the birth ofFood for blended people in borrowed spaces
A Part Café
A Middle-bEastern Fusion Restaurant in Roseville, CA
For a few years, I life-coupled with a human who loves to cook as much as I do. After over a decade of designing graphics and dipping my toes into slinging food at the best bakery and bar in Brooklyn, I was motivated to leap into a new kind of design—food and the community around it. Bringing his own culinary experience to the table, Michael Edward Spencer Jr. and I created fusion food recipes that combined the cuisines we both grew up eating and cooking—him in Michigan and me in Saudi Arabia.
We refined our recipes and left Brooklyn to start a family and open a culture-bending, sustainable, progressive halal restaurant in a picturesque small downtown in Placer County, California, an opening that coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. We operated the 5-star restaurant from November 2020 to January 2022, safely and creatively pivoting with every shift in safety recommendations.
I selected the images below to demonstrate the range of my scope of work on this project
Brand Design
Brand Design
Menu Design
Photo Styling
Social Media Template Design
Mural — Welcome 2 ways "Hello, theydies and gentlethems"
Mural – Authographic Map "The world is the biggest small"
Covid Pivot: By Womxn – A Femme Vendor Market (click to watch video)
Sustainability Pivot: The Bring-Back Container Program
Food Design: The Shwaco (Shawarma / Taco)
Food Design: Ma'moon (Ma'mool / Moon Cake)
Food Design: Hummus in our true colors
Accolades
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Comstock's Magazine
"The storefront, designed by Khan, is a pink-and-purple jewel box with echoing geometric shaped and urbane wall art."
From The New Fusion Food: Young restauranteurs in the capital region are rewriting the definition of authenticity
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Sacramento Magazine
"The Pocket Pies at Areej Khan and Michael Spencer's A Part Café celebrate classic Middle Eastern flavors."
From Pie! Pie! Pie!
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The Sacramento Bee
“A Part Cafe owners Areej Khan and Michael Spencer run a progressive, queer-friendly restaurant in downtown Roseville, and they have taken a courageous approach in the kitchen. The couple’s gratuity-free halal restaurant at 217 Vernon St. churns out some of Placer County’s most interesting food, all under the generous umbrella of Middle Eastern fusion.”
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Style Magazine
“Seldom do I go someplace new and immediately become a fan. It happens, but it’s not the norm. A Part Café on Roseville’s Vernon Street is one of those places.”
From Foodie Find -
Sacramento Magazine
“What happens when a Michigan-born career food professional meets a Saudi-born graphic designer in Brooklyn and the two relocate to Northern Calfornia to fulfill their dream of owning a restaurant? That's the story behind A Part Café, a relaxed by stylish Middle Eastern fusion eatery in downtown Roseville serving up culture-bending dishes born from the imaginations of owners Areej Khan and Michael Spencer.”
From 10 New Restaurants: A crazy years of pandemic didn’t stop these newcomers from opening their doors