Good, Feel Good”.Known by the community as a local’s favorite, Lemoni’s European style cafe, caters to an eclectic crowd of professionals, artists, bohemians, writers and wellness professionals seeking healthier food choices with a menu offering comfort food mixed with vegetarian, vegan and organic options including fresh juices and smoothies. With French-Moroccan Chef Assia Dahrouch’s Mediterranean inspired flavors and a taste for fresh ingredients with savory dishes from her family kitchen, both she and operating partner Maria Eugenia Pelati are thrilled to provide their loyal customers and all new patrons’ delicious and healthful dining options through “Conscious Cooking”. “My dishes reflect who I am,” explains the Chef Assia. “My dishes are simple, but I put great flavor into them. I love the combinations of spices, herbs, vegetables, colors and flavors. Each ingredient is very important to me and that is what makes a great dish.” The Chef’s business partner and friend, Pelati, was born in Argentina to an Italian father and Argentinian mother. Reared in Italian culture, she sees Lemoni’s customers as an extended family and thrives on providing a cozy, comfortable place where her customers can enjoy a delicious and healthy meal.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has been a tough road where we had to learn so much about business management, dealing with providers, learning about marketing. We started in 2008, where the neighborhood Buena Vista was a little risky to open a cafe, but driving around there was also an interesting area the design district where there was a lot of galleries. A lot of obstacles came along the way, economically, the lack of knowledge. But our drive to open this cafe was stronger than anything else, we just didn’t give up, we knew that we had to just go forward. This neighborhood had been a great support to our business.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Lemoni Cafe – what should we know?
We make a combination the Mediterranean and European style, healthy food including vegan and gluten-free dishes, our menu is 60% vegetarian, we serve in panini, sandwich, wraps and we also have salads and dinner plates, we offer brunch on weekends. We’re proud of our crew who help us and make this possible and my loyal customer because, without them, I won’t survive this 10 years. we are unique in our dishes besides that all these years we work hard to keep the same level of quality. We are unique cousy little bistro place
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
We would like to expand our business in different areas. Our principal goal is that people can enjoy our food.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4600 ne 2nd ave miami fl 33137 suit 8
- Website: lemonicafe.com
- Phone: 3055715080
- Email: [email protected]
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