Rise opened in Gemmayze with a clear mission from day one: to create Lebanon's first fully refined sugar-free, adaptogen-focused coffee and wellness bar, as described by its founder. Built around specialty coffee, matcha, smoothies, wellness shots and food, the concept combines familiar everyday favorites with functional ingredients such as Lion's Mane, Ashwagandha, Reishi, Maca and Cordyceps. Customers can also personalize their drinks with additions including collagen, probiotics, spirulina and protein.
From investment banking to building Rise in Gemmayze
Melissa El Haddad's background was far from food and beverages. She studied industrial engineering at the American University of Beirut, completed a master's in international finance at HEC Paris, and built a career in investment banking at UBS in London. Alongside her career, she maintained a strong interest in health and wellness and completed a holistic health coaching certification.
Back in Beirut, she wanted somewhere she could order a coffee and something to eat without interrogating the ingredients. No such place existed, so she decided to build it herself. She had no F&B experience and taught herself everything from menu development and sourcing to suppliers and operations, building the concept from the ground up.
Rise was built and opened during war and uncertainty in Lebanon. El Haddad chose to invest her energy and capital into the business despite the circumstances. She believed Beirut needed a place that made wellness enjoyable, approachable and uncompromising on taste.
Where coffee meets wellness
At its core Rise brings together specialty coffee and wellness under one concept. The menu was designed to combine specialty coffee, matcha, smoothies, wellness shots and food with functional ingredients and a refined sugar-free philosophy. Gluten-free and dairy-free options sit throughout, and the refined sugar free rule applies to the whole menu without exception.
Lion's Mane for focus, Ashwagandha for a hard day
Rise works with Lion's Mane, Ashwagandha, Cordyceps, Reishi and Maca, and lets customers personalize their drinks according to what they are looking for that day, whether that is focus, energy, balance or simply something that tastes good. Part of the concept is introduction. Many customers have never tried these ingredients before, and incorporating them into a familiar coffee or smoothie creates an easy introduction.
Someone who has had a stressful day might take an Ashwagandha latte. Someone who needs to concentrate might take a coffee with Lion's Mane. Anyone who just wants something refreshing takes a smoothie.
Wellness without restriction
El Haddad is intentional about what Rise is and what it isn't. She believes that wellness is not about restriction, calorie counting or perfection. Customers should come in because they want the cookie, the coffee, the smoothie or the matcha, and then find that the better choice cost them nothing in taste or enjoyment.
"One of my favorite moments is watching someone take their first bite of our chocolate chip cookie and say, I can't believe this doesn't contain refined sugar," she says.
Transparency sits alongside that. Rise wants customers to know what they are consuming without decoding a menu or wondering about hidden ingredients, on the view that the word healthy should mean something specific.
A room that adapts to the day
Bright, warm and open, the space is built for visits of very different lengths: a ten minute stop between meetings, a few hours of work, a catch up with a friend, a post workout drink. Regulars include busy professionals, founders and creatives, students, wellness conscious customers and people who simply want a good coffee.
"I often describe Rise as the friend who always makes you feel better after spending time with them," El Haddad says. "It is a place that adapts to your day instead of asking you to change who you are."
Building beyond the first location
Since launch, Rise has continued to develop new products, including the launch of Supercubes, while collaborating with brands such as Alo Yoga, Kahaw and Facefit. Attention now sits on growing the Rise community, expanding the product universe, exploring strategic collaborations and looking at opportunities to take the concept beyond its first location.
El Haddad frames the whole thing as a bet she made on herself. "Sometimes betting on yourself is the boldest decision you can make, especially when everything around you tells you not to. I came home, started from scratch and chose to build anyway," she says.
