{"id":790731,"date":"2026-05-12T09:12:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T09:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/790731\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T09:12:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T09:12:45","slug":"cafe-bar-j-f-opens-in-the-former-llama-inn-space-in-williamsburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/790731\/","title":{"rendered":"Cafe Bar J.F. Opens in the Former Llama Inn Space in Williamsburg"},"content":{"rendered":"

Llama Inn<\/a> opened in 2015 in Williamsburg, where restaurateur Juan Correa and chef Erik Ramirez focused on modern Peruvian fare. Though Correa closed Llama Inn in late 2025, the address is staying in the family as the new South American-leaning tavern Cafe Bar J.F<\/a>., opening at 50 Withers Street, at Meeker Avenue, on Wednesday, May 13.<\/p>\n

About Llama Inn, \u201cwe found the narrative around Peruvian food [and] we had a really good run at the beginning,\u201d Correa tells Eater. \u201cBut the world is not interested in something that\u2019s been around for 10 years; they are interested in what\u2019s new.\u201d (Meanwhile, Ramirez has remained the executive chef of Correa\u2019s other business, the Peruvian Nikkei restaurant Papa San in Hudson Yards, which opened in 2025. Correa also still runs Llama Inns in Madrid and London.)<\/p>\n

For Cafe Bar J.F., Correa teamed up again with chef Francisco Castillo, who was chef de cuisine at the now-closed Llama San. Together they\u2019re pulling the lens back to showcase South American cuisines more broadly \u2014 Peru, yes, but also Chile and Argentina \u2014 in a casual setting they\u2019ve been calling a tavern.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Cole Saladino<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is about places that you can go back again and again,\u201d Correa says. He reflects back to when he first moved to New York City from Peru. \u201cIt was exciting to just mingle with everyone from everywhere and see this mix of things happening,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s what a tavern embodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Cole Saladino<\/p>\n

The Cafe Bar J.F. core menu features grilled seafood, vegetables, and South American staples. The swordfish ($36) is basted with an olive oil-white wine-garlic concoction before it\u2019s grilled and served with yellow-eyed beans.<\/p>\n

The menu that leans on humble dishes allow them \u201cto push a little bit more creativity and show that culinary ambition in a certain way,\u201d says Castillo. \u201cAt the same time, it\u2019s very comfortable when you eat it [and ] it\u2019s not something complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

The arroz meloso ($43) uses carnaroli (a risotto-style rice) for a creamy texture, Castillo says. The rice is cooked with lobster stock, a butter created with lobster brains, and oil made from the shells, and served with a grilled lobster tail. \u201cThe dish has a very \u201980s vintage look,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

For sweets, Castillo is bringing back his tres leches dessert ($14) from Llama San, along with a cheese course ($20) curated by C. Hesse Cheese<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pierre Buffet \u2014the sommelier formerly of chef residency restaurant Fulgrances<\/a>, who is now a co-partner of Greenpoint rotisserie Gigi\u2019s<\/a> \u2014curated the wines. The list draws from regions like Argentina\u2019s Valle de Uco, Peru\u2019s Pisco Valley, Chile\u2019s Valle de Itata, and European options, with a good amount of under-$100 bottles and by-the-glass options mostly ranging from $16 to $18.<\/p>\n

The team tagged Sarah Morrissey, a Golden Age Hospitality manager \u2014 behind places like Le Dive \u2014 to develop the $19 cocktails. There\u2019s a vodka mojito, a tapped Old Fashioned made with Peruvian chiles, and a daiquiri with purple corn falernum. The $17 combinados<\/a> are two-ingredient drinks popular in South America. The pisco sour is made using a version of a Correa family recipe. He recounts how his 95-year-old mother would talk to his bartenders, telling them how her brother taught her to make pisco sours with four parts pisco (typically, the drink is made with two parts of pisco<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"Inside<\/a><\/p>\n

Inside Cafe Bar J.F. Cole Saladino<\/p>\n

Madrid architecture studio Plantea Estudio designed the revamped 1,800-square-foot space, its first American project. The dining room seats around 56 people, with a 10-seat bar. Later, the team will open the 500-square-foot 25-seat rooftop bar.<\/p>\n

The walls feature South American and personal touchstones, movie posters, and cultural items, including a Lima soccer team jersey and a pamphlet for a 1960s exhibit in Paris for Chilean artist Roberto Mata.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a poster for Wong Kar Wai\u2019s Happy Together<\/a>, which takes place in Buenos Aires and whose characters work at restaurants. \u201cIt captures the feeling of a city for which I think both of us are very nostalgic,\u201d Correa says.<\/p>\n

Correa compares restaurants to movies: \u201cYou can see the flashy movies that capture your eyes immediately, but then you become bored because there\u2019s no substance behind it.\u201d Correa says. \u201cWhat we want is to have that slow burn where you start growing infatuated with what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cafe Bar J.F. is open from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 5 to 10 p.m., Fridays through Sundays. Reservations are available on Resy, but the restaurant accepts walk-ins.<\/p>\n

\"Chef<\/a><\/p>\n

Chef Francisco Castillo and Juan Correa of Cafe Bar J.F. Cole Saladino<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Llama Inn opened in 2015 in Williamsburg, where restaurateur Juan Correa and chef Erik Ramirez focused on modern…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":790732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,11647,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-790731","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkcity","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-nyc-restaurant-openings","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116560838950298323","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=790731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/790732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=790731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=790731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=790731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}