Chef Shabnam Ameli has opened a Persian-style café in Theatre Square in Orinda and is making many people happy with her creative offerings. She is assisted in her endeavor by her husband, Aydin Ameli and several co-owners of Shemroon Café, which officially opened on Oct. 26 last year. The café is named after the neighborhood in Tehran where Aydin Ameli grew up. 

    Ameli came to the U.S. about 11 years ago and started a custom dessert business with his wife in Walnut Creek. They decided to expand and have opened their café in Theatre Square, where Shabnam Ameli prepares a wide variety of foods to cater to all tastes. 

    Boxes of small cookies are offered, particularly popular for the Persian festival of Nowruz, which will fall on March 20 in 2026. A classic chocolate bibi cake is also popular, as well as the rosewater scented cream puffs. The café also offers an ice cream flavored with saffron and pistachios. 
    Other popular sweets include a gluten free almond cake, lemon-blueberry coffee cake, and baklava. Chef Ameli also bakes custom cakes to order.
    There are two choices for breakfast at the cafe, either sweet or savory, and the café makes their special Shemroon bread, a salty, soft and fluffy bread, originally Turkish. Among the many beverage offerings, Turkish coffee flavored with cinnamon, cardamom and rose water is popular. 

    When this reporter visited the café, two enthusiastic patrons were happy to share their experiences. Dorsh DeVoe of El Sobrante and E.Y. Kim of Moraga are two friends who like to meet “in the middle.” DeVoe was examining the offerings at the Orinda Theatre, thinking of future outings, when she found Shemroon Café. It was a warm day and people were sitting outside, while French music drifted out and drew DeVoe in. She was delighted with the feeling of a real café, not just another coffee place.  

    DeVoe and Kim raved about the food. DeVoe says she has come back for the lentil dish many times.  DeVoe lived in India for five years, where lentils may be eaten more than once a day. She says that the lentils at Shemroon Café are different but delicious. She noted that the food at the café was neither overly salty nor overly sweet. The friends enjoyed the Persian bread and the Persian tea, mentioning a spinach and feta pastry as particularly good. 

    Working at the café is not Aydin Ameli’s main job; he and his wife are assisted by co-owners, including Mona Aghayan, Sara Konari and Dave Honarmand. Shemroon Café is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is closed on Mondays.