Mocha Mocha

Mercedes Tripkovic and her husband Mana had modest aspirations for the café they opened at Danforth and Logan in 1991. Mercedes explains, “We called it Mocha Mocha because it originally was going to be a small coffee shop with just mocha cake and coffee.”

To Mercedes' surprise, their initial menu quickly grew. “We started small but there was a demand for more items,” she explains. “So we said, why don’t we add sandwiches?” She motions animatedly to the cornucopia of food behind a long glass counter to demonstrate how coffee, mocha cake and sandwiches are just the beginning.

Mercedes and Mana brought extensive experience to their new venture. After marrying in Peru (Mercedes’ home country), they opened a restaurant there specializing in crepes. Mercedes recalls, “Mana was the cook and I was the front of the house.” After moving to Canada in 1982, Mana managed restaurant franchises and Mercedes worked as a station chef at Movenpick-Yorkville. One day, Mana said to Mercedes, “You're working too hard. Why don’t we open a small café?”