A new cafe in downtown Racine is bringing Armenian culture, centuries-old family recipes, and a unique coffee experience to Southeast Wisconsin.
Hye Ground Café has been open for about 3 months, and co-owners Melanie and John say the community response has been overwhelmingly positive.
"It's been going great. The community has been very, very welcoming, and super supportive," Melanie said. "The twist is the Armenian theme, Armenian pastries, traditional family recipes that go back centuries to all of the villages we've come from, so that's the beauty of what we're bringing, and people have been very, very receptive."
Watch: Brendan Johnson visits Hye Ground Café:
One of the cafe's signature offerings is Armenian coffee, a finely ground, unfiltered coffee prepared using a traditional sand cooker that heats the coffee slowly and gently.
"Armenian coffee is one of the specialties that we have. It is an unfiltered, finely ground coffee. When we serve it, you can serve it with sugar if you want. It comes in a small cup like this and it's delicious. We do cook it in that sand cooker, and it heats it up very gently. It's wonderful. Come and try it," John said.
The menu also features a variety of traditional Armenian pastries — all made in-house by Melanie using recipes passed down through generations.
"We also have pastries...all Armenian specialties that we've gotten recipes from our aunts, from our mothers, from our grandmothers, and Melanie cooks all of these here in the house, and they're delicious," John said.
Beyond the food, the owners say they are focused on building a deeper connection with the Racine community through food, music, and cultural outreach. John and co-owner Ari are both from Racine.
"It is a great city. John is from here. Ari, the other owner is from here. And like you said it's a beautiful community, a melting pot of its own, and we want to add our flavor to that and we're doing it in several different ways through the food through the community connection through the music, and all different kind of information that's in the area," Melanie said.
Hye Ground Café is located in the heart of downtown Racine, at 321 Main St.
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