“No tiene sustancia” was what Cafecito Bogotá's (C/Btá) owners Oscar and Fredy Hernando Varela sometimes heard from Mom when referring to bland-tasting food in their family’s kitchen back in 1980's Bogotá. So it came naturally that their first food enterprise was to embody the “must-have-substance” concept from their upbringing: Food and its surroundings must have “sustancia” evidenced by great flavors shared in a charming place full of meaningful character. Hailing from world-renowned, top caviar importing house, Petrossian where he worked as a 5-year Assistant Manager, Oscar teamed-up with F:Hernando, a Chemical Engineer who has taken it upon himself to evolve and expand Colombian cuisine and New Yorkers’ palate through NY First Colombian Arepa & Wine Bar.

Partially GAY-owned and operated C/Btá was established in 2006 in fabulous Greenpoint-Brooklyn, but it transformed in June 2008 from one of the neighborhood's all-time favorite coffee-house to NY's First Colombian Salón de Arepas y Vinos and Signature Brunch Café.

In line with Brooklyn’s character, Bogotá’s warm and elegant décor is an overt political statement of the Latin America reality portrayed through a Colombian lens.

Antique posters of 1940’s Bogotá City and vintage photographs of the tumultuous and most significant political event in Colombia’s modern history, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán's assasination and El Bogotazo decorate the ample space throughout

Additionally, a chic découpage crafted with Colombian-imported newspapers beautifully clothes a back anchoring service bar, and makes a bold testament of the owners’ independent ideals incorporated during childhood.

Through its innovative food and great ambiance, C/Btá’s Salón de Arepas y Vino effortlessly achieves the owners’ cherished “must-have-substance” concept, and presents fine diners with glorified choices of one of Colombia’s preeminent food.