Optimism Brewed Daily

If the sign of neighborhood gentrification is the sudden presence of an espresso bar, then Hunters Point has arrived in its own unique way with the Brasil Coffee House on Vernon Boulevard and 49th Avenue.
Katia Santana-OMalley, a granddaughter of Brazilian coffee farmers, opened the coffeehouse at the end of July and has already gained a following among upwardly mobile local residents who until now havent had a spot to sip lattes like their suburban counterparts.
"The Queens West project helps a lot," said OMalley of the steady stream of customers she sees from the nearby Citylights and Avalon Riverview luxury high-rises. "Otherwise I would not be here."
The Brasil Coffee House stands out in Hunters Point as much as OMalley herself, a former fashion designer who runs her business in a big straw hat and stylish clothes. Upon entering, a gigantic diorama of a fazenda, or coffee plantation, greets the customer, complete with a plantation house, green hills, tiny trees and people dotting the landscape. OMalley commissioned the diorama and many other works of art for the coffee house from Brazilian artist Samir Couri.
Another decidedly un-Starbucks twist is the menu, which instead of bundt cake offers snacks like homemade empanadas and coxinhas, which are dumplings stuffed with potato, chicken and cheese. Next door to the coffee house, OMalley owns a take-out churrasco restaurant that sells barbecue and rotisserie chicken and beef.
OMalleys mission is to convert Americans to the taste of Brazilian coffee, which is imported and roasted on-site and which she hopes to sell to local markets someday. "When people think of coffee, they think of Juan Valdez," she said, referring to the mascot of Colombian coffee. However, she points out that Brazil exports half of the worlds coffee, and trumpets the unique dry-roasting process as superior to washing the beans, which in her opinion deprives the coffee of flavor.
Roasting technique mattered little to Chanel Tillman, 20, who enjoyed an iced coffee drink on a recent hot day. "Its very pretty inside," she said. "Its a nice little twist."
Renee Katsaitis, 20, is a regular customer who grew up and still lives in the neighborhood. "It wasnt as civilized," she said of the days before the coffee house and the luxury high-rises. "And its changing even more."
On a street still dominated by dingy bodegas, fast-food restaurants and a check-cashing business, other signs of yuppification are slowly creeping in. The tiny LIC Cafe on 49th Avenue features filet mignon and roast pear on the menu, while the City Lights Grill, named for the apartment building, presents a sharp contrast to the Palace Fried Chicken restaurant next door.
"I looked at places in [Greenwich] Village, TriBeCa, and SoHo," said OMalley. "But here, we are minutes from Manhattan. Its safe and clean. You can smell the future here."