Ribbon Cut On Downtown Cafe

Sharmel Rivera ate from a strawberry açaí bowl and prepared for an upcoming quiz in her U.S. history class — at a downtown cafe that has quickly become one of her favorite, and most conveniently located, places to grab a bite before or after class.

Rivera was one of several dozen customers coming and going or staying put and enjoying the environs at Fepo Cafe at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Fepo, which opened last year in a ground-floor retail space at 195 Church St., was feted Thursday during an official ribbon cutting attended by Mayor Justin Elicker, city Economic Development Deputy Director Cathy Graves, and Downtown Alder Eli Sabin, among a score of supportive family members, friends, and customers.

Everyone who spoke praised the cafe’s co-owners — Ezequiel Barboza and Mark Mozdzer, both of Derby — for bringing life back to a previously vacant retail space that sits right in the middle of downtown, at the corner of Church and Elm Streets, looking out over the Green. (Before its pandemic-era vacancy, the site was home to a Starbucks.)

“This is an iconic spot. This is a keystone space in the city,” Elicker said, as he thanked Barboza and Mozdzer as well as landlord Paul Denz for working together to fill this retail space.

Amid all the talk about dying downtowns and empty office buildings nationwide, Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce President Garrett Sheehan said, 195 Church is ​“a vibrant building.” And ​“this site” — at Church and Elm — ​“gets a lot of traffic.” He added that the Chamber of Commerce itself is moving its offices into 195 Church.

Barboza explained that the cafe’s name is an acronym that uses the first letters of the first names of his family members: Franco Ezequeil Paola Olga.

This cafe is ​“a dream come true,” he said, before hugging former co-workers from McDonald’s who had made the trip to downtown New Haven to celebrate Barboza’s opening of his own cafe.

Meanwhile, inside Fepo, customers like Rivera affirmed what the officials at the press conference declared: This place has tasty food and drinks. And it sure is easy to get to if you have any reason to be downtown.

Rivera commutes from Old Saybrook to take classes at Gateway Community College (now called CT State Gateway). She’s in a gap program, with a goal of eventually transferring to UConn.

“I love this place,” Rivera said about the cafe. It’s right down the block from school. She’s already a fan of the strawberry açaí bowl. She’s looking forward to trying the overnight oats on her next visit.

Rivera said she has a quiz in her U.S. history class later on Thursday. The quiz is focused on World War II and the Civil Rights movement. She described her stop at Fepo as time to take a pause, eat some good food, clear her head, and get ready for the quiz.

At a nearby table, John Folmsbee was also at work — writing a memoir focused on taking care of his parents in the final years of their lives. He spoke of how challenging it is to navigate long-term care policies, but, ultimately, how rewarding it is to be present with your parents before they pass away.

“You’re better off knowing you can say good-bye,” he said.

Drinking a dark-roast coffee with cream, Folmsbee also praised the cafe for its central location. He lives in a downtown apartment building, and walks over all the time for a cup of coffee and some space to work. He in particular loves the tall windows that offer a 180-degree view of the Green outside.

Still another cafe customer, who asked to remain anonymous, was enjoying a blueberry muffin as she finished up homework for her Yale class, ​“Decolonizing Europe.” She said she comes to Fepo twice a week, and has particular praise for the cafe’s blueberry muffins and chai lattes. It’s nearby, she said. And it’s quiet, a good place to work, even with all the customers coming and going nearby.