Yelp
Jan. 26, 2018 By Tara Law
A longtime Astoria resident has opened a health-conscious cafe that offers freshly made pastries, sandwiches and salads.
QWNS Cafe, which opened at 23-35 31st St. on Jan. 15, serves food made from scratch in-house with homemade ingredients.
The eatery offers items such as burgers, grain and açai bowls, and coffee—along with sandwiches. The venue also has several vegan and gluten-free options.
Tim Pappas, 42, who has lived in Astoria for 22 years, is the owner. He is a veteran of the hospitality and restaurant industry, and the former managing partner of Anassa Taverna, an upscale Greek restaurant in Midtown.
He is also an exercise enthusiast with a passion for healthy eating.
Pappas is particularly excited about the cafe’s whole egg frittata sandwich, he said. It is served with turkey bacon, chives, avocado and tomato onion jam.
“By far, it’s the best sandwich served anywhere in Astoria,” he said.
He also highly recommends the cafe’s ‘”head of cauliflower”, which is roasted and served with golden raisins and sunflower seeds over kale pesto.
“I’m really conscious of what I put in my body,” said Pappas. “I would only give to the public what I would put in my mouth.”
The cafe infuses its own honey with lavender and mixes its own jam and coffee syrups. All of the sandwiches are served on bread baked fresh from flour ground in-house, and each can be made gluten free.
The restaurant’s food is prepared by chef Michael Romano, the former executive pastry chef for the Scotto Brothers Long Island hospitality company. Romano won the Food Network competition “Sweet Genius” when he was 21.
QWNS seats 25. The café does not deliver at this point, although it will fill special orders with 24-hour notice.
The cafe is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. Its hours may be expanded after it gets its license to serve beer and wine.
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One Comment
Have you tried the fruit cake. Oh my gawd it’s delicious ?