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Battery Park City Residents Say Farewell to Popular Pan Latin Cafe

By Julie Shapiro | September 16, 2010 6:24am | Updated on September 24, 2010 5:58pm

By Julie Shapiro

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

BATTERY PARK CITY — Customers of the Pan Latin Cafe were greeted with hugs and free cookies on Wednesday afternoon, a day before the beloved Battery Park City restaurant planned to shut down for good.

As longtime patrons munched on empanadas or ordered sandwiches to go, many said they felt like they were losing an extension of their living room.

Tiffany Trigg, a TriBeCa resident, started frequenting Pan Latin years ago when she was single, and now she brings her husband and 3-year-old son Leo, who is a regular in the kitchen.

"They make everyone feel like family when they’re here," said Trigg, whose favorite dish is the guava-glazed roast chicken. "In TriBeCa most places are upscale, not just places to grab a cup of coffee. But here there’s no attitude."

Chef and owner Sandy Kraehling, 49, opened the restaurant with her husband six and a half years ago on the windswept edge of the Hudson River, combining Latin flavors with a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Over the years, she has fed the neighborhood’s workers, students and families, offering local children their first taste of tamales and flan.

"In the concrete jungle of the city," Kraehling  said as she bustled between the kitchen and the counter, "it’s critically important to have pockets of home, places you don’t have to be rushed out the door.''

Kraehling said she had been astonished by the outpouring of support since her announcement that the restaurant was no longer financially viable and had to close.

Letters from the youngest customers cover the display cases: "I am sad that you are closing," a girl named Julia printed carefully. Another child made Kraehling a Play-Doh empanada.

As the restaurant’s final hours ticked down, regulars stopped in to order a last taste of their favorite dishes. For Eric Grossman, 44, an English teacher at nearby Stuyvesant High School, that meant a Media Noche sandwich: egg bread piled high with pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickle, mustard and Pan Latin’s special sauce.

"They’ve been tremendously friendly to everyone at Stuyvesant," Grossman said. "They feel like an extension of the school community."

Kraehling offers Stuyvesant students a $6 special that includes a quesadilla, a bottle of water and a cookie.

"They all know us here and smile at us," said Audrey Fleischner, 17, a student from the Upper West Side. "Everyone at the high school is upset."

Kraehling said her business fell 40 percent over the past three years as the recession and layoffs set in. Her location at the west end of Chambers Street is beautiful, but there is very little foot traffic, especially in the winter.

Pan Latin is not going away entirely — Kraehling will continue her catering business, and she hopes to open another cafe with similar food, perhaps in Midtown.

"This is not going to end," Kraehling said. "We’re going to keep the food going."

Pan Latin, at 400 Chambers St., will be open for its last day on Thurs., Sept. 16, from 8 a.m. into the evening.