Although Greek Fusion food is becoming a recognizable name in Santa Cruz County, it is now a valley staple. The newly opened Cafe Hanna showcases the healthier side of Greek cuisine, without losing an ounce of the taste.
With a line out the door for their soft opening on June 2, the Cafe may still be getting its valley bearings, but it is certainly getting the valley’s attention.
Run by Scott’s Valley residents Adeeb and Jamie Karan, the cafe is somewhat of a revival of a former family restaurant in Palo Alto that Adeeb worked at over twenty-five years ago.
Featuring a delicious blend of Greek and Syrian food, the small business has already established regular customers among the locals.
This may be partly due to the owner’s willingness to feed anyone and everyone. One Customer Mary Gist, said that the cafe gained many loyal fans who stopped in to check out the new restaurant before it’s opening.
In the former location of the “Dawgs” restaurant at 5272 Scotts Valley Dr., it is an ideal lunch spot for locals and tourists alike. Indeed, the service is designed to serve a rushed lunch crowd and is always focused on improving.
“We are eight times faster than our first day … I want to be fifteen times faster.” Karan said. “I don’t want anyone to have to wait more than seven minutes for their meal.”
The cafe’s current hours also lend to their acclaim as a lunch spot, serving from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays only. However, they will soon expand to host a dinner crowd as well, with business hours from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The first day of business was called a soft opening because many aspects of the Cafe are still changing, and the date for a grand opening is still uncertain. The opening itself was delayed because Karan wanted to perfect his food, “It took me a long time to open because I wanted to get things right … I didn’t want to open until it tasted right.”
Although the hours are still changing, hungry people are always welcomed with a warm smile and the smell of Middle Eastern spices and Mediterranean herbs.
“If somebody comes by at 8:30 in the morning they can have coffee, which is way before the opening,” said Gist, who discovered the charms of the cafe’s warm-hearted owner.
Gist is a regular lunchtime customer who likened the atmosphere of the quaint cafe to a home cooked meal with friends. She said she encourages those who have not traveled the world to “come here and have a little taste of Europe.”
Focusing on the foods that they would serve to their friends, the Cafe’s owners drew up a menu that includes well-known dishes like hummus, falafels, and baklava, as well as more exotic dishes like Souvlaki and Mana-Keesh.
Their menu also hosts many gluten free and vegan options, and even versions of Greek Fusion food suitable for the finicky tastes of younger customers.
Adeeb’s wife, Jamie, also works in the café, and spoke candidly about her husband’s motives, “Everything in here is made from scratch pretty much,” Jamie said. “That’s probably his main drive behind the place, to make it fresh, healthy, and authentic.”
Cafe Hanna’s unique atmosphere created by home-style recipes and friendly staff gives one the sense of sitting down to eat a family meal. In fact all the recipes can be traced back to Karan’s Greek grandmother.
“Eat healthy, live long, love strong, that’s kind of like our motto,” Karan said.
“Its all the flavors he grew up with and he’s excited about sharing that,” Jamie added.
