Neighborhood Eats: Santo Bruklin serves up Brazilian comfort food
CARROLL GARDENS, Brooklyn (WABC) -- In this week's Neighborhood Eats, Lauren Glassberg checks out Santo Bruklin, a Brazilian restaurant that opened during the coronavirus pandemic.
"It was shock at first, but we knew we didn't have any other choice but to pivot to something different and open," Sara Yamasaki said.
The pivot for Sara and Pedro Yamasaki was to build a new business on take-out and delivery while also getting the neighborhood of Carroll Gardens to know that Santo Bruklin had opened.
"Santo Bruklin is kind of like our saint protector," Pedro Yamasaki said.
And they're doing good work as well, donating food and meals to those in need.
They're hoping Brazilian comfort food does the trick during these challenging times.
"We are bringing dishes from the north, ingredients from the amazon. Showing people it's so much more," Pedro said.
There's the moqueca, a coconut-based seafood stew, the picanha sandwich, a popular beef cut, and the pao de queijo, Brazilian cheese bread, served with a variety of spreads.
"It's like a cheese muffin, we're changing the muffin so it's cheesier. It's people's favorite," Pedro said.
Once outdoor dining was allowed, they capitalized on their garden space.
"It stays quite peaceful back here. I think this is a very new york scenario," Sara and Pedro said.
Imagine settling in for dinner and a movie, one of the many ways this restaurant is trying to stay afloat.
"It's the challenge we have to face. We have to be creative and push through," Pedro said.
And they hope one day they'll be able to welcome customers inside Santo Bruklin as well.
"Yeah, of course, I'm excited to have people in, but if that needs to wait and we need to play it safe right now it's for the best," Pedro said.
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