08/24/2026
My wife Yefon and I are immigrants. We came here from Cameroon with an accent, a work ethic, and a dream that felt too big to say out loud. In July of last year we opened a small door at 96 West Washington Street.
Anyone who tells you this is easy is selling you something 😅
It has been challenging. It has also been the best year of our lives.
Here is the part most people do not know about me.
I grew up on a farm in Cameroon. Six farms, every single day. Up before the sun, hoe in hand, dirt to the knees. Tedious, honest, back-breaking work.
And here is the thing that still sits with me. After all of that work, there were days we could not promise ourselves the next meal.
So let me say something that might surprise you.
Running this cafe is not the hardest work I have ever done. Not even close 😄
The hardest work I have ever done was farming. It is what the people who grow your coffee are doing right now, today, before any of us are awake.
That is why we do this the way we do it. We work with farmers. We source our coffee ethically. We try to buy from farmers we know. And then we get to stand behind a counter in Maryland and tell you their story.
We consider that a privilege. Every single day.
Washington County has taught us more this year than we could have learned anywhere else. We are carrying it with us for the rest of our lives.
We are not where we want to be yet. Not close.
But there is joy in the journey, and I want to tell you where we find it.
It is the regular who calls this her favorite spot. It is the man who smiled at his cup last Tuesday and did not know I saw him. It is the kid who tasted a crepe for the first time and looked up at his mom like the world just got bigger ☕
That is the whole thing. That is why we open the door.
If you are reading this and you have a dream sitting in your chest, hear me. Nothing can stop you but you. Start small. Start scared. Start.
Come sit with us at 96 West Washington Street. Order a crepe and a cup. Then tell one person about us, because that is how a small place stays alive 🤎
Farmers. Community. Culture. Sip with purpose.
