It’s a family affair – and an increasingly popular gathering spot with a “Cheers”-like “Everybody knows your name” vibe that’s entirely intentional. 

Romi Abreu wants her new Charles Point cafe to feel like a welcoming and comfortable “living room,” with simple, healthy food served in a homey atmosphere. She says her aim is that “the minute you walk in, your day just gets better.” Launched in May of this year, Cafe, Catering and Cocktails (CCC) is serving a steady stream of building tenants and others coming for breakfast, lunch or small bites and conversation. 

The airy space in the Atrium at Charles Point (8 John Walsh Boulevard) is furnished with leather couches, tables of various sizes, and eclectic decor. Vintage posters dot the walls, and there’s even an old Remington typewriter nestled in a corner. Abreu’s husband, Jeff Combs, a military veteran who works in the film industry, was able to connect his wife with a great source for bygone treasures previously used on movie sets. 

In the near future, Abreu is planning to expand the cafe’s menu and hours. Currently, people can stop by any day from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., except Wednesday. 

Abreu estimates lunch traffic plus orders have reached about twenty per day already. So far, avocado toast is her most popular dish. Coffee, based on Cafe Bustelo, is flavored like the brew she grew up smelling, and one of her more unusual offerings is spaghetti pancakes, served with real maple syrup. The platter of batter strings was inspired by her older stepson, who likes spaghetti, but was not an adventurous eater. Somehow, Abreu’s presentation made him willing to try the morning treat. 

The cuisine is moderately priced, and Abreu touts the wholesome, identifiable ingredients she uses. Having suffered from a sensitive stomach for years, Abreu serves a selection of gluten-free and dairy free choices, and is willing to whip up something to order. 

Basil Kazepis, founder of Cars and Coffee, became an early supporter after his daughter brought nearly a dozen breakfasts from CCC to Kazepis and to the owner of nearby HQ Auto Vault. “Delicious,” Kazepis said, and soon invited Abreu to set up a stall each Sunday during Cars and Coffee, a weekly gathering he started in Yorktown and relocated to Peekskill, now at the Factoria and HQ Vault parking lots. [See related article HERE] Abreu is there from 8 a.m.-10 a.m. (with her cafe across the street open until 1 p.m.). It’s a deal that Abreu was eager to accept, and she values being embraced by the larger community.

Abreu has plenty of experience with seizing opportunity – and in the food industry. She grew up in a sprawling Dominican-Italian-Spanish family, and several relatives owned restaurants where she began bussing tables as a teenager. After starting college and marrying her first husband, Abreu stayed home with her two sons, but the marriage foundered. To support herself and her children as a single mother, she began waitressing and working as a paralegal.

Soon, waitressing was supplemented with house cleaning, and that business took off and morphed into catering as well. During the pandemic, the paralegal work dried up. 

Abreu got her catering license, and added themed events in private homes that ran the gamut from canapes to cocktails. “Ghost kitchens” (commercial kitchens with extra space to let) allowed her to expand. She named her new business Catering, Cocktails and Cleaning.  “With every event, with every client that I’ve had, I have grown, and I have established relationships,” Abreu says.

Among her large roster, one fan encouraged her to take a look at a decommissioned deli at 8 John Walsh Boulevard. She says she was scared – but with the support of her second husband, Combs, she was ready to take the plunge. Modifying her original company name, she changed it to Cafe, Catering and Cocktails, known as CCC, with alcoholic beverages at the location waiting for a liquor license she hopes to have by the end of the summer. 

Abreu’s blended household includes four boys who have helped make the new venture a joint effort. When he’s not on a film set, Combs helps out, and Abreu’s best friend Lindsey Freshwater is a regular server learning artistic presentation and cooking skills from Abreu, currently the only one preparing the food. Her mother Romi Hernandez helps too, and on the weekends, two part-timers pitch in.

The Atrium area that houses CCC was remodeled with a lot of personal sweat equity to accommodate Abreu’s vision, and each son painted his own planks of wood to add to the rustic charm. A bonus while modifying the space: an original brick wall, hidden behind paneling and left over from Fleishmann’s old distillery days. There’s a chalkboard area as well for any creative kids who might want to enjoy a little drawing while their parents sit a while.

Abreu is thankful for the regulars who are frequenting her light-filled home away from home. She’d like to hold art or musical events at least monthly when her hours expand. Nowadays, after the cafe closes she often walks over to the waterfront, grateful for her growing success, and planning for more expansion. 

Says Kazepis about her, “When I met Romi and her friend Lindsey and Romi’s husband, I liked what I saw  – they’re ambitious and flexible. I just love their entrepreneurial spirit and they have really, really good food.” And, he adds, he appreciates that they are making themselves available for his very early morning Cars and Coffee event.  “I love to see small business folks succeed,” he says.