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Yaffa Cafe to Become a Sustainable Portuguese Restaurant

By Lisha Arino | March 17, 2015 8:01am | Updated on March 17, 2015 6:59pm
 Portuguese restaurant Taberna will take over the former Yaffa Cafe location at 97 St. Marks Place.
Portuguese restaurant Taberna will take over the former Yaffa Cafe location at 97 St. Marks Place.
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DNAinfo/Lisha Arino

EAST VILLAGE — The owners of an East Village bar and restaurant are bringing Portuguese food to the former Yaffa Café space and turning its backyard dining area into a garden.

The new restaurant, Taberna, will be a "food focused" restaurant "with a European bar/cafe atmosphere," when it opens later this year, according to co-owner Eric Baker.

The restaurant will serve small and shareable Portuguese dishes like caldo verde — a traditional potato-based soup with shredded kale and optional chorizo slices — and bacalhau — dried and salted cod. It will also serve beer and wine, Baker added.

Baker and his business partners —  wife Patricia Martins and sister-in-law Raquel Martins, who are both Portuguese — took over the space after the city shut down the property’s previous tenant, Yaffa Café, in October. The trio also owns St. Dymphnas, a bar and restaurant located on the same block.

Yaffa's illegal back patio, which was partially responsible for its closing, will be turned into a garden, Baker said, and windows will be built into the back of the restaurant so customers can look at the landscaped area.

The owners are putting the space through a major overhaul, Baker added.

“We’ve completely gutted the place. It had not seen any renovation for God knows how long,” he said, explaining that there were “layers upon layers” of flooring and walls.

Taberna will have a modern, "turn-of-the-century" look with about 16 tables that seat around 30 people and a dozen stools at the bar. The owners also plan to make the restaurant as eco-friendly as possible, Baker said.

Baker said he hopes to open Taberna by July.