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Leila Hannoun, who is known on YouTube for her creative plant-based lifestyle content, recently shared a video on how she transformed her kitchen and dining area into a vegan café for her friends. The video follows her from Tuesday through Saturday as she prepares for a special brunch gathering. The brunch is complete with homemade bakes, a DIY bouquet station, and thoughtful decorative touches. It’s a simple yet inspiring example of how vegans can create a joyful space to share small treats and quality time together – whether for a special occasion or just because.
By planning ahead and preparing in stages, Hannoun shows how hosting doesn’t need to be stressful. Her brunch includes a pancake station, a variety of baked goods, and drinks like fresh ginger shots and coffee. Throughout the video, she focuses on re-creating a café feel using craft paper decor, labeled jars, take-home boxes, and warm presentation.
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Planning the café and decor
Hannoun begins by outlining her vision: a cozy vegan café setup and brunch featuring a make-your-own flower bouquet station. She sets herself up with a checklist and begins sourcing supplies like craft paper, bakery boxes, and coffee cups to bring the café aesthetic to life.
While her shopping trip isn’t as successful as hoped, she makes do by sticking to a consistent visual theme. She decides on natural tones and a simple, homemade feel. She also begins designing a handwritten menu using craft paper and sketching out how the kitchen setup will work practically for food and drinks. “My idea is to have lots of little different elements of a café, just so that we feel like we’re in a café, we’re in my kitchen,” she says.
Have your own vegan café
Midweek prep: drinks and details
On Wednesday, she makes ginger shots using orange, lemon, turmeric, and black pepper, and pours them into labeled shot glasses. She also prepares drink cartons filled with almond milk and orange juice, allowing guests to help themselves. “I think I’m going to start making these more regularly for us, so that’s a pro of buying those,” she adds, referencing the glasses.
These small steps help ensure that everything will be ready by the weekend. And that her guests will have a fun, self-serve experience.
The big prep day: baking and bouquet touches
By Friday, the bulk of the cooking begins. Hannoun prepares multiple items from scratch. There is rosemary focaccia, no-bake brownie bites topped with handcrafted marshmallow flowers, hot cross buns, and two sourdough loaves. There are two flavors of sourdough: one cinnamon raisin, one jalapeño and vegan cheese.
She also enjoys playing with presentation, slicing vegan marshmallows into flower petals and placing them on top of chocolate-glazed brownie bites.
The theme of flowers ties the food and decor together, reinforcing the relaxed, inviting cafe atmosphere. “They definitely fit in the theme of making our own flower bouquets and they look super cute,” she says.
Brunch day: pancakes, finishing touches, and hosting
On Saturday morning, Hannoun gets to work early making pancakes for a live pancake station. She glazes the hot cross buns and puts the final items in place around her kitchen and dining area. “It actually looks like a café in here,” she says.
The space is ready with labeled sections, drinks set up, and a flower bouquet table where guests can build their own arrangements. Hannoun reflects on the moment with satisfaction. “I’ve cooked up a feast and I’m pretty sure our guests will be leaving very full and satisfied.” She says.
Later, she films the bouquet-making activity and the shared food experience, calling it a “Georgina mid-afternoon activity with the girlies.”
Through every step, Hannoun offers a clear reminder that thoughtful planning and a few handmade details can turn a simple brunch into something memorable and meaningful.
You can see more of Leila’s plant-based lifestyle content on her YouTube Channel.
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