Oneonta residents and companions Anastasia Majestic and Nathaniel Roberts are pairing their love of play with a ardour for meals.
The 2, house owners of Magic Field and Serenity Hobbies, respectively, launched Boba Yaga in late July.
The 156 Important St., Oneonta eatery, the title of which riffs off Majestic’s Russian roots, is a boba tea and crepe cafe, with a facet of board video games.
“We have been transferring Magic Field from Dietz to Important Road, in order that was the preliminary, ‘Hey, let’s take this different house, too, as a result of it was proper in between the present Magic Field and Serenity Hobbies areas,” Roberts, 38, mentioned. “That’s what began the dialog … however the idea of a board recreation cafe or different cafe has all the time been within the air between the 2 of us.”
“I believe possibly two years in the past, (Roberts) mentioned, ‘Think about a gap in (the wall of Serenity Hobbies) with a restaurant proper there,” Majestic, 30, mentioned. “Then I began imagining proudly owning one thing food-related collectively.”
Roberts mentioned, although the Boba Yaga menu “modifications each week,” the genuine boba, or bubble, tea choice is the star.
“We’re undoubtedly a bubble tea and crepe cafe,” he mentioned. “It’s two issues that Oneonta both has by no means had or has in a really simplistic manner. A milk tea that you just would possibly get at any of the Asian locations (within the metropolis) isn’t going to be the identical as at our place. It’s the same taste, however a special merchandise. And we’re not reducing any corners; we even purchased all our tools from all Taiwanese producers.”
The response to such distinctive choices, Majestic and Roberts mentioned, has been candy.
“We’ve got not been capable of maintain three issues in inventory — the Thai milk tea, the taro and the matcha,” Roberts mentioned. “They’re gone inside days. The whole lot is made in Taiwan and ships to 2 warehouses — in San Francisco and New Jersey — and so they’re serving all of the bubble tea retailers within the nation.”
“We’ve got excellent patrons and (the response) has been very constructive,” Majestic echoed. “And what’s useful about crepes is it’s very straightforward to comply with a gluten-free protocol. So, it’s undoubtedly an unserved market in Oneonta; with as many pizza locations are open, it’s actually onerous to be gluten-free.”
Roberts mentioned they’ve additionally examined a keto-friendly crepe recipe, coming quickly to the Boba Yaga menu.
Roberts and Majestic mentioned, as boba tea establishes itself, they hope to extend customization. Roberts mentioned he additionally plans to introduce ramen dishes by winter and added Door Sprint service in late August.
“The menu is static in the mean time, however we would like it to be build-your-own,” he mentioned. “We had that suggestion for the crepes, and you are able to do the identical with bubble tea. A variety of bubble tea retailers do the build-your-own menu.”
“Simply because we all know it’s very new to the realm, for the start, we determined to arrange the vector,” Majestic mentioned. “Lots of people are available in and are misplaced, as a result of they’ve by no means had this earlier than. However should you really feel perky, you’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, give me one thing that tastes like this,’ and we completely can create it for you.”
Roberts mentioned the cafe’s “prime demographic is youngsters to 35,” although the place is family-friendly by design.
“It’s a very good twist on an anime cafe,” Majestic mentioned, noting the Studio Ghibli-inspired decorations all through. “(Studio Ghibli movies) are all very heartfelt, real and ethical, with environmental safety concepts, and, as a restaurant, we’re making an attempt to be very environmentally pleasant — we recycle something and every thing that may be recycled, and we compost.”
“We selected Ghibli as a result of it’s just like the Disney of the anime world,” Roberts mentioned.
The decline of the COVID-19 pandemic, Roberts and Majestic mentioned, will hopefully enhance the cafe’s gaming facet.
“We need to have video games within the retailer for individuals to seize and play and have a recreation night time and trivia nights,” Roberts mentioned.
“I’ve a chess membership,” Majestic mentioned, with Roberts saying they plan so as to add chess instruction and playtime “possibly proper after faculty will get out.”
“Previous COVID, we need to have an enormous desk, like a tavern desk, the place you sit with individuals whom you don’t know,” Majestic continued. “Lots of people are searching for connection on this world, and it will be actually good if we might present this protected house. Usually, it will likely be a really cool hangout spot the place you don’t come and sit in your cellphone; you’ll be able to come and play, or carry mates who’ve by no means performed, or you’ll be able to simply get pleasure from your time consuming bubble tea and having a crepe.”
Boba Yaga is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday by Saturday, although Roberts mentioned the hours could shift in accordance with demand.
For extra data, discover “Boba Yaga” on Fb or comply with @bobayaga.oneonta on Instagram.
