Long-time restaurateur, business hospitality entrepreneur, and artistic visionary Wendy Relph has announced a new international and eclectic food and beverage and hookah lounge venture with Secret Garden of Shisha, located behind Relph’s retail store The Golden Gypsy at 23 Cuna Street in historic, downtown St. Augustine. The establishment will formally open during First Friday Art Walk in historic St. Augustine on March 2 beginning at 6 pm.
According to Relph, her lifelong treks into exotic regions including Asia, Africa, Europe, South
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Long-time restaurateur, business hospitality entrepreneur, and artistic visionary Wendy Relph has announced a new international and eclectic food and beverage and hookah lounge venture with Secret Garden of Shisha, located behind Relph’s retail store The Golden Gypsy at 23 Cuna Street in historic, downtown St. Augustine. The establishment will formally open during First Friday Art Walk in historic St. Augustine on March 2 beginning at 6 pm.
According to Relph, her lifelong treks into exotic regions including Asia, Africa, Europe, South America and the U.S., have yielded a treasure trove of one of a kind, limited edition teak seating and lounge art pieces and artifacts among fire pits and sculptures to highlight an upscale hookah lounge specializing in craft beers, family owned vineyard wines, Shisha (hookah), and mezze style food. Adjacent to The Golden Gypsy, the new space will feature performance fire dancers and music along with fun and funky artwork, merchandise, plus fine interior design pieces that are unique to northeast Florida.
With Relph’s tag line ‘life as art’ the premises features her artistic and culinary talents with a creative and unique environment in an open space. Relph hand sourced and imported custom teak furnishings, table, benches and chairs from Thailand along with lush landscape and artwork, plus sculptures to create an intimate and dramatic outdoor environment. Secret Garden of Shisha is open Monday through Thursday and Sunday from 5 pm until 12 am, Friday and Saturday from 5 pm to 1 am.
Relph is renowned and well-established in St. Augustine with Crucial Coffee and The Gourmet Hut on Charlotte and Cuna Streets in the original blacksmith and harness shops adjacent to Fort Castillo de San Marcos. The Golden Gypsy structure is a 100-year-old home and a 3,500-square-foot, two-story commercial business location which Relph purchased and transformed into an exotic, experiential shopping experience and Airbnb. With a customized and uniquely painted and decorated the retail environment, hundreds of pieces of truly unique handmade items and art features a sophisticated, yet contemporary theme.
“Secret Garden of Shisha is a new concept for St. Augustine and the region, and we’re proud to be the forerunners in this genre. Our team continues to be thought leaders here and we’ll continue to alert and enlighten the community with our unique style,” Relph said. According to Relph, she focuses on sustainable, repurposed and recycled materials when seeking the unique pieces for the Secret Garden and retail store
Relph was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa and also lived and worked throughout Africa, Australia and the United Kingdom, among others. She began her 20-year history in the restaurant business in the historic city of St. Augustine. Relph enjoys a thriving business and loyal customers while attracting tourists and visitors who are enchanted by the food and beverage garden locations off the Bayfront. The business locations are renowned as the former City of St. Augustine blacksmith and harness shops from the 1700s and located in the heart of Cuna Street which was known as a thriving entertainment district for soldiers from the Fort in the 1800s. Relph owns and operates bed and breakfast properties in St. Augustine and resides in the City of St. Augustine. For more information, visit the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/23hookah/ or call 904.377.3282.
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