“My experience cooking for people with allergies and dietary restrictions and my background in nutrition have provided the foundation to be able to create dishes that are not only health supportive but also satisfying and delicious,” Marinelli says.

   

The target date for the café’s grand opening is June 21, after which it will be open daily for breakfast and lunch, with dinners and meal preps available to go. According to Marinelli, the café is following all rules for reopening safely as recommended by the New York State Department of Health. It will offer takeout, delivery, and curbside and lakeside pickup, as well as some outdoor seating. Contactless pay will be available via website and social media.

   

The Brooklyn Organic Kitchen’s commitment to using only USDA-certified organic, non-GMO and fairly traded ingredients—including locally sourced ingredients from farmers whose practices are in line with their health supportive mission—is in keeping with Marinelli’s history as a local restaurateur. In 2014 she purchased Brooklyn Coffee House, also in Mahopac, and turned it into a successful organic and mostly plant-based kitchen that became known for its nutritious and creative dishes.

   

When Marinelli’s father passed away suddenly from a heart-related condition, she decided to close Brooklyn Coffee House to spend more time with her family. In the years that followed, she dove back into her nutritional studies in order to create healthy recipes for her loved ones, studied cooking methods to support cancer patients, and began cheffing privately for several families with food allergies, dietary restrictions and illnesses. She feels that her nutritious and plant-based cuisine has helped her family and clients regain their health—a belief reinforced by her work at Organic Pharmer, which she calls “a food with function-oriented kitchen.”

   

“My belief in the healing power of food and its ability to nourish not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well, is based on the Ayurvedic principle that what you put into your body creates who you are, inside and out,” she says.