Brazilian cuisine is known for its savory seasonings, sweet treats, and bold coffee, and that’s exactly what you can expect from The Bossanova, New Paltz’s new Brazilian cafe. Open since January 4 and centrally located in the village, The Bossanova offers daily coffee and pastries, a weekday buffet, and weekend table service for brunch and lunch.
“It’s very common in Brazil to have an upscale experience with both a hot buffet option and traditional sit-down service, and here in New Paltz we felt that people would resonate with this concept, since it’s often challenging to grab a quick, wholesome hot lunch,” says co-owner Bryan Peguero who runs the restaurant with his wife, Anny Campos. “We serve traditional Brazilian, with influences from the vast regions of the country through the homestyle recipes that Anny knows from growing up in Brazil.” Although they’re currently only open during daytime hours, plans to expand for dinner hours are in the works after they get their beer/wine/cider license.
Prior to The Bossanova, the intimate cafe space was last Krishna Kitchen, an Indian restaurant. While echoes linger in the built-in, Indian-inspired archways, the new atmosphere offers a subtle approach to Brazilian decor—more “coffee lounge” than carnaval flair, with deep brown walls featuring portraits of tribal women, retro postcards, and vintage curios, as soft Brazilian music streams throughout the room.
“We wanted the design to be relatively minimal, and luckily there was no need to revamp the whole space—the most we did was remove a stage to add additional seating,” Peguero says. “As for the aesthetic, a lot of credit goes to Anny who has an incredible sense of style and created a vibe that tells a visual story. When you look around you’ll see objects that represent famous artists, politicians, and places of Brazil. Bossa nova is widely renowned as a popular genre of music, but it’s also a political movement and encompasses the time period of the late 1960s and ’70s, so we tried to incorporate that era with old cameras, records, and postcards as wall decor, while staying true to the soft, romantic, jazzy feel that bossa nova music is most known for.”
The coffee bar element fit both the authenticity to Brazilian culture and to Peguero’s own passion for coffee. “We partnered with roaster No. Six Depot in the Berkshires, which I had been drinking personally,” he says. “The owner and his wife travel to South America often to build relationships that are equitable for underserved communities.” Beans are roasted just a few weeks before making their way to The Bossanova, where you can order both classic cafe options like lattes and cortados, but also uniquely Brazilian flavors—their Brazilian cappuccino has a base of rich chocolate at the bottom and the popular peanut flour latte incorporates a traditional snack—sweet peanut. “We always joked that if we could melt sweet peanut over our coffee it would make the perfect drink, and Anny figured out how to make it into a delicious latte,” Peguero explains. “It’s probably our most popular drink, but we’ve seen a lot of love for all of our coffee.”
During weekday buffets, you can fill a lunch plate or a to-go container at $15.99 a pound. Typical options include various salad greens, grilled chicken, seasoned steak with pepper and onions, rice and beans, sides like yucca fries and plantains, and more. On weekends, the buffet is replaced by table service, with a menu that features dishes like the popular Not Like Us wings ($17) cooked with Brazilian spices, or Grandma’s Brisket Sandwiche: a footlong with pulled brisket ($22) made from Campos’s family recipe. The osso bucco over polenta ($29) is a slow-cooked beef shank that’s “seen a lot of clean plates,” according to Peguero. For dessert, the vegan cheesecake-style lemon pie ($9) is a hit, but other traditional sweets like pudim (Brazilian flan), curau (corn pudding), and passionfruit pudding are available. Find additional snacks like pao de queijo, an irresistible cheesy tapioca-flour bread that’s everywhere in Brazil ($2 small, $4 large).
This is the first restaurant for the pair, who reside in nearby Highland, although they previously ran a food delivery service for postpartum moms, out of a commercial kitchen in Poughkeepsie. “It felt great to help these families, but it was a tough business to scale, and at heart, we knew we always wanted to do something more like this,” he says. “Anny has worked in a few different industries, but her passion is with food. I had years of experience in hospitality and she has the skill for cooking, so a restaurant was a natural synergy for us.” Peguero maintains operations and marketing, while Campos is head chef, barista, and oversees front of house.
“We’re a small family business with big dreams and hopes,” Peguero says, “and grateful to provide this type of food and culture to the community.”
The Bossanova is open daily from 8am until 5pm.
