One of TAP Brazilian Café’s many açaí bowls. Photo by Yana Krasnitskaya

By Yana Krasnitskaya

There was a time when açaí bowls seemed to be everywhere. Vibrantly purple, piled high with fruit, drizzled generously with peanut butter (or better yet, Nutella), and smothered with coconut flakes and cocoa nibs, they were practically synonymous with healthy living. And then, like most trends, they gave way to the next big thing – whatever that was – disappearing from social media, if not from menus. So it had been awhile since I’d had one, and I wasn’t specifically on the lookout for one on a recent Sunday morning when I decided to visit TAP Brazilian Café.

Judging from the comments on managing editor Gus Saltonstall’s story about the UWS’s best gluten-free restaurants last week, many Rag readers already are familiar with TAP, but I wasn’t; I stumbled across it when I was researching places I could get grab-and-go breakfasts. The name TAP, I discovered, comes from the three types of items around which the restaurant’s menu is built: tapioca, which is integral to the restaurant’s cassava-flour sandwich wraps; açaí (pronounced “ah-sigh-EE”); and Pão de Queijo, Brazil’s famous cheesy bread. (All three are gluten-free, as is everything else on the menu.)

Though I had gone to TAP planning to review the Pão de Queijo – and it was delicious; I encourage you to try it! – it was the açaí bowl that wound up catching my eye.

Açaí are berries that grow on a palm tree native to the Amazonian rainforest, and they’ve been shown to be rich in antioxidants, fiber, and healthy fats. The fruit is picked, soaked until its skin is softened, and then mashed into a pulp that was originally served as a savory side to proteins like grilled fish and shrimp. The açaí bowls we know today come from Brazilian beach culture. Sometime in the 1980s, surfers and athletes began to rely on açaí for an energy-packed snack, adding bananas, coconut flakes and various syrups to sweeten it. It’s no surprise then that the majority of people I saw at TAP that morning looked like they were either heading to the gym or coming from it.

There are many açaí bowl options on TAP’s menu. You can order anything from a 24-ounce Monster Bowl, which comes with all the prerequisites including an in-house gluten-free granola, to something called a Samba bowl, which swaps in passion fruit and mango for the usual banana and berry toppings.

Wanting to tread carefully, I ordered the modest 9-ounce baby bowl ($9.98), and I’m still lamenting not going for the bigger size, because it was delectable. I’ve had açaí bowls that have been too sweet or too liquidy or just one-dimensional in flavor. None of that exists here. TAP layers the granola inside instead of on top, so every spoonful has the perfect balance of textures. The açaí mixture itself is perfectly thick and has that specific burst of tartness. It’s reminiscent of the subtle sweetness of a blueberry and the tanginess of a sour cherry; the taste that lingers on the tongue is as deep and earthy as a chunk of really good, high-quality dark chocolate. I opted just for strawberries for my bowl but it didn’t need them. I would have been just as happy munching on the sorbet-like texture with nothing but the crunch of the granola as an occasional accompaniment.

If açaí bowls aren’t your thing, you’ll find other options at TAP. Their bestseller, the Chicken Club ($16.98), includes shredded chicken, tomatoes and mozzarella. The sandwich is piping hot and should be eaten that way. The wrap is both chewy and redolent with the scent of fried cheese, which comes from the lattice of Parmesan cheese that gets thrown on the griddle under the wrap mixture; the filling is somewhere between a burrito and a calzone, with the shredded chicken benefiting nicely from creamy mozzarella and fresh, salted chunks of tomatoes. It is on the saltier side, but I didn’t mind it. And after a rigorous workout, it definitely hit the spot – just as TAP promises.

Pão de Queijo, Brazil’s famous cheesy bread, as prepared at TAP Brazilian Cafe.

As it turns out, the Pão de Queijo ($3.95), which comes in traditional, spicy, and pesto flavors, was also absolutely delicious, making it easy to see why every table at TAP was taken. Amidst groups of friends and families, I noticed a few diners sitting solo with books open in their laps – physical books! An even rarer find these days than a good açaí bowl.

That morning I was happy to have encountered both. And you won’t be disappointed either if you decide to pay TAP Brazilian Café a visit. Just make sure to come with an empty stomach and an open mind.

The Dish: TAP Brazilian Cafe’s açai bowl ($9.98 to $17.98, depending on size and toppings)
The Restaurant: TAP Brazilian Cafe, 267 Columbus Avenue (between West 72nd and 73rd streets); open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.

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