Commitment to Customers, Quality Food and Community at Cafe Mozart

Whether you are running a race or running a restaurant, if you want to be good at it, you need one key ingredient – passion.

That's the belief of Saidur Rahman Dawn, proprietor of Café Mozart in Mamaroneck, and he should know. He has taken that tenet and run with it, literally. Dawn, as is he is best known, used his passion for running in his youth in Bangladesh to carry him all the way to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Years later, that same principle propelled him to conquer the fickle world of restaurant ownership.

"It is simple -- you have to be passionate about every aspect of your life," Dawn emphasized. "You have to love what you are doing."

Having travelled extensively, particularly in Europe, Dawn eventually settled in Westchester, where some of his family lived. With its proximity to areas like Rye, Larchmont and Scarsdale, Dawn thought Mamaroneck would be a good spot for a neighborhood, European-style café.

"In the beginning, we got to be known as one of the best places to get dessert," Dawn recalled.

The carrot cake, chocolate mud pie, Dark Side of the Moon cake and chocolate croissants, among other decadent treats, drew the crowds.

"Eventually, we transferred to a dining place. I was the first guy on the avenue to have a full liquor license, but I didn't want to promote the bar and deal with all that comes with that. I was more interested in attracting a family crowd. But if someone wanted a drink, I wanted to have it for them."

Dawn also claims to be the first anywhere in the area to offer outdoor sidewalk dining.

With all the new restaurant arrivals on Mamaroneck Avenue in the last two years, how does Dawn keep Café Mozart successful nearly 15 years after its opening? For one, he relishes the personal interaction with his customers; Dawn is a permanent, highly visible and hands-on fixture at his restaurant. As we spoke, he was constantly aware of what was happening in the café, ready to jump to greet customers, wipe down a table or proffer a menu.

With a master's degree in psychology, and a previous career as the CEO of the Kurigram Textile Mill in Bangladesh, Dawn prides himself on knowing how to run a business and knowing how to deal with people. "I come from a business family, and I like people," he noted. "I watch them and I learn from them."

One thing he has learned from his customers is they want their food to be consistently good.

"If someone enjoys a meal at my cafe, and for some reason they go away for a while, when they come back we serve that same sandwich I served them on that first day. That is key. Your food has to be to the standard you like, not what I like, and it has to be consistent each time you come," Dawn asserted.

To help maintain the consistent quality if the food, Dawn personally shops the Hunts Point Market and the Restaurant Depot in Mt. Vernon every day to make sure what he offers is fresh. And his two chefs – one from the Czech Republic and the other from El Salvador – have been with him for eight years.

"If you see my café menu, you really could eat here every day," Dawn said. "Everything we make is really how you would cook at your home. Everything is very healthy and we always use fresh ingredients."

Having dined at Café Mozart many times over the years, I have always enjoyed their salads, soups and quiches. Their signature dish, the Viennese Schnitzel – a large, crispy thin chicken cutlet served with creamy mashed potatoes and asparagus – is comforting and delicious. The grilled chicken and steak sandwiches are both perfect when served on a warm baguette and accompanied by a side salad with Café Mozart's homemade vegetable vinaigrette.

On this visit, Dawn suggested I try two of their pita sandwiches. The Mediterranean Sandwich featured grilled chicken with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and sprouts nestled in a pita lined with hummus on the bottom; it was light and very flavorful. The daily special sandwich featured mildly spicy curry chicken salad perfectly balanced with grapes and cranberries; dishes that mix the sweet with the savory are always a hit with me. Whenever I have dined at Café Mozart, I can honestly say I have never had a bad meal.

But running a local business and sustaining it for so many years requires more than just a commitment to serving quality food. Dawn believes being successful in the neighborhood requires a commitment to the community as well. He is on the board of the Mamaroneck Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Village of Mamaroneck Task Force and executive board member of the Friends of Mamaroneck Library. He has always sponsored a girls soccer team, and he said he enjoyed volunteering to help build the playground in Harbor Island a few years ago.

"That you have to do – when you do business in the community, you have to be involved and connected to the community," Dawn said. "If a customer is loyal to you, you have to be loyal to them."

Café Mozart serves lunch and dinner, with daily specials, and offers live, free entertainment Thursday through Saturday.  Starters range from $4.50 to $8.95; salads from $5 to $11.95; omelet's and sandwiches are priced from $7.95 to $11.95; and entrees go from $8.95 to $16.95.

Café Mozart also serves brunch at the weekend, and Dawn says they make "the best French toast in the world." That's what's on my list to try on my next visit to Café Mozart.