{"id":187101,"date":"2026-04-06T13:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/187101\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T13:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:22:15","slug":"how-latte-da-is-redefining-bay-ridges-coffee-scene-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/187101\/","title":{"rendered":"How Latte Da is redefining Bay Ridge\u2019s coffee scene \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Latte\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Fresh off a Dec. 20 soft launch, Bay Ridge\u2019s Latte Da is quickly becoming one of the neighborhood\u2019s most talked about caf\u00e9s. <\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of KENZI CREATIVE<\/p>\n

Between banana bread lattes, guava matcha and baristas who already know your name, Latte Da<\/a> isn\u2019t just another Bay Ridge coffee spot, it\u2019s a place you walk into once and feel like a regular.<\/p>\n

Just a few months after its soft opening on Dec. 20, Latte Da is already drawing a steady stream of regulars \u2014 neighbors<\/a> who stop in not just for coffee, but for a sense of familiarity that owners Ron Kavral and Joe Maori intentionally built into the space.<\/p>\n

That sense of place is at the heart of Latte Da\u2019s story. Kavral and Mayori, longtime Bay Ridge residents, saw an opportunity on their side of the neighborhood \u2014 something they felt was missing despite the area\u2019s abundance of coffee options.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The idea was sparked by a specialty caf\u00e9 farther north, near 72nd Street, that Mayori frequented. Impressed by its precision and quality, the pair began imagining how to bring that same level of craftsmanship closer to home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s maybe 50 coffee shops in Bay Ridge,\u201d Kavral said. \u201cBut this was the only place that actually did coffee the way it was intended to be made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Living in the 90s blocks, Kabreal wanted to bring something to \u201cthe other side of the neighborhood,\u201d he said. \u201c[We thought,] let\u2019s bring good coffee here, plus the cool drinks that our wives and friends like to enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LatteLatte Da, a Bay-Ridge coffee shop, offers a variety of drinks with careful attention paid to beverage freshness.Photo courtesy of KENZI CREATIVE<\/p>\n

What they created is a caf\u00e9 that blends mindful consumption with a playful menu. Alongside carefully crafted espresso drinks, Latte Da offers a lineup of inventive flavors in their specialty drinks \u2014 including banana bread, blueberry pie, maple brown sugar and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In parallel, their matcha selection adds to the specialty menu, with options like lavender matcha, guava matcha latte, passionfruit matcha latte and others. Kavral joked that \u201cwe spend so much money on the espresso machine, and matcha is probably more in-demand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The process behind those drinks is less about strict recipes and more about collaboration.\u00a0
\n\"LatteThe caf\u00e9 uses ceremonial-grade matcha sourced from Japan and distributed from San Francisco.Photo courtesy of KENZI CREATIVE\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s trial and error, really. Our baristas are fantastic; they come up with a lot of ideas, too,\u201d Kavral said. \u201cToday we came up with the Cherry Garcia. It\u2019s a mocha-cherry latte and it\u2019s unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even as the menu experiments, quality remains a non-negotiable for the owners. Kavral emphasized the science behind their coffee program, from bean sourcing to daily calibration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can only extract 30% of the bean \u2014 the grinds need to be a specific size depending on the air temperature and pressure,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it\u2019s always changing this formula of extraction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The shop\u2019s beans are made in Colombia, shipped to Williamsburg in five to seven business days, then sent to Bay Ridge for brewing.Photo courtesy of KENZI CREATIVE<\/p>\n

Their beans, sourced from Colombia through Devoci\u00f3n<\/a>, are shipped, roasted in Williamsburg and served within two weeks \u2014 far fresher than industry norms, Kavral noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to name-drop, but I know big names are keeping their beans in storage for like six to nine months,\u201d he added.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

The same attention extends to their matcha program, which has quickly rivaled coffee in popularity.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cFor our matcha, we tried so many different vendors and we narrowed it down,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s based in San Francisco and shipped directly from Japan and its ceremonial-grade. It\u2019s to die for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, despite all the technical detail, Latte Da\u2019s identity is rooted less in precision than in the people who visit.\u00a0
\n\"\"Latte Da\u2019s interior is designed to embody warmth and a welcoming atmosphere for regulars and new visitors alike.Photo courtesy of KENZI CREATIVE\n<\/p>\n

Inside the caf\u00e9 is intentionally warm \u2014 a contrast to what Kavral described as either \u201creally pretentious places\u201d or \u201ccold establishments\u201d elsewhere. Though seating is limited, customers linger, and baristas are already learning names and orders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted this to be a very cozy place where the neighborhood felt welcome,\u201d Kavral said. \u201cBaristas are already becoming friends with so many people; it\u2019s incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

That approach seems to be working. Without a marketing budget, the shop has relied entirely on word of mouth, and the response has exceeded expectations.\u00a0
\n\"\"Kavral told Brooklyn Paper that Latte Da has been doing extremely well despite a lack of marketing budget.Photo courtesy of KENZI CREATIVE\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing. It\u2019s fantastic. It\u2019s unreal,\u201d Kavral said. \u201cWe\u2019ve gotten so much support and love from generational families and even newcomers to the neighborhood. Everything\u2019s been organic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Kavral and Mayori are cautiously thinking about growth. Expansion could mean another location in Bay Ridge, or even a leap into Manhattan.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI love SoHo, and I think the foot traffic there would be incredible,\u201d Kavral said. \u201cIf we\u2019re able to make it in Bay Ridge, I think if we were in SoHo, that\u2019d be a really good opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, though, Latte Da is focused on the block it calls home \u2014 serving carefully crafted drinks and building relationships one regular at a time.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all in this neighborhood together,\u201d Kavral said. \u201cWe hope everyone will be happy and caffeinated together.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Latte Da is located at 280 86th St., off the corner of Third Avenue in Bay Ridge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresh off a Dec. 20 soft launch, Bay Ridge\u2019s Latte Da is quickly becoming one of the neighborhood\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[74994,74995,74996,74997,74998,74999,75000,9,11,10,12,370,75001,75002,75003],"class_list":["post-187101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-bay-ridge-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-small-business","tag-cozy-cafes","tag-food-and-drink-nyc","tag-hidden-gems-brooklyn","tag-latte-art","tag-matcha-lovers","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc-coffee-shops","tag-specialty-drinks","tag-trendy-cafes-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}