Serra Doce
A spectacular addition to the Summit community, Serra Doce is a beautiful European-style cafe with excellent refreshments, and I cannot praise it enough. The calm, inviting atmosphere set by the immaculate interior design, the impeccable service, and even the music, is perfect for everything from working to chatting with friends.
The interior is flooded with sunlight from its many windows, illuminating a gray brick accent wall, dark tile flooring, custom-made white shelves, and wooden seating – all of which were built by a local Summit-based constructor. Spacious and modern, Doce nonetheless captures a warm and welcoming ambience. Waiters and waitresses bring food and drinks out on serving trays, carrying porcelain mugs and plates reminiscent of home.
With classics like Billy Joel and Queen humming from the cafe’s speakers, the music is just quiet enough that you can sit by someone and speak softly, and just loud enough that the sitting space never seems empty or awkward. You can sit, read, work, relax, talk to friends, or do nothing at all, all while enjoying great food.
Doce offers a wide and tasty variety of refreshments – coffee, juice, milkshakes, pastries, sandwiches, salads, and soups – making it perfect for everything from breakfast to lunch to a snack any time in between. Reasonably-priced, these treats are definitely worth the visit.
I personally recommend the Portuguese custard donut. Sweet, fluffy, and baked to perfection, I could eat these donuts all day, every day. The coffee is great, and the cafe shows a list of all the syrups available for flavoring. Moreover, Serra Doce offers custom-made juices, where customers can pick four fruits, vegetables, or herbs for their drink. As expected, it was delicious and refreshing (I chose a pineapple-ginger-orange-lemon blend).
Of Brazilian and Portuguese descent, owner Arsonval Faria ensures that his cafe (opened in 2021) and his restaurant, Serra Restaurant (opened in 2019), offer delicious, authentic cuisine to our downtown.
Faria sees himself as a businessman more than anything, but it is crystal-clear that Faria loves what he does as a restaurateur. Every choice made concerning the cafe seems deliberate and thoughtful, every detail planned to the tee, making for a fantastic customer experience.
I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with him, and found him to be a brilliant personage. He and his wife built everything from the ground up, and he is incredibly proud that 99% of his initial vision was realized.
His business philosophy? “Things happen, and we must deal with them. Go with the flow.” Faria describes the numerous challenges that he faced: such as the COVID-19 pandemic delaying construction, staffing shortages, and Summit’s competitive market. It was tough competing with corporations, but admirably, he persevered, at times taking months to find a successful system. “You only have control over yourself and your own business.”
Although he grew up in Newark – where his mother runs Maria’s Sweet Deli – Faria is fond and supportive of the Summit community, choosing to build his businesses specifically here instead of elsewhere. He recognized that Summit was missing classic European-style cafes and restaurants, and he decided to fill that void.
His favorite pastry on the menu is the braided coconut bread (also known as trança), which I tried and found characteristically delicious.
In the future, Faria looks to enjoy life. He strongly believes that although ambition and drive are crucial to success, family, health, and happiness are top priority.
Serra Doce is a wonderful addition to Summit, NJ, and I give it a glowing recommendation. Anyone who has the opportunity should absolutely stop for a pastry and drink; I promise, you’ll be back time and again.
