When the first incarnation of Satsuma Café opened in 2009, owners Peter and Cassi Dymond set forth to bring healthy, locally sourced, organic breakfast and lunch options to Bywater. In 2012, the restaurant opened its second location in Uptown on Maple Street, and this past June, a third location of the café opened in the Lower Garden District inside the Framework development, bringing with it the involvement of Guy Nasser, a new member of the ownership team. While the LGD café boasts a decidedly more modern design, the fast-growing company’s philosophy has stayed the same.
“Since Satsuma started, I think what has made it work has been the laid-back coffee-juice shop atmosphere serving great and healthy breakfast and lunch,” says Peter Dymond. “I think each one of our cafes are in great locations and interesting spaces with outdoor seating.”
Wood and metal tables and chairs, a service counter with a mixture of wood and tile, and an expanse of wooden, built-in cabinets, juxtapose floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook an Astroturf-covered courtyard and poured concrete patio. The Satsuma team worked with a collection of talented friends, including architect Julie Babin and project manager Daniel Kautz, both from StudioWTA (design); Matthew Holdren (furnishings and carpentry); and Marty McElveen (who created the café’s exterior signage).
“I like the fact that we hired friends who own their own local businesses,” says Dymond, who describes the average Satsuma customer as, “pretty much anyone looking for bright flavors from carefully sourced ingredients, whether vegan or omnivore.”
“We have high school and college students, artists, musicians, businesspeople and really a wide range of guests that come daily,” he says of Satsuma’s clientele. “[We also get] people visiting New Orleans looking for a healthy break from all the great indulgent meals they’re having here.”
The LGD Satsuma currently employs 16 staff members, and Dymond says he strives to cultivate a positive atmosphere for employees so that when customers visit the new location, their takeaway is “that the space is welcoming and warm with great service, food and drinks.”
At A Glance
Satsuma Café
Location
1320 Magazine St.
Opening date
June 2019
Size
2,100 square feet
Number of Employees
16 (as of mid-Nov.)
Person in Charge
Brogan Latil, general manager
