There are those who still haven’t recovered from the abrupt closure of venerable Greenwich Village coffee shop Joe Jr.’s, and they commiserate regularly on their own Friends of Joe Jr.’s Facebook page. “I’m slowly getting used to eating at Good Stuff Diner,” wrote Steve Lorand earlier this month. “Oh, man, the split pea soup! Saturday mornings! Extra croutons … ” rhapsodized Christoph Schulze in July. It remains to be seen what these cheeseburger-deluxe nostalgists will make of the diner’s replacement, O Café, a very different style of coffee shop.
Owner Fernando Aciar is a Brazilian chef and baker, and one recent stormy Sunday he introduced New Yorkers to his signature pão de mel, or chocolate-coated honey cake, at New Amsterdam Market. Aciar will feature these treats along with Brazilian coffee, the cheese bread called pão de queijo, and chocolates sourced from the states of Bahia and Pará. And the food isn’t the only thing that will seem foreign to Joe Jr.’s regulars: Aciar’s gut renovation is more green than greasy spoon, incorporating reclaimed materials, recycled lamps, and LED lights. Expect to get a peek inside by the middle of next month.
482 Sixth Ave., at 12th St.; no phone yet.
