Our Story
Lumina is the light of culture. It comes from a combination of my two childrens’ names - Luca and Carmina - and was conceived as an idea in the late 1990s for the name of a cafe even before my children were conceived. Lumina means an opening through which light passes. In the fall of 2023, having just moved to Ashland, OR after spending years in the southwest desert of Tucson, the light of this idea of Cafe Lumina went off in my head as my partner and long-time friend, Alessandro, encouraged me to answer the call and follow my dream. We found the location at 27 N Main St, formerly the site of Mountain Provisions, a retail shop which had moved down Main Street after a fire in the building in May 2022, to be available. It took two years to turn our dreams into reality, which you can see during the construction phase in the video above.
Located in the Ashland Plaza near the entrance to Lithia Park, Lumina is a gathering place, where food, art, music and la bella vita come together with recipes from southern Italy, where the Head Chef, Sabrina, grew up. We are locally sourced + organic and we don’t use seed oils. We offer gourmet Italian food, served fast, with a unique hot bar and order-at-the-counter service. We also have the best Italian wines, Oregon beers, and specialty cocktails featuring something from Italy in every drink.
We encourage you to visit and taste authentic Italian home cooking, and stay a while, lingering in the beautiful environment we have lovingly created.
-Neil Antonio
