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Maspeth Bistro Offers Venezuelan Dishes and Nutella Cappuccino

By Katie Honan | January 17, 2017 4:06pm
 The owners, Vanessa Ceballos and Suset Marin, inside Jacups Coffee Bistro in Maspeth.
The owners, Vanessa Ceballos and Suset Marin, inside Jacups Coffee Bistro in Maspeth.
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DNAinfo/Katie Honan

MASPETH — Vanessa Ceballos and Suset Marin had talked for a few years about opening up a restaurant, thinking the idea was just a dream.

"But then it became a reality," Ceballos said, referring to Jacups Coffee Bistro, the small restaurant they opened at 52-17 69th St. in Maspeth.

After being scared away by commercial rents throughout Queens, she noticed last fall a new storefront had opened while driving her daughter to school. The rent was fair, and Jacups opened in December. 

Their menu is simple, with a few items from Venezuelan cuisine along with a Peruvian rice bowl and an all-American burger.

Both women are from Venezuela, and their menu features an array of arepas, patacones and the popular Caracas bowl, which has shredded beef, black beans and plantains over white rice.

In the morning, they sell breakfast sandwiches, lox and eggs, and various omelettes. 

The coffee menu includes regular brewed coffee, macchiato, lattes and a popular Nutella cappuccino — which comes in a glass rimmed with the hazelnut spread and topped with cookies.

Ceballos, 29, doesn't have formal training as a chef but learned about the restaurant business once she moved to Queens a few years ago. Working at Phillie's, an Italian restaurant on Elliot Avenue in Middle Village, was like her "school," she said.

Her mom, a former architect in Venezuela, helped them design the interior of the restaurant, and also makes all of the baked goods — like the popular carrot and triple chocolate cakes. 

So far the response has been overwhelmingly positive, with returning customers letting neighbors know about the new spot, Ceballos said.

"For me, Queens is perfect," she said. "We want to change al little of what people think the community can offer."