Cafe Patoro Is a Neighborhood Go-To With Brazilian Flavor
October 21, 2024
Cafe Patoro, a cozy spot at 223 Front St., has been serving up Brazilian baked goods and other delicacies in the Seaport for nearly a decade. Its selection of pão de queijo — chewy gluten-free cheese breads that come in an array of flavors — is a particular highlight, though there are also plenty of unique sandwiches, crepes, cakes, truffles, coffee and more delicious foods to enjoy here.
Cafe Patoro’s very existence is something of a twist of fate. When owner Ahla Ko-Oh quit her banking job, she wanted to find a career that made her truly happy. Ko-Oh has long loved baking — “I used to wake up at 5 a.m. to bake bread for my family before going to school at 7, just for fun,” she told us — and she missed having easy access to the Brazilian baked goods she used to get in her native São Paulo. So she decided to turn her hobby into a business, selling cheese breads and other goodies at street fairs and popular food vendor spots like Bryant Park. With no background in food or formal training, however, Ko-Oh worried she might have trouble finding a brick-and-mortar space.
That all changed one day, when a customer sampled Ko-Oh’s pão de queijo and was so impressed that they offered to show her some available storefront spaces. That customer turned out to be Douglas Durst, chairman of the Durst Organization, a fortuitous turn-of-events that led to Cafe Patoro’s official establishment in the Seaport in 2016.
In addition to the pão de queijo, Ko-Oh recommends customers try lunch items like the prosciutto and egg crepe and the popular bacon, egg and cheese (“It’s simple, but we use really good bacon,” she said). The brigadeiro cake — a take on the rich, chocolate-y Brazilian bonbon — is also a favorite of Ko-Oh’s, as are unconventional coffee drinks like the dulce de leche latte. You can also get gluten-free brigadeiro in non-cake form. As one of only a handful of Brazilian spots in Manhattan, Ko-Oh says a lot of customers are specifically looking for Brazilian food.
“We recently had a Brazilian family come in and the mom said the pão de queijo ‘is better than what we have at home,’” Ko-Oh said.
Still, Ko-Oh thinks of Cafe Patoro as a local spot more than a destination. She lives in Lower Manhattan, loves the neighborhood and wants Cafe Patoro, which is outfitted in country kitchen-esque design and decor, to feel like a home base for other locals. “We want customers to leave here feeling warm,” she said.
main photo: courtesy Cafe Patoro
