By Jenn Bogdan

Special to The Sentinel

When Karim Kmaiha closed up his sandwich shop and bakery in Lebanon nearly 20 years ago in the midst of a civil war with hopes of finding stability and safety in the United States, he wasn't sure if he'd ever have his own business again. But in just two weeks the Rockville resident will see the rewards of his hard work as Greenbelt's New Deal Café reopens with Kmaiha as manager and head chef.

Kmaiha, 57, a professional Lebanese chef, had dreamed of working for himself since he arrived in the U.S. as the personal chef for a Lebanese diplomat. In December 2006 when a friend told him that a struggling Greenbelt café in need of some major renovations was looking for a new operator, it took him less than two weeks to decide he would take the project on.

For his wife, Maria Almeida, a native of Portugal, who will also help run the café and bake deserts, the feeling of community in the Greenbelt was apparent instantly. It was clear that the café was a place for families and friends to gather, a place for discussion and meeting neighbors, the couple said.

"I was interested, but at the same time I thought it was a big, big project," said Almeida. "But he still wanted to take it and so here we are."

The couple refers to the café as a project as there is no better way to describe their situation. When Kmaiha visited the New Deal for the first time he discovered that the establishment was operating without a commercial kitchen. In fact, almost all of the food was prepared with microwaves and hot plates.

Kmaiha and Almeida fronted $45,000 to remodel the café's kitchen, which will now include a stove, oven and deep fryer, among other amenities when it reopens.

In many ways the cafe needed Kmaiha just as much as Kmaiha wanted the café.

The New Deal got its start in 1995 from a group of Greenbelt residents. It's a cooperative-owned business like many things in the city such as the grocery store and nursery. The name of the café was a nod to President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal legislation, which chartered Greenbelt.

But the time Kmaiha first heard about the café, it was facing looming debt (an amount undisclosed by the café's board of directors) and running on an all-volunteer staff. It was operating only three days a week and staying afloat on donations from patrons and loans from members of the cooperative, other residents sharing its ownership.

Kmaiha now plans to keep the café open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, hire a full-time staff and serve a menu of all Mediterranean cuisine, sans the children's selection which will still include staples such as hot dogs and macaroni and cheese.

But the changes end there. Kmaiha plans to continue the café's tradition of hosting artistic exhibits and discussion forums, which has always set the café apart.

"No, no, we don't want it to be anything like Starbucks," said Kmaiha when asked to compare the café to other coffeehouses. "We don't want this to be like things you find everywhere. We offer different food, community, a family place."

For Peter May, president of the New Deal Café's board of directors, Kmaiha's sentiments are comforting and confirm that Kmaiha and Almeida will complement the New Deal's history and purpose.

"Karim and Maria are exactly what we were looking for. They're warm, community-minded people who are interested in keeping all of the really important aspects of the café going," said May.

The couple's outlook for the café based on the values of community and respect seem to echo in their own unique relationship as well. Kmaiha is a man of few words, who states things simply. Almeida prefers to tell colorful stories, often interjecting her thoughts over her husband's words, but then going back and asking him to confirm what she's said.

Growing up in Lebanon, after Kmaiha graduated from the cooking school at 21, he had no intentions of ever coming to the U.S. As a chef, he assumed he would always have work.

He then opened up a sandwich shop and bakery with some friends as business partners where he happily worked until his late 30s.

"But war changes everything," Almeida interjected.

"Yes, yes, war changed everything," Kmaiha repeated.

Kmaiha described his experience during the Lebanese Civil War, a 15-year battle dividing Christians and Muslims which claimed 150,000 lives, with few words.

"Everyone was scared because you don't know when," he trails off. "You don't feel safe."

Leaving Lebanon in 1986, he became a personal chef for Lebanese diplomats traveling to the U.S. and later decided to remain in the U.S. permanently when he took a job as a chef for the Lebanese Taverna Cafés in Rockville and Annapolis.

And in between those two jobs he met Almeida in Washington, D.C., a Portuguese woman traveling with Brazilian diplomats as both a nanny and a chef.

"And see we're two different people from such different backgrounds, different religions even and we got together and live harmonious," said Almeida. She paused and added, "I guess." The couple laughed.

Both Kmaiha and Almeida present a picture of their vision for the café that's so inclusive and pure it's almost startling.

Recently, it's served as a place of community discussion and promotion of social and environmental issues with the addition of a monthly series entitled Reel and Meal at the New Deal. Each month's event features a vegan meal and a film highlighting how small communities can make change possible followed by a question and answer session.

Kmaiha and Almeida made the decision to open up the café during the renovation period for small events such as the Reel and Meal to introduce themselves to the community. April's Reel and Meal brought out 60 residents to discuss a film about the legal rights of ecosystems and try out a vegan menu of lentil soup, green beans and tofu and eggplant with chickpeas among other entries.

While Lebanese cuisine naturally lends itself to vegetarianism, neither Kmaiha nor Almeida were familiar with the vegan lifestyle. Still they were happy to continue to host the event and learn to prepare vegan food. Because of the interest in the community, Kmaiha has also decided to include 15 items on the standard menu that are vegan.

Loyal patrons of the café are both happy and relieved that new management won't change the heart of the café.

"I'm very happy that they're both interested in providing vegetarian and vegan items and promoting foods grown locally and organically," said customer Cam MacQueen. "I'd like to see the New Deal be as green-friendly a place as possible, and Chef Karim and Maria seem to be enthusiastically embracing that."

While Almeida said that they consider the vegan lifestyle a bit too extreme for them and may not always share the views of all exhibits held at the café, the key for them is always respect.

"Their lifestyle isn't my lifestyle, but I don't say it's strange, just different from me," said Almeida of vegans, but she's also quick to point out their similarities. She, too, likes to recycle, reuse and not waste.

"Anyway, it's good to know how people live, even if it's not just like you," she added.

When asked to speak to the future, Kmaiha said they can only hope to grow, perhaps eventually opening for daily breakfast as well and possibly opening an outside seating area.

"Of course wouldn't we have to close some time just for half a day? Won't we need to rest," Almeida asked her husband candidly.

"Oh no. We will be open all the days. We won't have to close for even five minutes," Kmaiha responded with a smile. He joked that they can always nap on one of the couches in the back of the café if they get tired.

The couple also said they wouldn't mind moving from Rockville to Greenbelt some time in the future.

"In Rockville we do not know who are our neighbors," said Kmaiha. "We like privacy some too, but here everyone wants to know you."