Eduardo Mussi, left, and Paulina Aldona Lis are excited about opening the Spiral Café at 108 Central Avenue. — Photo by Diego Cupolo
Musician Eduardo Mussi lived in East Williamsburg for eight years before making the move to Bushwick for a less expensive living arrangement. Once he and his girlfriend, Paulina Aldona Lis, moved in, they noticed their Central Avenue building’s tiny, vacant storefront. Having run a skate shop in São Paulo for many years, and as the former proprietor of the venue Jungle Space on Meserole, his entrepreneurial interest was piqued. Plans to open the Spiral Café were born.
The name is inspired by each of the partner’s passions. “I’m a big fan of Marcel Duchamp, and also I guess I just wanted a catchy name, something people would easily remember,” said Mussi. Aldona Lis added: “And I’m really into sacred geometry… so that all kind of came together.”
The café will be decorated in what Aldona Lis calls “Parisian style” — velvet curtains, Victorian furniture, marble-topped tables, large mirrors, chandeliers, and the like. The exterior will sport a black-and-white-striped awning.
It will be stocked with books and magazines and have internet access to encourage guests to linger. “We want it to be a place that people don’t want to leave,” mused Aldona Lis. “It will be beautiful and welcoming and stylish.”
The coffee will be good, they insist — “we’re not selling alcohol, so we need to have a good product to bring people in,” said Aldona Lis. The café will serve typical café fare like crepes, sandwiches, and salads.
They recently had the entire 25-foot stretch of sidewalk in front of the building replaced — long overdue, neighbors would say, as in parts you could put your boot through the pavement. There are tentative plans to relocate the garbage area to a nearby building, pending a deal with the other property’s landlord. “That way it will look nice and clean out front, and the customers won’t have to sit near trash,” said Mussi. He hopes more trees and flowers and some tree-pit seating for patrons will make the block more inviting.
“We’re planning on opening in four weeks, so–”
“You’re planning on opening in four weeks?” I interrupted.
“Yeah, four to six weeks.” Mussi said they have all their regulatory paperwork done, licenses filed and stamped, employees — mostly the couple’s friends — lined up ready to work, and all that’s left is to build the space out. He thinks it can be knocked out in a month after the permits are secured.
Suggestions are welcome, says Mussi, so feel free to leave a comment below to contribute your ideas.
Spiral Café
108 Central Avenue
sjp November 30th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
I think i just pooped my pants with joy
Matt November 30th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
For the love of all that is holy, make it known far and wide so you can make bank and stay in biz. This is a good start :)
BrooklynJTrain November 30th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
I really hope it works… But be careful for what you wish for because you will get “them”. They will spend the entire day and night on their laptop nursing a $5 latte w/ a glass of free tap ice water. They will bring their own homemade snack and eat when your not looking. They will not leave cause it is their god given right to be in your place. Many have went under because of them. (morgan ave stop) Be very careful of them and good luck!
Professional Alternative November 30th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Exciting, please hurry and be good. J Train, what business has gone under by the Morgan stop due to “them”?
BrooklynJTrain November 30th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
http://bushwickbk.com/2009/10/15/potion-cafe-seeks-a-tonic-for-financial-woes/
Not sure if he went under yet…. but many have in willyburg. The free wifi thing sometimes backfires. Sure the place looks crowded and everyone is having a gay old time. But at the end of the month the bills don’t get paid. This place has a few things going for them. Commercial rent is cheap on central. I cant see them paying more than $1,000 month (prob closer to $800) for this space. Hopefully they negotiated at least 3 months free rent to get going. I hope they make it. It is good for the area and brings property values up.
Professional Alternative December 1st, 2009 at 10:51 am
I’m not sure if I agree that it’s the lingerers that are at fault. You have to have volume — just because someone is sitting around doesn’t mean they are preventing customers from coming in. It might just be that with Orwell and Archive and Boulevard Cafe so close, and in much more visible spots among more residential density, Potion’s customers dried up.
Central Avenue is hopping, but there are absolutely zero options within a half mile to get any kind of decent coffee and sit in an attractive, inviting space.
sjp December 1st, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Yeah — if they get the right mix of freelance lingerers and on-route-to-train people just passing through in the morning, they might take off.
Of course, there is a demand for a cafe with decent food. Hopefully they capitalize on that.
chillinoncentral December 1st, 2009 at 2:48 pm
“The coffee will be good, they insist…”
I am absolutely excited about having a new place on Central to chill =] and have some coffee… which I really hope is better than just “good”(do Parisians drink cappucino? Is it french-vanilla flavored?)
In any case, I’ll be visiting soon after opening and support a truly local business! Best wishes!
Joseph December 1st, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I give them pretty good odds of success if they can get the mix right. Wyckoff Starr is always busy and they seem to sell out of everything by the end of the day. Central is far enough away that there hopefully will be enough business to support another coffee place.
miked December 1st, 2009 at 10:00 pm
If the food is good and reasonably priced I’ll be there nearly every day for lunch
sweetser December 2nd, 2009 at 8:19 am
Psyched that I won’t have to keep walking towards Morgan when I need a place to down coffee and get work done. Based on the number of young people moving into this part of the neighborhood I think this place will do well. Please play better music than Cafe Orwell – I like that spot a lot, but thrashy punk rock is not conducive to getting work done.
jjjessica December 2nd, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Potion officially closed its doors last night/early this morning.
savage severe December 6th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
I love the “4-6 weeks” comment. Bad Ass. Do that stuff!
Matt January 15th, 2010 at 10:52 am
Deadline! where’s my parisian style cafe, bitches?!
Jeremy Sapienza January 15th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Seen this story 1000 times. Businesspeople aren’t contractors, and contractors are liars. They are working in the space — it’s just taking longer, as everyone but the owners expect.