Family, art, and cachitos in Sunset Park: Six years of Liebre Café

Liebre Café sits on the ground floor of a co-op built in 1916 on the corner of Seventh Avenue and 41st Street, a cozy spot steeped in atmosphere, regulars, and a rotating gallery of neighborhood art.

This November marks six years since the Mejía siblings, Patricia and Hermann, took over the space and opened the doors. We met them at the shop on a drizzly afternoon as customers ate, sipped coffee, and — at least one — worked on their upcoming stories for the Sunset Post. Talking over the music and the noise of the espresso machine, Patricia and Hermann shared the story of the café, its famous cachitos, and its focus on local art.

“People love being able to come every month and see what’s new,” said Hermann about the different art on display. “That’s one of the things they like most about the café. And the first, of course, is the attention my sister gives to everyone. She’s so kind and warm with customers.”

In October, the featured artist was Hermann’s son, Joaquín, whose darkroom prints hung along the southern wall. During our conversation he sold four photographs to a neighbor, each one developed by hand in SVA’s darkroom, where he’s taking pre-college classes. This might have the ring of nepotism, if Hermann didn’t have a strict policy of inviting all neighborhood artists to display their work, refusing to call himself a curator.

A Venezuelan-born illustrator and painter, Hermann built a wide-ranging career that includes work for MAD magazine and DC Comics’ Lobo graphic novels. But when he first arrived in New York in 2000, he struggled to be seen. “When I moved to New York it was hard to find a place to show your work, and as an artist I kept visiting places, asking them for an opportunity, and most of them would say no,” he said. “So when we opened the coffee shop, I thought we’d have a wall as a gallery for the artists who live around here, without curating, just supporting.”

Hermann invited professor and illustrator Jessica Boehman to showcase her work in February 2024. The exhibition, called Kings County, was inspired by living in Brooklyn, the same borough her grandparents grew up in 70 years ago. The café has become a community for her, she said, where she can talk about art while supporting local business.

“It was great to share my work with the neighborhood,” Boehman said. “And some pieces went to new homes, leading me to meet some new neighbors!”

Nathaly, who lives in the Fort Hamilton area and describes herself as a multipassionate creator, first came to the coffee shop as a customer and gradually connected with the owners. She was invited to show her work in April 2023.

“It was such a meaningful experience, not only because it was one of the first times I showcased my art locally but also because it felt so personal,” Nathaly said. “It’s very different from showing work in traditional spaces, because people there truly connect with your story, not just your art!”

For Patricia Mejía, opening a coffee shop had long been a hope. She had been working in human resources in Venezuela and was preparing to open a café there, even buying her first commercial espresso machine, when political turmoil upended her plans. “I sold my apartment in Caracas and used that money to start here, with my brother,” she said.

How the café ended up in Sunset Park is a story of persistence, luck, and neighborhood goodwill. Patricia and Hermann first planned to build from scratch, but a Sunset Park neighbor connected them with the owners of Sun House Café, which was preparing to close. They purchased the business in 2019, remodeled the space and reopened it as Liebre Café in early November, announcing their first show in January of 2020 with work by Brooklyn artist Elisa Hevia. Three months later, the pandemic shuttered the city. They survived thanks to a supportive landlord, aid Patricia chased down with ferocious focus, and a wave of customers who bought beans and whatever shelf-stable items the team could move until in-person service returned.

In May 2020, the café reopened, once again displaying local art and hosting two fundraisers showcasing neighborhood artists with proceeds going to the South Brooklyn Mutual Aid project.

Mollie Riskin, an activist and artist who had her first solo show at Liebre Café in November 2020, says Hermann acted as a mentor to both her and her partner during the pandemic.

“During the hard months of the pandemic lockdown, Patricia and Hermann were such a source of light and camaraderie — always finding opportunities to lift up the community in the face of the hardship in the world around us,” said Riskin. One of those opportunities was a Little Free Library they allowed her to place in front of the coffee shop, a comfort during Covid that endures to this day.

Patricia handles staffing, payroll, ordering, and all the behind-the-scenes work that keeps the coffee flowing, while also ensuring impeccable customer service. Hermann manages the artistic side, from events to the coffee program. “I tried different roasters, but I loved Partners,” he said. “They’re from New York, roast in Williamsburg, and they’re always consistent.”

Food carries their family’s thumbprint. While many of the expected pastries come from Colson, people travel from around the city for the cachitos, the Venezuelan staple that rarely appears in New York cafés. “When Patricia came here, cachitos were still something you bought in bakeries in Venezuela,” Hermann said. “No one here really knew them.” The recipe was developed by Hermann and refined through relentless testing. Now their mother, Alcira, who lives with Patricia, makes the fillings — “her hands are like gold,” Patricia said — with a cousin baking the pastry shells.

They began with traditional ham and bacon, then added mortadella after Patricia returned to Venezuela and saw bakeries experimenting with new flavors. They plan to expand the lineup with new fillings over time, keeping the core Venezuelan flavor while inviting curious regulars to try something different.

The family has had its share of challenges. In acquiring the business, Patricia felt they weren’t taken seriously at first and more than once, new customers assumed she was “just” the barista, not the owner. She patiently explained with her characteristic tenacity and now enjoys a loyal base of regulars who very much know who’s in charge.

The café opened on Patricia’s birthday, Nov. 1. “Every year it’s not just the café’s birthday, it’s mine too,” she said. “It’s like celebrating myself, everything I worked for.” This year, however, she plans to take some time for herself on her birthday, so this year’s anniversary celebration will take place Nov. 6, with an exhibition featuring many of the artists who have shown their work at the café over the years.