About Pomegranate Café & Us
Pomegranate Café began as a shared dream between mother and daughter, Cassie and Marlene Tolman. Their vision was to create a space where delicious flavor and nutritious ingredients came together with extraordinary service in a unique, earth-conscious environment. With those elements in place a seed was planted, and in the fall of 2009 Pomegranate grew into a lovely little neighborhood café.
Marlene & Cassie come to Pomegranate with distinctive backgrounds. Marlene has decades of experience in the non-profit sector, including the start-up of the national non-profit Kids Voting USA. She is especially skilled at making ideas come alive with a practical application. She also earned a Certificate in Patisserie and Baking from Scottsdale Culinary Institute’s Cordon Bleu. At Pomegranate, Marlene uses her traditional pastry techniques to create wholesome baked goods and delectable, all natural treats.
Cassie is a graduate of The Natural Gourmet Cookery School, NYC (the oldest and most prestigious vegetarian culinary school in the country). Her culinary adventures stretch from cooking private meals for individuals and communities to traditional restaurant experience. Her latest project involved creating a healthy organic lunch program at Desert Garden Montessori in Ahwatukee, which she still supports and works to keep alive. She is currently working on a children’s cookbook. Cassie’s skill and experience in the kitchen are mixed with a heaping dose of imagination and an appetite for new flavors.
Together, Marlene and Cassie share a common goal to offer a heartfelt business that serves the Ahwatukee neighborhood. They realize how fortunate they are to do something that benefits their community while making their dream come true.
