News Summary
Remo’s Cafe has opened in Downtown Jackson, offering a taste of Egyptian culture under the ownership of Riham Dardeer. The cafe features dishes like Bechamel and Koshari, aiming to create a community-oriented dining experience. Dardeer combines her Egyptian heritage with her life in Mississippi, providing fresh, scratch-made meals in a vibrant atmosphere reminiscent of traditional Egyptian coffeehouses.
Jackson, Mississippi – Remo’s Cafe, a traditional Egyptian dining establishment, officially opened its doors on Wednesday, July 9, in Downtown Jackson, offering locals a taste of Egyptian culture and cuisine. The cafe is strategically located at the corner of South Congress Street and East Capitol Street, aiming to provide a community space infused with rich flavors and social experiences.
The owner of Remo’s Cafe, Riham Dardeer, expressed that the opening of the cafe is a culmination of her vision, merging her Egyptian heritage with her life in Mississippi. Dardeer relocated to the United States from Egypt, first moving to Pennsylvania in 2019 before ultimately settling in Oxford, Mississippi, in 2022 to pursue her master’s degree in linguistics at the University of Mississippi. It was during her studies at Ole Miss that she met her husband, Steve Meador, a Mississippi native from Brandon.
Prior to launching the cafe, Dardeer established a catering service in 2022 initially named The Kitchen, which was later rebranded as Mediterranean Hub. This venture provided her with the experience needed to create a fully-fledged brick-and-mortar location where she could serve her culinary offerings directly to the community, emphasizing the importance of freshness and flavor devoid of packaging and long transport, which often compromise the quality of food.
At Remo’s Cafe, all dishes are crafted from scratch by Dardeer and Meador. The menu features a selection of traditional Egyptian dishes, including signature items such as Bechamel, a baked pasta dish that combines ground beef, creamy bechamel sauce, and mozzarella cheese, and Koshari, recognized as Egypt’s national dish, which is a hearty vegetarian meal consisting of layers of pasta, rice, chickpeas, lentils, and tomato sauce, crowned with crispy fried onions. Additionally, the cafe offers a variety of beverages, including Turkish coffee, hibiscus tea, and smoothies, alongside a diverse assortment of soups and salads.
Remo’s Cafe joins a growing array of international dining options in Downtown Jackson, which already features Caribbean, Greek, Southern barbecue, and Mediterranean cuisines. However, Dardeer points out a gap in the market for community-centered cafes in the U.S. that capture the essence of traditional Egyptian coffeehouses, characterized by a vibrant atmosphere filled with music and social interaction—contrasting sharply with the typically quieter settings of American coffee shops.
While the cafe’s unique location poses a minor challenge for new customers due to the front door being located within the building’s lobby and lacking an external entrance on Capitol Street, Dardeer is devoted to making Remo’s Cafe a welcoming and familiar space for all visitors.
Currently, the cafe operates from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. Dardeer indicates that she plans to adjust the cafe’s operating hours in the future based on the flux of customer traffic, further demonstrating her commitment to creating a successful and community-oriented dining experience.
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Additional Resources
- Clarion Ledger: Remo’s Cafe Opens in Jackson
- Wikipedia: Egyptian Cuisine
- Eater: Best Halal Restaurants in Portland
- Google Search: Egyptian Restaurants in the US
- MLive: Family Opens Egyptian Restaurant in Kalamazoo
- Google Scholar: Egyptian Cuisine
- MLive: Photos of New Egyptian Restaurant
- Encyclopedia Britannica: Cuisine
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