Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl cut the ceremonial ribbon for the opening of Prana, a new café at 1840 Oak Ave. in the space recently occupied by Mecafresh.
Prana is the Sanskrit word for “life force” or “breath of life,” said Griffin Cox, one of the owners. “We believe the serving of food is a sacred exchange. It influences all our choices: We buy the highest-quality ingredients – cage-free eggs, nitrite-free meats – and we will have a staff of three or four working here.”
Mr. Cox and his father, Ken, both said they have found Evanston to be business-friendly. They had originally planned to open the café in Chicago but found the process “extremely difficult.”
Simon Blanco, another co-owner, said the café will serve pastries baked daily, in-house, by pastry chef Ernesto Ghinaglia. The café will serve breakfast, lunch, pastries, espresso, smoothies and soups from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays. The website is eatprana.com.