The Mason Jar opens in Benton Harbor Arts District

Soon there will be a new place for breakfast, lunch, or brunch in Benton Harbor’s Art District.

The Mason Jar Cafe plans a May 5 opening and locally grown and organic meat and vegetables are featured on the menu. “We will not be serving anything frozen or processed; and the majority of our products will be from local sources,” says Abel Abarca Martinez. “Everyone that enters our restaurant will feel at home.”

Martinez and co-owner Jayme Cousins have years of restaurant and culinary experience–Martinez  worked with the Bistro on the Boulevard’s Chef Ali Barker for 10 years and Cousins has worked in various local restaurants as a manager and in a front-of-the-house capacity.

“It’s been a shared dream to own our own restaurant,” said Martinez, “We want to foster an environment where people can savor the flavors of healthy foods.”

The menu features eggs from free-range chickens, fresh fruit grown locally, and pancakes in both buttermilk and gluten free varieties. The lunch menu includes salads, soups, and sandwiches with the same kind of healthy and tasty offerings.

After Cousins experienced some medical issues and closely evaluated the foods she was eating, and the effect it was having on her health, she wanted to open a restaurant that would be a place people could eat well.  

But she and Martinez needed some guidance on how to make it come about so they turned to the Women’s Business Center at Cornerstone Alliance. “We really had no idea on where to go or what to do with our ideas. They got us focused and connected with the right people,”  Cousins says.

The owners of The Mason Jar Cafe also are getting support for rent on the first year’s lease  Cornerstone Alliance Rent Subsidization Program. “Recognizing that cash flow is usually a challenge for start-up businesses, this program helps to minimize operating expenses; reducing some of the financial burden experienced in the first year of business,” says Greg Vaughn of Cornerstone Alliance.

“It’s been a shared dream to own our own restaurant,” says Martinez, “We want to foster an environment where people can savor the flavors of healthy foods.”

Source: Susan Cox, Cornerstone Alliance