Pita Coast, a student-run, Mediterranean restaurant, is open on the College of the Atlantic Campus [Mt. Desert Islander] · College of the Atlantic

Shea Turner-Matthews ’26, left, and Mustafa Khorzom ’25 with Pita Coast, their pop-up restaurant on COA campus. The business is the culmination of their work in the COA Diana Davis Spencer Hatchery sustainable business incubator.
Credit: Madi DuVarney ’27Pita Coast, a student-run, small-scale restaurant serving Middle Eastern cuisine, is open for the summer and fall season on the College of the Atlantic’s campus with fresh wraps, homemade hummus and soft serve ice cream with a fruit twist.

Pita Coast is co-founded by COA students Shea Turner-Matthews and Mustafa Khorzom, who took a business incubator class, “The Hatchery,” through their spring term. The course introduces students to several individuals in the business field, from accountants and lawyers to marketing and social media consultants.

“The result you see now is a product of our class; it’s essentially our final,” said Khorzom. “It was the last class I took here at COA before graduating this June. I am a pre-medical student, but it is part of our human ecology education that you focus on different areas in life and education.”