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Bagels imported from New York, coffee using beans imported from Colombia and the opportunity to support and appreciate local artists — patrons can enjoy all of those and more at a new Lehigh Valley cafe.Old Mecca Cafe opened last month at 527 Northampton St. in Easton alongside the Atelier Jolie Gallery.
Sharing the same property, the cafe and gallery offer bagels, pastries such as cannolis and fruit tarts, avocado toast, sandwiches, salads, coffee, tea, lattes, espressos, hot chocolate, iced drinks, art from dozens of artists and monthly art exhibitions.This cafe-gallery concept traces its origins in part back several years ago to Omnaia Abdou, who owns Atelier Jolie Gallery and co-owns Old Mecca Cafe with her husband Shane Rossi.“He comes from New York and then when he was here now, he started to get accustomed to the cuisines here, the food here, and he was never able to get a good bagel,” Abdou said.
“Or like a proper pizza. And I guess one of his dreams was to also open a cafe or like a bagel store, where he can do just that. And I was like, ‘Well, you know, this can be the perfect combination,’ because we can do the art gallery and what we want with our gallery is to have constant foot traffic so the artists can be seen.
But then when we do the cafe, that’s also great, so they’re going to kind of work together really, really well.”Commissioned artwork inside Old Mecca Cafe on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Easton. (Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)Inside Old Mecca Cafe on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Easton.
(Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)Omnaia Abdou and her husband Shane Rossi stand in the dinning room of Old Mecca Cafe on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Easton. (Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)Old Mecca Cafe on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Easton. (Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)Inside Old Mecca Cafe on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Easton.
(Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)Canolli pastry at Old Mecca Cafe on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Easton. (Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)Old Mecca Cafe on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Easton. (Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)Old Mecca Cafe on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Easton.
(Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)Shane Rossi and his wife Omnaia Abdou stand in the dinning room of Old Mecca Cafe on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Easton. (Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)Mimi fruit tarts at Old Mecca Cafe on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Easton. (Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)Omnaia Abdou and her husband Shane Rossi stand in the dinning room of Old Mecca Cafe on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Easton.
(Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)Omnaia Abdou and her husband Shane Rossi stand in the dinning room of Old Mecca Cafe on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Easton. (Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)Baklava pastry at Old Mecca Cafe on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Easton. (Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)Commissioned artwork inside Old Mecca Cafe on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Easton.
(Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)Show Caption1 of 14Commissioned artwork inside Old Mecca Cafe on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Easton. (Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)ExpandAbdou studied neuroscience to become a doctor, but with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, she transitioned to art while working in the restaurant industry to support herself.The transition proved lucrative when she displayed her art in New York galleries and when her art of The Notorious B.
I.G. sold for $15,000 — “the most money I’ve ever made in my life.
”“That was the pivotal moment,” Abdou said. “That was the moment that I was like, ‘I can actually do this for a living.’ Because I come from an immigrant family where you want to be a doctor or a lawyer or like .
.. an architect.
So basically having that mindset shifted because I don’t have to be a doctor to make money. I can actually make a living doing what I love.”Abdou began operating the Atelier Jolie Gallery online to showcase her own art in 2019 before opening a physical location a few years later at 1122 W.
Hamilton St. in Allentown.“It was somewhere where we didn’t have visibility on the street, so I knew at some point we’re going to have to move our location to somewhere bigger and better,” she said.
“Especially because I want to do right by the artists that I represent.”Rossi, who used to work in real estate and met Abdou as an art collector before they became business partners, also owns the Pokémon shop Pulls and Pours across the street.“It’s a dream,” he said.
“I’ve always wanted to sell a good bagel, a good coffee and a Pokémon all in the same block.”The gallery and cafe operate 7 a.m.
to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
The art studio Bottle & Bottega Lehigh Valley occupied the Northampton St. property until it closed in 2019.Lehigh Valley retail and restaurant news in briefTinto Tapas & Pasta, formerly Nonna Sulina’s Sicilian Kitchen and Grill, will open Thursday at 1028 Broadway in Fountain Hill, replacing Game Time Sports Bar & Grille.
The new restaurant will include an area for eating small-plate dishes, a pasta room and a rooftop area for parties and events.The chain Marco’s Pizza will open new locations in Bethlehem and Whitehall Township later this year.The waffle and ice cream shop Wondaffle will open Friday at 307 E.
Third St. in Bethlehem.The night club Americus Nights held a grand opening Friday in the Americus Hotel at 555 Hamilton St.
in Allentown.The Pocono Brewery Co. Taproom at the Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township has closed, it announced earlier this month on Facebook.
“The changing landscape of the mall and the addition of another brewery next door have made it impossible for us to continue there,” the taproom said on Facebook. “While this chapter is closing, the story of Pocono Brewery Company is far from over! We’re still brewing, still crafting, and still pouring at our Swiftwater location, where the beers are flowing and the good times keep rolling.”Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant opened near the taproom at the mall in July.
The taproom itself opened in 2019.La Kang Chicken & Rice will open Tuesday at 15 E. Fourth St.
in Bethlehem, and offer Thai-style dishes and varieties of chicken over rice, noodles, desserts such as coconut ice cream, dumplings, fried tofu and a bring-your-own beer policy.953 Deli opened earlier this month at 953 W. Walnut St.
in Allentown, where it offers breakfast all day, sandwiches, bagels, wings, fries, mozzarella sticks, burgers, a salad bar, coffee, tea, packaged snacks and bottled beverages.Towamencin Township’s popular Freddy Hill Farms, which offers attractions such as ice cream and miniature golf courses, will close after its 2025 season, it announced on its website.“We are looking forward to retirement after decades of running rewarding and challenging businesses,” the farm said.
“It is a bittersweet reality that all good things must come to an end. Our family is deeply grateful for your support over the last 53 years, and for the opportunity to serve our community and our customers.”The Game Gallery video game store will reopen at 60 Centre Square in Easton at the end of this month or in early April, owner Angel Correa said, relocating from its previous location at 349 Northampton St.
The store will host over 200 arcade cabinets, 16 pinball machines, private events, vintage and modern video games and consoles, comic books, manga, action figures, board games and vinyl.Retail Watch is a weekly column covering retail and restaurant news in the Lehigh Valley. Have a question, tip, or want to see something in the area? Contact retail reporter Graysen Golter at retailwatch@mcall.
com..
