By the GIRLS, For the GIRLS

Earlier this year, a bright yellow awning popped up on 7th Avenue marking the arrival of Cafe by the Girls. Bright murals adorn the wallsof the cozy eatery, where single-origin coffee and breakfast dishes from Colombia are the focus. I recently sat down with owner Natalia Rico to learn more about the journey that led her to open her cafe in Park Slope, and about her commitment to helping Colombian women while introducing New Yorkers to Colombian culture through her work.

I really want New Yorkers to know more about coffee. I want to start doing classes. Because it’s the same way when you go to a wine tasting, it’s the same for coffee. For example, if you’re drinking a good coffee, you’re not supposed to add sugar. It doesn’t need it.

I really want to start teaching people about coffee. Why is this coffee good? How you feel it. How you taste it. Do you feel any chocolate in the aromas? Do you smell any citrus, banana, or cacao?

Hi Natalia, tell me about yourself and how you became involved in coffee. You mentioned that you grew up in Colombia?

I grew up in Colombia. I know about coffee, because I grew up in the triangle of Pereira, Manizales, and Armenia where we produce the best coffee. I think we’ve been using that area for coffee for more than 100 years.

My father used to have three farms full of coffee, so my vacation time was spent going to the farms to help out. We used to dry the coffee beans on the roofs of the houses. That was our job when we were kids, when we were eight years old. So I definitely grew up with coffee.

Then at some point, there was an animal that started eating the coffee plants, and that was really devastating for the entire country. 

How did you end up in New York City?

I used to come to New York for vacation and I loved it. Then I went to study architecture, and I decided that I would work as an architect in New York, because I wanted to learn. I’m coming from a really small town in a poor country, so I really wanted to work here. I thought, “What’s the worst thing that could happen? If it doesn’t happen, at least I tried. I would just go back to my country and that’s it.”

My father was not happy. He didn’t agree at all. He wanted me to work in his construction company. So I came here in 2011 with $200 in my pocket, because he didn’t support me.

What were those early days like? You didn’t speak any English at first, right?

I knew I couldn’t get a job in architecture without learning English. While I was studying, I got a job at Petrosian – they sell amazing caviar. They have a factory in lower Manhattan, and I got to work there in the nighttime.

I started taking English classes in the morning from 8 to 10. And then I started sending my resumes to all these construction companies here.

One day, I got a phone call. And the person said, “I think I know you.” We don’t have friends or family outside of Colombia, nothing. So I’m like, “No, I’m sure you don’t.” And then the guy said, “Yes, I think I was your teacher ten years ago in Colombia.” He was a professor at my university.

He told me he had a small project I could work on. I think he paid me for like four months. It was a little bit, but it was enough for me to survive. I could pay for my English classes and at least get some food. And in the night, I went to work at the caviar company. I used to work there from 8 pm until 2 a.m.

They were full days.

That’s the hustle, right? That’s what people mean when they talk about the American dream.

That’s what they mean. In that office, I got to know another person. And he said, “Do you want to come to my company and work?” That changed my life. I got a decent salary and I could quit the nighttime job. They were really nice. I am an architect because of them. I also met my husband, who owns an electrical company, through that job.

When do you think the American dream was realized for you?

When I went to work for Bromley Caldari Architects in Manhattan – that’s the company that designed Studio 54. You know, when I sat in that office and I got to see the New York Times building. That’s when I was like, “You made it. You did it. From low, low, low, low, low. With hard work, you made it.”

How did you end up opening Cafe By The Girls?

After I had a baby, my work life was insane because I lived in Long Island. My schedule basically revolved around the Long Island Rail Road. Some days I didn’t get to see my daughter at all. That’s when my husband said, “You know what? Why don’t you take a break and do something on your own?”

And then the pandemic came. I got to spend time with my daughter and that’s when I realized, I should just take a break.

My husband said, “You know about coffee. Why don’t you open a coffee shop?” That’s how it started.

And why is it “by the girls”?

I knew that I wanted to help the women in Colombia who were so vulnerable, so I only source my coffee from female partners.

The difference between my coffee and the rest of the coffee is that I don’t ship my coffee, I bring it over by plane. So the coffee that people drink here was just harvested three weeks ago. However, I can only bring a small amount of coffee because I don’t have space to store it. So every month I try to source from a different farmer to support everyone.

And I go maybe four times a year to visit the farmers, the women. It’s a really sad story because the cities have expanded all the way to the rural areas and now the guys don’t want to work on the coffee farms. It’s easier for them to get a motorcycle, go to the city, and be a doorman.

But the women, they don’t know anything else to do because they are raising kids. And now they are the ones that are picking the beans. They have to raise those kids, pick the beans, work hard, and try to sell. 

I feel like women are often the ones who keep culture alive that way, right? But it’s a thankless job.

Yes, it’s really hard. So that’s why I told my husband, “I’m going to open a coffee shop, but I want to do it for a reason.” So that’s what we’re trying to do here in the coffee shop. We started in 2021 in Chelsea, on 23rd and 11th Avenue.

How was it becoming a first time cafe owner?

Oh my God, it’s not easy. It’s a lot. As an architect it’s easy for me to speak about construction. Setting up the space, the plumbing, electricity was all fine.

But getting the approval from the FDA to bring the coffee. That part of the business is complicated. You have to follow rules from Colombia, you have to follow rules here in order to get the coffee here. You have to get a license. And all that is new.

And there’s the hospitality aspect too.

It’s not easy when you have to be behind the counter. So what I did is I went back to Colombia. I studied about coffee. I did a barista class. And regarding my team as well; I want to train them the way I want them to make the coffee.

So when I started Chelsea, I was just a barista. Like behind the counter, getting to know the clients. Dealing with customer service is not easy. It’s not easy to have everybody happy.

Especially before they’ve had their coffee, right?

Especially. Or sometimes, even after. But I think it’s a really nice experience. I’m in love with New York. I’m grateful for all the things that I have done. That it’s allowed me to do. I’m really, really grateful for this country in general.

How did you come to open a second location?

For some reason, I always wanted to be in Brooklyn. Everyone in Chelsea told me I should open another location. They said, “Your food is really good. The coffee is really good.”

I decided I wanted to open another one for my daughter, because I wanted to leave her, you know, like another option.

Why did you pick Park Slope?

Because I really wanted to be close to the park. And I like the concept of this neighborhood. Like I love the fact that there’s bikes, strollers – it’s very alive. As I was walking around here, I noticed that they don’t have a nice spot to get breakfast. Something that’s not a fancy restaurant, but not a simple coffee shop either. That’s why we are in between. We have nice food, we serve nicely, but we don’t do service to the table.

What kind of food do you offer on the menu?

We use a lot of the eggs in our cooking in Colombia. Oh my God, breakfast is eggs. If you didn’t have eggs, you didn’t have breakfast. Like I come here at 1 p.m. and I still need my eggs. So that’s why we focus on breakfast.

We also mix a little bit of Colombian culture with the fruits like guava and passion fruit.

And the most important thing for me is that everything is natural. Like it’s a really fresh kitchen. I think at the beginning, people complained that we take forever. But we cook everything from scratch, and they noticed the quality and they said it’s worth the wait.

You also pride yourself on your coffee here. What do you think makes your coffee so great?

Let’s say you have a farm. This small parcel of the land has special characteristics that are different from this other parcel. Because of the acidity of the earth, the characteristic of the humidity, all that influence. If I have a coffee tree here next to an orange tree, this coffee is going to extract the acidity of the orange.

Even on the same farm?

Even on the same farm. That’s why we call it single origin. Because this origin is totally different from this one. It depends on the quality of the earth: is it old earth or new earth? How was it treated? Like the ones I bring never touch pesticides. That’s why it’s so fresh.

It also has a lot to do with the process. It depends on how they wash the coffee, how they roast the coffee.

But the knowledge of the barista is, I’m going to say, 70%. Because if my coffee machine is not grinding the espresso correctly, this latte is not going to taste the same. If this machine is not getting to the temperature that it’s supposed to be, that coffee can be burnt. So you as a barista need to know the machine, you have to calibrate the machine.

I know you mentioned that through this project you’ve been able to connect with your culture more. Do you also feel like you’ve been able to introduce your culture to more people in New York?

We’re trying to change that a lot. I remember one time before I got into the coffee business, I saw a bus with Pablo Escobar for a TV series, and I thought, “We’re not just that.” So we try to change that narrative as much as we can with the customers when they come here. I always tell them, you’re not supporting me only, you’re supporting other vulnerable women. 

When you go and you see them, even though they are carrying the world on their shoulders, they always smile at you. It’s so nice. Sometimes I get tears in my eyes, because their lives are really difficult. 

That’s beautiful. And where do you want this project to go?

I really want New Yorkers to know more about coffee. I want to start doing classes. Because it’s the same way when you go to a wine tasting, it’s the same for coffee. For example, if you’re drinking a good coffee, you’re not supposed to add sugar. It doesn’t need it.

I really want to start teaching people about coffee. Why is this coffee good? How you feel it. How you taste it. Do you feel any chocolate in the aromas? Do you smell any citrus, banana, or cacao?

It makes sense because so much effort and intention goes into the growing, harvesting, roasting, sourcing. You want people to appreciate what they’re consuming.

I want them to learn how hard it is to bring that coffee to this table. It’s a long process. It’s not easy and it’s not cheap, especially when you buy small amounts. I buy 200 kilos from this small place and then another 100 kilos from another farm. The business is totally different. So it’s good that people get to understand that so they support local people more than those corporations.

I really feel a human touch at this cafe.

That’s why we have the murals. Everything in this company is by women. The person who handmade these ceramics for us is another woman. The person who does the Instagram is another woman. The person who designed the uniforms is another woman.

That’s why it’s “by the girls”, because everything is by the girls.

Do you feel like growing up around coffee helped you with this endeavor?

I think it’s about the feelings. It’s about getting memories back. Every time I go to those farms, I’m like, “Wow, I used to do this.” You wake up those memories. The nostalgia. I think it’s one of the most beautiful things I got from this.

Cafe by the Girls

203 7th Avenue at 3rd Street

347-599-0175

info@cafebythegirls.com