919 | BUSINESS PROFILE
Healthy, Authentic Mediterranean Food Family-Owned Sassool Features Fresh Ingredients, Great Service North Raleigh’s Neomonde Café is now Sassool, featuring great service, combined with healthy, authentic Mediterranean food. In 1977, the Saleh brothers founded Neomonde Baking Company, and in December 2011, the third and most recent Neomonde Café and Market opened at 9650 Strickland Road, coinciding with the 35-year celebration of the company. This year – on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 11 – the North Raleigh location was renamed Sassool Café, Bakery and Market, an homage to the brothers’ mother, Cecilia, who created or passed down most of the recipes for the food served in the café (Sassool was her childhood nickname). “Our principle in business is not about making money,” said Mounir Saleh, owner of Sassool. “It’s about offering healthy food to our community. We use mother Cecilia’s recipes that she learned from her mother and many generations before that.” Saleh said his restaurant is run under the same principle: If they wouldn’t serve it to their children, they shouldn’t serve it to their customers. Currently there are close to 35 employees, including Saleh’s wife, Lisa, as the office manager and their two oldest daughters: Noelle as the general manager and
Photos by A Photographic Memory by Steffanie
Mounir Saleh, owner of Sassool Cafe, Bakery and Market
Simone as assistant general manager. Will Spence manages the kitchen and another family member is the chef. “It’s a family business that prides itself on high quality, good service, and a very reasonable price,” Saleh said. “We truly value our customers and they become part of the family. We work hard to make our customers feel welcome, and if they don’t show up, they are missed.” Some of the healthy menu items include fresh salads and Mediterranean dips, hot and cold vegetarian, vegan and glutenfree dishes, sandwiches and oven-baked specialty pies, all made with fresh ingredients from the local Farmer’s Market. “We believe that my mother Cecilia is the primary reason for the success of her family in the restaurant business,” Saleh said. “We are committed to keeping the standard of the food at a high level to fulfill her legacy.” On Saturday, Aug 9, Saleh said he, his family and their employees plan to celebrate the birthday of Cecilia (Sassool) with “a birthday party for all of our customers to enjoy.” For more information on Sassool Mediterranean Café, call 919-847-2700 or visit www.sassool.com.
Sassool Café, Bakery and Market YEAR OPENED: 2011; launched under new name on May 11, 2014 ADDRESS:
9650 Strickland Rd, Raleigh
OWNER:
Mounir Saleh
EXPERIENCE:
37 years in family business; one of the founders of Neomonde Baking Company and Neomonde Deli
HOURS:
10 am-9 pm daily
WEBSITE: www.sassool.com PHONE: 919-847-2700
Left to right: Simone Saleh and Noelle Scott 919 Magazine NR
Special Advertising Section
June | July 2014
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