Jennifer Gould

Jennifer Gould

Food & Drink

Brazilia Café aims to ‘blend’ in on Broadway

Sweetwater Social, a 2,300 square-foot subterranean lounge, is slated to open this week, just above the recently opened Bleecker Kitchen & Co.

Sweetwater bills itself as an ode to New York with classic neighborhood-themed cocktails.

Veteran mixologists Tim Cooper of Goldbar and Justin Noel of 1534 are teaming up with Goldbar partners Shaun Rose and Udi Vaknin.

The recreational bar/lounge, in a modern, industrial style — think steel, brick and black and white subway-style tiles — will be a place to hang out with foosball and shuffleboard. Small plates will be offered along with seasonal cocktails with more than 300 spirits on hand, served from a 30-foot bar.

The restaurant seats 40 to 45 for lounging/dining and another 20 seats at the bar and 20-foot communal table.

The space, designed by Melissa Brasier and Nico Arze, is meant to create a “childhood fantasy home basement built for grown-ups,” Brasier said.

The cocktail menu has been designed on a New York City subway map with each stop offering a cocktail reminiscent of the ’hood, including a gin-based “Day at the Races” for the Aqueduct stop and, for the Delancey/Bowery stop, a “Big Trouble, Little China” — toasted sesame-infused bourbon, simple syrup, fresh lemon juice, cucumber, salt tincture and club soda garnished with a cucumber slice.


Brazil will meet Soho next month, when Fal Foods Worldwide opens Brazilia Café, a one-stop coffee, juice bar and “gelateria” with full dining at 684 Broadway.

The café, which boasts a 60-seat dining area, will also serve coffee brewed from its nine bean blends (it owns the Brazilia Coffee brand) grown on its own plantation.

Coffee lovers can watch their beans being roasted, then brewed whichever way they prefer — Chemex, Aeropress or French press — for a truly custom cup. Fresh drip and cold press coffees will also be available for those on the go.

Malcolm Stogo, CEO of West Orange, NJ-based Fal Foods, is known for having created the cookies ’n’ cream flavor in 1976. Now Stago has created Brazilia’s gelato and sorbets, which will be made fresh throughout the day, along with to-go dairy-free, gluten-free and sugar-free versions made from its DF Mavens line of dairy-free deserts.

The Brazilian-themed menu from Executive Chef Danny Lachs will focus on fresh baked goods and breakfast choices like empanadas and smoked fish platters along with fresh soups and sandwiches and salads.

The 3,000 square-foot space was designed in a rustic yet modern style — lots of warm wood and oak parquet flooring mixing with handcrafted iron — by Costa Group, of Eataly fame. The furniture was custom made in Italy.


In Upper West Side news, Savoury, an Indian restaurant from chef-owner Lala Sharma, whose now-shuttered Surya was a West Village favorite for more than a decade, is opening this month at 489 Columbus Ave., between 83rd and 84th streets.

Sharma began his career at Bukhara, a top restaurant in New Delhi before coming to New York in 1994, where he worked at Mughlai before opening Surya in 2001. In 2011, he opened Swagat with his son, Abishek Sharma.


We hear … That 21 Club is serving Academy Awards cocktails in honor of all the Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated films in which the iconic eatery has played a starring role, from “All About Eve” (1951) to “Rear Window” (1955) to “Wall Street” (1988).