There's a new flavor in town at a St. Armands restaurant with a lot of history.
Cafe on St. Armands, formerly Cafe L'Europe, has been on the circle for 52 years.
After taking on some water during last year's storm, the restaurant owners decided to use this as a new opportunity.
They reopened in January under their new name, with a new look, and a tasty new menu.
"We're being super transparent about what we've experienced, because it's definitely not unique to us, even though there have been challenges. It's something that the entire community has faced together, our team has faced together. So we're coming at this with a positive attitude, and we just feel really excited and grateful to be back open," said Eleni Sokos, Executive Vice President of Oyster Rock Hospitality,
Sokos added, "I think that we've become a lot more attractive to people who are on St. Armands looking for a place to go after the beach or after shopping, and maybe there are a few restaurants they want to experience on St. Armand Circle. There's so many great destinations out here. Now people feel more comfortable just popping in for a cocktail, a coffee, because we added a coffee bar, dessert, or just like a little tapas in the middle of the day. So it doesn't have to be a three-hour sit-down, long experience."
There's a lot of history here, too.
The building was built by John Ringling almost 100 years ago.
Oyster Rock Hospitality took over the business about three years ago.
The menu is a Mediterranean fusion inspired by Sokos' travels around the world.
"The menu is inspired by Greek flavors, Spanish, Italian, French, even Moroccan and Middle Eastern. In some ways, it's a journey through places that are special to me, that I've visited, and flavors that we love to celebrate, maybe that don't get as much limelight in popular American cuisine. So putting all that together, the most popular dishes are like the Kefta, so little meatballs served over a saffron rice, like Middle Eastern sort of flavors, but then we put our spicy feta dip on top of that, and top it with Tzatziki. So you've got, like Greek Middle Eastern fusion happening, super fun," said Sokos.
