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Simone's Kitchen recently opened its doors at 430 Franklin Street, bringing its modern take on Mediterranean dishes to downtown Schenectady. 

Simone's Kitchen recently opened its doors at 430 Franklin Street, bringing its modern take on Mediterranean dishes to downtown Schenectady. 

Simone's Kitchen recently opened its doors at 430 Franklin Street, bringing its modern take on Mediterranean dishes to downtown Schenectady. 

Simone's Kitchen recently opened its doors at 430 Franklin Street, bringing its modern take on Mediterranean dishes to downtown Schenectady. 

Simone's Kitchen recently opened its doors at 430 Franklin Street, bringing its modern take on Mediterranean dishes to downtown Schenectady. 

Bashir Chedrawee had a plan. He was going to make his mother’s dream of running her own cafe a reality and once she learned the ropes, he would go on to medical school. It was a shock when the long lines and community demand left him with a decision: either close the restaurant or withdraw his medical school applications.

If you asked him years ago what he would choose, he wouldn’t have hesitated to say he would trade in his apron for a pair of scrubs. But the endeavor he shared with his mother in starting the small, makeshift Mediterranean restaurant sparked a passion in him that Bashir said he couldn’t leave behind.

Chedrawee and friend-turned-business partner Shan Kaurejo (who also withdrew medical school applications to jump on board) opened the first Simone's Kitchen in Coxsackie in 2018, attracting community members with its modern take on authentic Mediterranean flavors.

The restaurant has now made its debut in the Electric City, opening its doors in the Benjamin Building in downtown Schenectady with a revamped menu and “more detail in the culinary side of things.”

Since the Aug. 20 grand opening at 430 Franklin St., when the restaurant donated 100 percent of its earnings to community organizations, Chedrawee said the long lines reveal an excitement about the new lunch and dinner spot. 

Named after his mother, the restaurant began with recipes inspired by her Lebanese background and has evolved to offer flavors from all over the Mediterranean.

The most popular items are its Mezza bowls, which are small plates that combine all of the different foods commonly found on a Mediterranean dinner table (think falafel, tabbouleh, pitas and various combinations of vegetables and grains). The menu also includes refreshments, baked goods and Greek yogurt. 

Chedrawee said something that sets Simone’s Kitchen apart from other restaurants is its extensive benefits, like its pay floor of $16.50 an hour for employees, virtual health care, Spotify access and even 401k’s for part-time workers. In this regard, the company acts more like a tech company than a local eatery.

“We’re trying to change the way that restaurants pay their employees and offer benefits,” Chedrawee said.

The Coxsackie location is currently closed for renovations but will be reopening this winter. For more on Simone’s Kitchen, visit the restaurant’s website.

Melissa Manno is a Hearst Fellow covering business, with a focus on commercial real estate development and retail. She also covers breaking news. Melissa graduated from Penn State University in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and minors in geography and digital media trends and analytics. She covered identity and culture for The Daily Collegian and has previously interned for the Centre Daily Times, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Smeal College of Business and the Organization for Aid to Refugees in the Czech Republic. She is also the 2021 Hearst National Journalism Writing Champion. You can reach her at melissa.manno@timesunion.com.