By admin 
An international cafe has arrived in South Natomas, serving sweet and savory pastries with inspiration from the South Pacific, including the island of Fiji.
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Known as The Crave Spot, the cafe operates at 3645 Northgate Blvd. in the Northgate Plaza Shopping Center.
The new business, which opened this summer, is owned by husband and wife Mohammed Talim and Sahispa Begum, who immigrated to Sacramento from Fiji in the 2010s.
“(We serve) diversified and multicultural food that we combined in one spot to sell and for people to enjoy,” Talim said.
While he serves as a co-owner, Talim said Begum runs the cafe, cooking and baking the desserts and other dishes. The Crave Spot serves meat pies, pizza, cake, coffee, lemonade, handmade sodas, and sandwiches.
Talim’s uncle makes the meat pies by hand, filling the pastry with choices of meat flavored by curries. Another employee’s daughter makes banana bread from scratch. The business is completely family-run.
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“We bake it every day in the morning,” Talim said. “Everything is fresh, even the coffee too.”
The inspiration for The Crave Spot came from Begum, Talim said. The couple had raised their two sons and, Begum wanted to go back to work. The idea was straightforward: create a cafe that serves craveable foods and desserts in the Natomas area.
The two came across the business space, which once housed the Matin Et Soir bakery. After talking with the owner, the couple decided to go in on their own coffee shop.
“We bought it, made adjustments to the menu, the dishes and the food items,” Talim said. “We transformed it from just the coffee and pastry shop into the crave spot.”
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The Crave Spot is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.