In Cross River, good things come to those who wait

Anchored by The Boro, Cross River complex offers food, yoga, and nutrition counseling

The Boro owners Skaz Gecaj and John Swertfager. Amy Sowder Photos

By AMY SOWDER

Susie Fox of South Salem and Jessie Turok of Katonah sank into the olive-green velvet sofa with their oat milk latte and dirty matcha latte at The Boro Cafe & Market in Cross River. Their rolled yoga mats sat beside them.

“We’re so grateful they have food and a place to hang. Those are rare around here. It’s a twofer,” said Fox, who took a vinyasa flow class with her friend at Second Wind Yoga studio, just upstairs from the café.

Cross River and Lewisboro’s surrounding communities have watched and wondered about the two-year process of building, permitting and opening this two-story complex — which contains The Boro, Second Wind Yoga, Optimal Wellness and possibly an aesthetician soon — on Route 35 near John Jay Middle School.

But finally, The Boro’s grand opening was held Feb. 10, a celebration that owning partners John Swertfager and Skaz Gecaj say was in serious jeopardy halfway through, with delays, challenges, multiple engineers and red tape.

“We finally made it through. The town was very helpful in the end. We opened two days after we got our permits. We’ve been ready for a while,” Swertfager said. 

Swertfager and Gecaj have been best friends since kindergarten at Increase Miller Elementary School.

“We grew up here, and now we’re raising our families here,” said Swertfager. “We love the area and wanted to bring to town what we thought was missing here.”

Naming their café after Lewisboro, the friends have run Apex Fitness across the street for six years. Both of their families are in real estate, and Swertfager’s father, Bill, runs AIA Imprint Group, where he worked in sales for a time on this property. When Bill decided to sell the property, Swertfager and Gecaj saw their opportunity.

While property was already zoned for commercial use, it was an office building that required transforming the infrastructure for foodservice use, which ended up requiring three engineers and hoops to jump through for the health department, Swertfager said.

With all that time, the pair took their time deciding on choosing the food, the decor, hiring staff, training, the tea and coffee.

The partners invited at least 30 coffee companies to come to the gym for coffee tastings, using their almost 600 gym members as taste-testers. “Our last one was Counter Culture, and they came up from the city. They did the whole tasting, and everyone was like, ‘Guys, this is it.’”

The Boro staff traveled to the Counter Culture training center in SoHo for almost three weeks to learn about the coffee and correct brewing methods.

The Regenerative Organic-certified green and black matcha tea comes from Wild Orchard based in Mount Kisco, grown exclusively on a tea farm on the volcanic island of Jeju in South Korea. Wild Orchard is sold nationwide and a bit in Europe, and their staff wanted a local presence too, said Jannette Shin, Wild Orchard’s product development manager.

“The Boro is really focused on the environment, and we definitely want to build a community who understands what we’re doing, and these are our neighbors,” Shin said. 

The café has pledged to use only compostable materials for cups, plastics, to-go containers and utensils and has partnered with Blue Earth, a waste management company specializing in composting. When the compost is ready in the Aerobins composting bins outside, it will be used to fertilize the grounds as well as donated locally.

The menu includes sandwiches, soups and salads using local ingredients when possible, like smoked salmon from Mount Kisco Smokehouse. The baked goods, like the sour cream chocolate chip loaf and the cranberry orange muffin, are from Sprout Creek Bakery by Jimmy the Baker, who first opened the Daily Bagel in Yorktown Heights in 1989.

Tucked in the back is the mini-market made of shelves of gourmet goods, such as Frankies 457 organic extra virgin olive oil, Fishwife tinned fish, Masa tortilla chips and Tony’s Chocolonely. Two refrigerated sections offer drinks such as Peekskill-crafted kombucha by Feel Good Booch and Row 7, Ronnybrook Farm chocolate milk, and grab-and-go meals and snacks, like sandwiches, salads and peanut buttery oat bites.

Historic photos line the walls up high, and one wall is made from wine crates, near the table of hats and mugs printed with The Boro logo. Before long, the partners plan to host events like a holiday tree lighting, tailgates for football teams and Food Truck Fridays with wine, beer and canned cocktails.

There are 26 seats inside plus outdoor seating when weather permits, but the centerpiece is the green sofa-sitting area by the stone fireplace. “That green velvet couch, it’s got the ‘Friends’ vibe,” Gecaj said.

Upstairs is Second Wind Yoga, run by Katie Grand, who moved to the area three years ago. The studio has heated floors and offers classes such as Sculpt, Vinyasa, Slow Flow and coming soon, classes for children and teens.

“One of the biggest benefits of being here is the built-in sense of community and connection,” Grand said, “and I love that people can come for a yoga class and also explore the other wellness and great food options in the same bright, warm and welcoming space.”

A registered dietitian nutritionist and certified personal trainer, Madeline Swertfager runs Optimal Wellness from a small office on the ground floor tucked in by the stairs. She’s also John’s wife and daughter of the Crabtree family that ran Crabtree Kittle House in Chappaqua for 45 years. She likes that the café offers both salad-type items and chocolate muffins. 

“As a dietitian, I’m not focused on restriction. You can enjoy your salad but also sometimes a cookie, and I can direct my clients to yoga or to Apex,” Madeline said. “We try to connect everyone to this community and to themselves. All of these work so well together.”

The Boro Cafe & Market, Second Wind Yoga and Optimal Wellness are located at 873 Route 35, Cross River. For more information, visit theborocafe.com, secondwindyogastudio.com and optimalwellness.com.