New Spot To Serve Acai and Kale Bowls On Fifth Avenue

PARK SLOPE, NY — An eatery serving up acai and kale bowls plans to open up their fourth location in the city on Fifth Avenue, owners said. The spot will take over the former Corner of Vermont storefront.

Baya Bar will open at 374 Fifth Ave., between Sixth and Fifth streets, in February where they offer up bowls of fruit and granola with blended acai, kale, pitaya and coconut bases.

"Acai bowls are very popular on the West Coast and they started to become more popular on the East Coast," said Bill Loesch, 27, one of the owners of Baya Bar. "Not only are they healthy, but they're also meal replacements."

The bowls range from $9 to $10 each and Baya's menu includes selections like Bella Nutella — acai with banana, strawberry, granola, coconut shavings and nutella — and the Kale Yeah with banana, granola and honey.

The eatery also offers up bowls with pitaya, also known as Dragon Fruit, as a base along with juices, smoothies and coffee. Loesch aims to open Park Slope's Baya on Feb. 1, 2018, taking over the storefront of the Corner of Vermont ice-cream spot that shuttered in July.

The first Baya Bar opened up in Bay Ridge this February and then expanded quickly with two locations in Staten Island.

Loesch grew up in Bay Ridge and worked on Wall Street for three years before quitting his job to open up Baya.

"That was toxic business to be in," he said. "To really make money you have to take risks and chances and I couldn’t bring myself to do wrong by others.

"I could only do that for so long so I decided to jump out of there and go a different route," Loesch added.

He said he'a always been interested in health and fitness and saw how popular acai bowls were becoming on the West Coast so decided bring them to New York.

After the Park Slope location, Loesch and his partners plan to open a sixth location in Staten Island's West Brighton then continue to expand further into Brooklyn while working on franchising the business.

Lead image: Instagram/Baya_Bar