When Denise O’Marde opened Café Juice Up on Blue Hill Avenue in 2019, it soon became a beacon for area residents who wanted to try something different, like healthy juices. Now, she and co-owner Dimitri Phanor are pioneering once again – they’re setting up an outdoor dining experience on the thoroughfare.

To date, participants in the city’s outdoor dining program have been commonly located in the Back Bay, the South End, and East Boston. But late last fall, city officials contacted O’Marde and Phanor about adding a dining parklet in front of their store as a pilot. It went well despite being a bit of a cold spot, and this month, the parklet is again open for business.

Café Juice Up co-owners Denise O’Marde and Dimitri Phanor relax on their new outdoor parklet on Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan with customers, including Holly Kirkpatrick, second from right.

“It’s a good fit, because prior to us recently improving our outdoor space beside the store, the inside space was small and the parklet fits because people can order and go outside and wait,” said O’Marde, who noted that she encourages neighboring businesses to use it, too. “They don’t even realize if it takes some time for their order. Mattapan hasn’t really had any outdoor things. They’ll get used to it and I think they’ll use it more, too.”

Phanor said he was excited last year when they placed it outside, but there wasn’t enough time before the winter for it to gather momentum. Now that the parklet is back in place, with the temperatures still warm, and flowers decorating the sides, customers are starting to embrace it.

“It looks good in front of the store,” Phanor said. “There can be some inconvenience with it, parking-wise…Blue Hill is always busy. It’s bringing some life to the avenue. People can come here to have a good time and relax.”

Relaxing is just the word used by long-time Café Juice Up customer Holly Kirkpatrick, who said the parklet has made her favorite spot more of a destination.

“We need this kind of positive energy on Blue Hill,” she said. “This place has been my second home and a place to relax my mind with great people since it opened…I love the parklet. Every time I come here now, I say, ‘Let’s sit out front.’ Once we start sitting there, people stop by and talk.”

Wadsworth Phoenix, a longtime adviser to the cafe, said the parklet is a sign of new things happening on Blue Hill Avenue. “Blue Hill Avenue was a five-lane highway on both sides decades ago before they restricted it,” he said. “Café Juice Up is offering something new, but the area just doesn’t have that element.”

The eatery has been a favorite of Mayor Wu. “Cafe Juice Up has been an anchor in the neighborhood for healthy, fresh, and delicious food and drinks since it opened,” she said.

The mayor added she’s excited the “beautiful and relaxing patio will be permanently able to build community and host events and hope to see more spaces like this open up across the city.”

O’Marde said she and Phanor entered into a partnership about a year ago, and made it official this year, because he had been a long-time employee and was “a man of integrity.” She said that together they have dug their way out of the instability wrought by Covid and are back to being innovative and efficient.

“There was a void. Mattapan is considered a food desert,” she recalled. “I believed at the time we could be a beacon in the community and bring something good and bring healthier choices to the people. You would hear people say we have to go downtown or Brookline or Newton if you want anything good. I felt there was room here to develop this and do something the right way on Blue Hill Avenue.”

That mission has now extended to the parklet, and the new outdoor space next to the café which, starting in 2007, O’Marde used to sell fruit while leasing the café space to other tenants. Doing things right, she said, also means cutting out waste, deploying technology, and letting Phanor introduce things like customer loyalty programs and curbside pickup.

They also continue to refine their menu of juices, fruit bowls, and smoothies, with a nod to the predominant Caribbean culture around them. O’Marde, from Antigua, and Phanor, from Haiti, said they make sure to use goods like jackfruit, soursop, and dragon fruit – things Caribbean people will know about, and non-Caribbean customers can learn about and appreciate.

The idea of considering themselves pioneers with her cafe, or with Blue Hill Avenue’s first outdoor dining parklet, is a strange word for O’Marde and Phanor to digest. “To be honest we’re just humbled,” O’Marde said. “Today maybe you can say we’re pioneers in the area, but we started off just wanting to make a change or difference and we were able to do it. Maybe ‘pioneer’ is fitting now.”