BROCKTON – Right in the heart of downtown Brockton is a new restaurant serving healthy food options focused on wellness but packed with organic flavors from Haiti.
Brocktonians can delight themselves in breakfast, lunch, and dinner at The Garden Café located at 245 Main St., Brockton.
Come in and try homemade chicken or pumpkin soup, salad, wraps, natural juice, grab-and-go pastries, breakfast sandwiches, and hot or cold tea and coffee.
The motto around the cafe is “health is wealth,” and taking care of your body is essential, but it should also taste delicious, the owner said.
The local café is nestled right inside the Money Market Inc., on the corner and across the street from Ideal Jewelry & Loan.
Once you walk inside, you’re greeted with a lush, earthy vibe from the vegetation growing on the walls and the main service counter.
“It’s a different vibe in here. We’ve seen a lot of foot traffic. I’m shocked and grateful,” Synovia Thomas, owner of The Garden Café said.
Thomas’s favorite items include bacon, egg, cheese on a croissant, pumpkin soup, shrimp wrap, and carrot and lemon juice.
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How growing up in Haiti inspired a new restaurant business
The goal for the restaurant was to bring American food, but with classic seasonings and spices that Thomas learned as a little girl growing up in Haiti.
“I learned to cook with my grandmother when I was six,” Thomas said.
And her grandmother played zero games; she took six-year-old Thomas to the market to buy her a small pot so they could embark on their cooking adventure.
The two gathered all the necessary ingredients, including a live chicken.
And to Thomas, this was “every young Haitian girl’s right to passage,” killing a chicken and learning how to properly clean, season, and cook it for dinner.
This experience was like no other, but it taught Thomas two things. First that she loves to cook, and also that she wants to create her own garden that will never stop flourishing, metaphorically and physically.
“That’s why I named the business The Garden Café; in Haiti, the garden to us resembles a place that will never stop producing; we will never go without food; the garden is a place that will always provide,” Thomas said.
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The Haitian culture is lightly sprinkled on her dishes but also not overpowering, she said.
“I needed to bring a different authentic taste to the community. Brockton is a melting pot for all different nationalities and races, and I wanted to shine a light on creole seasonings,” Thomas said.
The business has been open since Jan. 1 and Thomas hopes to see new faces and share her unique flavors.
Visit the The Garden Cafe at 245 Main St., Brockton from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. or order online by using GrubHub.