Although New Paltz is blessed with a plethora of restaurants, there tends to be a redundancy in types of cuisine available. Italian and Mexican places abound. We went from no sushi bars to three within a brief span of time. For a while we even had two Thai eateries right next door to each other, and two Middle Eastern places on the same block. Sometimes the local population will generously embrace more than one establishment offering similar cuisine; other times, one will thrive while a copycat fails. Turnover is lively and unpredictable, sometimes driven by factors other than the level of public appreciation and commerce.
Always, geographic and cultural gaps remain. One continent hitherto inexplicably untouched on the culinary front has been South America, and that wild tropical frontier has now finally been crossed. It took the demise of one of New Paltz’s two Indian restaurants to do it, but Brazilian food is now available downtown, and it’s delicious.
The village’s newest restaurant is called The Bossanova Brazilian Cuisine & Café, located at 5 Church Street. It’s an iconic building, especially to old-timers who remember the heyday of New Paltz hippiedom when it was known as the Cloud House, its front painted bright azure and decorated with stars, clouds and the cartoon version of John Lennon as he appeared in Yellow Submarine. From a communal residence, band hangout and rehearsal space, it evolved into Creations Coffeehouse and then a succession of restaurants, including Suruchi, the original End Cut (2015), McFoxlin’s (2020) and, most recently, Krishna Kitchen (2021).
The latter, which featured vegetarian Indian cuisine, maintained the blue façade that has long featured so prominently in photographs of Church Street from a Main Street vantagepoint. It was a view that Bossanova owners Anny and Bryan Peguero took to their hearts when they moved to Highland and began coming to New Paltz for “date nights.” But when they assumed the lease for the downstairs restaurant space, they decided that it needed a change of branding to make it their own, and secured permission from the planning board to update the colors. The exterior paint palette now shows a more sophisticated light grey with charcoal and forest green accents. The interior is a subdued combination of green, yellow and blue, meant to evoke the Brazilian flag.
Anny is a native of São Paulo, who trained for a career as a pharmacist. “I worked in a hospital for five years, but I also managed a sports bar. I really liked the cooking part,” she says. “I came to the US in 2018 to learn English and went to work for an au pair with a family in Westchester. I started cooking more for their kids. Then I met Bryan, and we started a cooking business.”
Born in Queens to Puerto Rican and Dominican parents, Bryan also found himself working in the hospitality field while putting himself through business school. He did catering, was a bartender and barista, before embarking on a career in software sales. But after he and Anny became a couple, they decided to pool their skills to start up a catering company specializing in “meal prep for postpartum moms and kids who were picky eaters,” Anny explains. “We would make them bento boxes.”
To do the actual cooking, they rented the commissary kitchen at the Underwear Factory in Poughkeepsie, on the midnight-to-4 a.m. shift. That proved untenable once they married and had a daughter (Amora, now aged 2), so they began to plan opening their own place. Having moved just down the road from Bad Seed Cider, and both being “passionate about apples and cider,” they named their new business enterprise Awkward Apples Café, for which Bryan designed a “goofy” apple cartoon character. “At first we wanted to open a café,” says Anny, “but we couldn’t find the perfect spot.”
When the Krishna Kitchen space came on the market, they grabbed it and rethought their business plan, since there are two other storefronts on the same block — Beans Cat Café and Gunks Gaming Guild — that emphasize coffee sales. Plus, they now had a full kitchen to work with. Anny missed the cuisine of her youth, and knew from talking to fellow expats that places to find it were far away: “You literally have to travel to Mount Vernon, Connecticut or Newark if you want Brazilian food.” For many, New Paltz would be much closer. So, they made a leap of faith.
To say “Brazilian cuisine” is a lot like saying “American cuisine,” in that it’s an enormous country with a wide variety of geographic regions, climates and cultural influences. “I grew up in the south,” Anny notes, where barbecued meats like those favored in nearby Paraguay and Argentina are highly popular. “But my grandmother was from the north. They use different oils and seasonings.” Secret ingredients for recipes she learned from her grandmother include aceite de dendé, a flavorful palm oil, for example, and lemon-infused sea salt, both used on fish.
Some Brazilian dishes are indigenous, while others reflect past immigration patterns, such as the arrival of a large number of Japanese people in the 1950s. Bolinhos de bacalhau – deep-fried balls of salt cod – are a Portuguese tradition; “During Easter this is what they eat all week.” Another popular fried snack, kibe, is a Brazilian beef variant on a lamb croquette brought by Lebanese immigrants. Says Anny, “What I plan to bring is the flavor from all over.”
The Grand Opening event at Bossanova last Saturday featured free samples of crunchy cheesy bread snacks called pao de queijo, plus a preview of the hot and cold “upscale grab-and-go” buffets that the restaurant will feature on weekdays, sold by weight. Everything this correspondent sampled was fresh and tasty, including a turmeric-tinted chicken salad that was the best I’ve had in years. A variety of delectable slow-cooked, marinated beef and pork offerings included “Grandma’s brisket.” Beans were prepared with pork, yucca flour and savory regional spices. A vinaigrette chopped salad provided a lively, crunchy counterpoint. “Every day will be different,” says Anny.
On weekends, she will be cooking items à la carte from a menu that features both northern and southern Brazilian dishes. Brazilian Americans who flocked to the Grand Opening are sure to be back, lured by the promise of such beloved classics as grilled picanha churrasco. Tapioca flour, which comes from the tropical cassava plant, is used to make popular gluten-free appetizers that have a chewy exterior and sweet or savory fillings, typically served with a spicy fruit jam. They pair well with the delicious house coffee, sustainably grown in Brazil and supplied by No. Six Depot, based in the Berkshires.
Until they get their liquor license and commence dinner service, hours of operation at Bossanova will run from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. on weekdays and until 4 on weekends. Mornings are for coffee, pastries and breakfast sandwiches, including the traditional Brazilian bauru: roast beef, tomato, pickle and loads of melted cheese on a Portuguese roll. The buffet opens at 11 a.m.
To view the full menu and learn more about what’s happening at Bossanova, visit www.thebossanovarestaurant.com, www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569988126030 or www.instagram.com/thebossanovarestaurant.
Join the family! 
