Our story

Hi, I'm Marija Grech, and welcome to Bohini.

Food and hospitality have always been my passion: feeding people and making them feel welcome. Opening my own place was a dream I carried with me for years, and I knew that one day I had to follow it and make a start.

I grew up here in L-Imġarr, a village surrounded by countryside and the sea. It felt like the right place for really good coffee and good food, and for a space where the community could come together.

When I took on the building just behind the church, I spent a whole year refurbishing it, until it felt welcoming and stylish.

We opened in 2018 as a small café with cakes and a few specials. We didn't even have a menu: every day we wrote four specials on a blackboard, the same blackboard I used to play with as a child. From there, we always kept improving.

I never did it alone. My family has supported me every step of the way, and many people have worked with us over the years. Some have since moved on, but their work is a big part of why Bohini grew, and I'm grateful to every one of them.

Growing and creating my own place as a woman hasn't always been easy, and the COVID days were especially hard. But we've always believed in getting a little better every day. If I've learned one thing, it's this: when you have a dream, you have to work hard and believe in it to make it happen.

“When you have a dream, you have to work hard and believe in it to make it happen.”

That's how a small café became the restaurant it is today, with breakfast, lunch, teatime and aperitivo, and now After Hours dinners too. The heart of it hasn't changed: food from heart, served as if you were a guest in my home.

And to all our customers: thank you. We're truly grateful for the support you've given us over the years. You're a big part of this story too.

See you soon,
Marija Grech
Owner, Bohini