Five New York friends wanted a cool place to hang out. So they opened one in North Miami

West Dixie Highway in North Miami may not be the first place you look for a sanctuary away from the madness of the world. But that’s what you’ll find at Paradis Books & Bread.

Park behind the square brown building — and please, don’t run over any wayward chickens that have wandered through the small parking lot. This is a place of kindness. Go inside to order and inspect the books for sale. Grab a table there or outside at a true Florida relic, a cement table decorated with tile. Challenge your companions to an outdoor game at the pool table.

It doesn’t matter why you’re at Paradis Books & Bread, only that you came.

Paradis Books & Bread is the creation of five friends who left New York — three are locals, graduates of St. Thomas Aquinas High in Fort Lauderdale — to create a space in which to indulge and share their passions. Food. Wine. Books. Baking. Gardening. Politics. Such spaces are common in Brooklyn and other New York neighborhoods, less so in North Miami. In general, North Miami-Dade County lacks this sort of community gathering place, but Paradis Books & Bread is hoping to change that paradigm.

“We’re not trying to become millionaires,” said Bianca Sanon, one of the owners along with her partner Brian Wright, his sister Audrey Wright and their friends Sef Chesson and Ben Yen. “We just want people to come and hang out.”

Hanging out is encouraged in a number of ways. The café/wine bar/bookstore, which opened in July, has a small menu that features pizza by the slice, spreads, tins of sardines, mussels and squid and bar snacks. Did we mention the bread, baked fresh daily? An order of that with butter may be all you need.

The friends are cross-trained in all aspects of the business. Right now, Brian Wright is baking the bread. If he’s not available, no worries — someone else can do it.

Chesson and Yen, a trained chef, deal with kitchen aspects, ordering and organizing and prepping. The group came up with the simple menu together. You can’t get a cafecito here — Paradis serves only hot or iced coffee — but if you want to bring your own, you’re welcome to do so. (You might need a piece of fermented banana cake with that, though.)

If you want a bottle of natural wine to complement a warm evening on the patio, Sanon, a certified sommelier, will happily recommend something. You can also buy wine by the glass and bottles to go. There’s even a two-tier wine club, one for everyday wines and one for more serious and adventurous drinkers.

You can also browse for books, mostly curated by Audrey Wright, who worked at Bluestockings Cooperative Bookstore, a feminist and queer bookstore in New York. The books tend to be political, progressive, leftist, a lot of works of nonfiction and political theory, not the sort of popular fare you’d find at a more general interest bookshop. Expect titles like “Policing America’s Empire” and “The Black Jacobins.” Look closely, though, and you’ll also find works by Octavia Butler, Toni Morrison and Edwidge Danticat.

“I wanted to open a bookstore, but they’re incredibly hard to keep going without another revenue stream,” Audrey Wright said, adding that Paradis also has a two-shelf lending library of the staff members’ favorites. “Sometimes I feel something lacking in other bookstores. But you can stay here for hours. We have food. We have entertainment. You can read or meet friends. Use the space however you want.”

One of the St. Thomas grads, along with her brother Brian and Sanon, Audrey also takes the lead in the café’s urban gardening adventure, a challenge in light of the heat and greedy South Florida insects. Still, fall is coming, and right now peppers and squash blossoms are growing. She’s planning to grow items to pickle, like carrots and radishes, as well as arugula and herbs.

The North Miami Community Redevelopment Agency was instrumental in the birth of Paradis Books & Bread, providing a $150,000 matching grant (“Without it, we would not have been able to open,” a grateful Sanon says.) The grant and others like it are important to North Miami as it tries to lure new businesses to the city.

“We like the creativity, the out-of-the-box concept,” said Rasha Cameau, executive director at the Community Redevelopment Agency, of the café. “We were happy they were able to get the project done during COVID. That was outstanding. ... You get all these big restaurants opening in Miami Beach and Wynwood, but we’re looking for creative entrepreneurs with a food and wine mix so they can come here and thrive.”

The team has more plans for the space, Brian Wright says, maybe a film night or pop-up Asian dinners, among other events. But whatever gets added, the original concept remains the same.

“If you don’t want to buy something, that doesn’t matter,” he says. “Play pool. Hang out. We just wanted people to have a place to hang out. It’s what we want, too. ... All of us want to be here. We enjoy it ourselves.”

Paradis Books & Bread

Where: 12831 W Dixie Hwy., North Miami

Hours: 11 a.m.-midnight Thursday-Monday; kitchen closed daily from 3-6 p.m.; closed Tuesday-Wednesday

More information: pbb.cafe

This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 6:00 AM.