“For the love of food is my mantra,” avowed Hassan Jarane, owner, proprietor, chef and greeter par excellence at Mint Premium Foods in Tarrytown. “I just love food, and I wanted to create a space where people can come together and enjoy themselves. Hunger is the main ingredient.”

For eight years, river town customers, visitors from across the Hudson, Manhattan, and all over the country have flocked to Hassan’s tiny corner store in Tarrytown, overflowing with exotic tastes and smells – a veritable Moroccan bazaar where the Casablanca-born Jarane presided over countless taste offerings, samples of cured meats, cheeses, home-made salads, elegant dried fruits and a dizzying array of olives, nuts, chocolate, honeys and olive oils.

“People came to Mint and wanted to sit and talk,” Jarane admitted, “so I began to look for a larger space.”

Four times the size of the original Mint, his new venue across Main Street is graced with the original, restored 1800’s tin ceiling. Sun-baked ceramic tiles enliven the floor (kids can go on a scavenger hunt to look for the animal prints). Three layers of plaster have been blasted away to reveal exposed brick walls (Jarane preserved a small section of plaster wall layers for posterity). An open kitchen, and a mirab-shaped entry into the restroom area all combine to create the same welcoming Moroccan-tinged atmosphere Mint is known for.

Mint’s signature dishes remain: Jarane’s famous rotisserie chicken infused with saffron, herbs, lemon, fleur de sel, garlic and ginger; the spinach salad with preserved lemons, corn and sun-dried tomatoes, gigante beans in a light tomato sauce; wild rice studded with cranberries, and apples; and Israel couscous enlivened with Mint’s famous honey-glazed pecans – both in a ginger, sesame sauce.

You will still be able to order the barbecued ribs, homemade soups and jerked pork or filet mignon paninis. Porchetta, imported from Italy and redolent of fennel and garlic, will be added to Mint’s offerings, along with a seasonal tapas selection changing daily. Mint’s famous fish and chips and falafel are returning to the menu as well.

Creating community has always been one of Jarane’s goals, and he’s thought of everything to enhance that communitarian feel. A commanding, exquisitely crafted wood table stands centered in the dining area –a real gathering place where Jarane hopes people will “sit down together, dine and chat.” Wi-Fi is available so you can enjoy Jarane’s heavenly rich Valrhona hot chocolate while you work on cold winter mornings. An upright piano is on hand, in case the mood strikes any musically inclined patron who feels like entertaining customers. Wine and beer – Jarane’s retail beer selection is justly famous among locals – will soon be on the menu. And, Mint will be serving a bistro-style Mediterranean influenced brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 to 2.

Large barrels, filled with olive oil “on tap” provide customers with seasonal olive oils from around the world. Just bring in your bottle when your supply runs out, test a sample or two of Hassan’s latest, choose your oil, turn on the spigot, and -voila! - you can leave Mint with another unique culinary treat.

All restoration and design were master-minded by the talented contractor, Mauri Mantilla, who also created the skylight, and hand-crafted the communal table, wine rack, and staging counter hewn from fallen wood on the Stone Barns property. Tarrytown resident, Bob Westerfield, helped fabricate design elements throughout the store, and Global Lighting, donated decorative light fixtures. Residents helped Jarane move, the Chamber of Commerce was a big supporter (Chamber executive director, John Sardy, dropped in to donate several large glass display jars while I was there), as was Tarrytown’s Engineer, Mike McGarvey. It was a community effort. As Westerfield noted,” It’s great to see a person like Hassan succeed and grow,” and his faithful customers were there to help.

On the docket for the ever-busy Jarane is his plan to hold free cooking classes for kids once a week once he has settled into his new “home.” His wish is to teach our local youth how to eat healthy. Always giving back to the community, he added, “ You can’t get more joy in life than teaching kids.”

While that may be true, Jaran has also taught a fair number of local adults more about exotic and delicious foods from around the world than they ever thought they’d learn. On a first visit to Mint, you may be surprised to find him shaving a little cheese, slicing a new kind of salami or tossing a few sugared or smoked nuts into a cup and just handing them to you for a taste. And you may leave the store with a few delicacies you didn’t know you needed. But you’ll leave happy, whether it’s with marinated olives, vanilla infused cherries, imported halvah and licorice, 15 year-old balsamic, or Aunt Bertie’s imported preserves. A trip to Mint tends to end with your shopping bag a little heavier than you intended, and your heart a little lighter.