Welcome to Serenity Market & Café!

"I just love to cook," Crystal said. "It makes me happy to make people happy. I want people to enjoy their experience here, to feel serene, and to come back."

Crystal opened Serenity Market & Café in July. It's a growing establishment where patrons can eat breakfast and lunch, order dinners to go including pizzas and purchase a variety of fresh foods, including gluten-free products.

Business has been brisk. "Everyone is happy that we're here," Crystal said. "Every customer has become a regular."

What distinguishes Serenity Market & Café from other providers, Crystal said, is that nearly everything sold, including quiches, black bean soup, broccoli salad, and pastries, is made each day from scratch.

"Most restaurants rely so much on processed food," Crystal said.

Serenity features a range of foods, including breakfast pizza, organic, fair-trade coffee, all-fruit smoothies (the Omega Equation combines peaches, mangoes, strawberries, flax seed oil, and orange juice), soups, salads, chili, wraps, and New York-style pizza.

In addition to the café, Serenity also sells some of its products through Mainely Gourmet in downtown Portsmouth and provides catering services and sells dinners to go, and gift baskets featuring wine, cheese, meats and hand-dipped chocolates.

Originally from Long Island, N.Y., Crystal moved to New Hampshire 12 years ago. She¹s lived in many places, including Alaska, Key West, Fla., and Los Angeles. Over the past 25 years, Crystal has worked in the restaurant industry, including waitressing and cooking. She likes preparing Italian foods the most.

Food is only a facet of what Crystal offers. Part of her vision for Serenity is creating a community conducive to art.

Once the building on Sagamore switches to town sewer, Crystal said she plans to expand her restaurant to at least 24 seats.

"I want it to be a gathering place; I want to build a loft," she said.

The café hosts poetry readings on the first and third Monday of each month and a monthly open mic night for local musicians.

Nothing sums up Crystal's approach more clearly than her quote on the Serenity Market & Café menu. "My passion is cooking; making people happy is my reward. I love to create works of art and watch as people enjoy them."