Less than a year ago, MJ’s Café broadened its horizons and moved to White Star Market. A new location, a revamped menu and a ton of exciting ideas for new dishes seemed like enough for the vegan and vegetarian shop.
But as owner Mary-Brennan Faucheux explains, the move was just the beginning. Flash forward to today, and MJ’s has recently expanded to partner with not one, but two businesses, selling its delicious menu items at each and encouraging healthy eating habits along the way.
The restaurant is currently selling grab-and-go items at Counterspace BR’s newest location on Perkins Road, and recently announced that it will be setting up shop at Yoga Rouge within the next few weeks, selling some of those crowd favorites as well as new items.
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Interestingly enough, Faucheux attributes MJ’s expansion with Counterspace BR and Yoga Rouge to her great relationships with their female owners. She says Heather Kemp, owner of Yoga Rouge, approached her last year wanting Faucheux to sell food and drinks in her studio, and the two have been in talks ever since.
“It was really important for me and her to make sure that we would work well together,” Faucheux explains. “We wanted to be sure that we had the same goals in mind of why we wanted to do this, and it lined up very well.”
As for Counterspace BR, she says meeting and working with owner Sarah Joy Hays at White Star Market, where the two operate right next to each other, was such a positive experience that she was eager to continue in the bakery’s new location.
“It really is all about women helping women,” Faucheux says. “We have a great rapport, and I was happy to help and offer my products. Hopefully people will run in to pick up a healthy salad and a cookie to treat themselves, and it will be a great partnership.”
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As for the actual food offered, MJ’s is continuing to bring creative and inventive dishes to the city. The Counterspace location will feature vibrant salads and items you can snack on while on the go. Yoga Rouge will feature many favorites from MJ’s current menu like its vegan desserts, quinoa and bean bowls and wraps, as well as new ventures like raw-cookie-dough balls and blooming teas you can sip and snap. Faucheux is also hoping to eventually sell wine and beer at Yoga Rouge and offer happy hours so people can eat and hang out after yoga.
Ultimately, Faucheux says the growth of MJ’s is less about business and more about spreading her mission to help residents and the land around us.
“I am passionate about the health and environmental impact of taking on a more plant-based diet,” she says. “To me, I am going after something I really believe in, not just financial growth. It’s definitely not easy, and there are a lot of hurdles. But it’s worth it when people are thanking me for doing this, and I get to touch their lives in some way.”