Standing in his temporarily shuttered restaurant, Sedara Sweets & Ice Cream, George Simon has no idea what the future holds, not only for his business but for the food and beverage industry as a whole. With restaurants closed for dine-in service—and many, like his, closed altogether—Simon knows that he’s facing an uphill battle to build back his business once the threat of COVID-19 subsides. And yet, he’s forging ahead.
Simon and his wife, Esraa, have announced that they are rebranding Sedara Sweets & Ice Cream as Sedara Café, an update that includes an expansion of their offerings as well as a complete renovation of the space that emphasizes its Middle Eastern influence. “People would come in and say that they wanted to feel like they were in the Middle East when they came here,” says Simon. “They said that if they were having all of these authentic traditional sweets, they wanted a warm, comfortable setting that would make them feel like they were there.”
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Simon, a St. Louis University High School Arabic teacher, admits that the original, more sterile buildout of the space did not go as he’d hoped, so he and Esraa are taking the time they have while the restaurant is closed to overhaul the ambiance. The result of their efforts is nothing short of stunning; in just a matter of weeks, assisted by Lori McElvain of LoriO Interiors (Billy G’s, Rosalita’s Des Peres, Anthony’s Italian Eats, St. Louis Kolache), the couple has transformed the generic, neutral-colored storefront into a gorgeous, lounge-like room, adorned in shades of peacock blue, cream, and orchid. Intricate carvings that nod to Esraa’s Iraqi homeland decorate the walls, and gold accents, including a traditional coffee warming station that incorporates sand, cast a gilded glow over the room.
The Simons first opened Sedara in May 2019 as a way for Esraa to bring a bit of Iraqi coffee and dessert culture to her adopted home of St. Louis. After moving to the United States as a refugee in 2015, Esraa searched in vain for a place that reminded her of the shops where she’d drink coffee and eat baklava in Baghdad, so she and Simon decided to open one of their own.
As the name suggests, Sedara is known for its desserts, including 20 types of baklava and baked goods from her family in Wisconsin, as well as Cedar Crest Ice Cream from Cedarburg, Wisconsin. The restaurant is not only about sweets, though; dishes such as shawarma, falafel, and hummus round out the savory side of the menu.
As part of their expansion, the Simons will be adding even more flavors of baklava to the menu as well as crepes, different flavors of ice cream, banana splits, and other intricate ice cream concoctions. The couple is especially excited about their new coffee offering, a traditional way of preparing Arabic coffee that involves preparing it in sand.
In traditional Turkish coffee brewing, a handled copper pot is placed over an open fire and boiled. In the sand method, the pot is placed in hot sand, which tempers the heating process. To Simon’s knowledge, it is the only place in town serving the beverage this way.
Right now, Sedara mainly caters to people in its Affton neighborhood, but Simon is confident that the new ambiance and coffee will make people from all over town see the restaurant as a destination—and he’s anticipating that they will be extra ready to try them out once everyone can comfortably and safely go out in public again.
“This will be over with eventually,” says Simon. “What that will look like is a different story, but we won’t be in our houses forever. I think people will want to support local mom-and-pop places like us when this is over, so I’m hoping that something good will come out of it. It will really be advantageous for us to have a grand re-opening when the entire country is having its grand re-opening. I hope we will see an outpouring of business.”
