Well, I’m back. My trip to Madrid and San Sebastián (Donostia, if you’re Basque-y) was vermouth-filled and wine-soaked — I literally went to a wine battle — and now what lie before me are the humid, languorous days of a New York City summer. I could become depressed by the bright relentlessness of summer, or I could take the opportunity to lean into the slowness of it all.
And where better to do that than at an all-day cafe, where you can seamlessly transition from coffee to wine, from emails to “talk on Monday” with a few good bites in between. They are especially useful if you’re lucky enough to have Summer Fridays or just need a delightful third space that’s not your apartment or office.
Here are a few of my current favorites, but I’d love to know where you close out the week on the most relaxing note possible. Shoot me an email at [email protected] and you may see your response in a future newsletter.
Spanish tortillas and “night plates”
The inspiration for this newsletter was Che, a tiny coffee shop and wine bar that opened last year on Malcolm X Boulevard in Bed-Stuy. It’s run by a group of friends with a ton of barista and cafe experience, all native New Yorkers, and attracts a very, well, attractive and eclectic crowd from the surrounding neighborhoods.
People-watching aside, Che won me over with one of the best lattes I’ve had in this city (a very close second to the lattes at Sey Coffee in Bushwick) and the Spanish tortilla, a robust thing layered with seasonal vegetables and sprinkled with flaky sea salt. Around 4 p.m. (or 2, I’m not your mom!), you can order a glass of wine or a cocktail, I like this one olive juice and Aperol joint, or a glass of wine from a small but delightful selection of natural wines. Friday through Sunday the cafe stays open until 9 p.m., so you can enjoy what they call “night plates.” Go for the kosho cod, it’s clean tasting, dead simple and as slow-going as the summer months.
Go for the TLT (Tempeh Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato)
If your version of a lazy Friday doesn’t involve a laptop then I would recommend a trip to Little Canal in Chinatown. It’s situated on a prime corner, just outside the Rutgers Street entrance to the East Broadway F station at Canal and specializes in good coffee and an almost entirely vegetarian breakfast and lunch menu.
I dropped by before work and managed to snag a pink marble table in the corner. Just over my shoulder I spotted a sign emphasizing that there is no Wi-Fi, and laptops or tablets are not allowed either. So post up with a book or a magazine over a long breakfast or lunch. I enjoyed the filling breakfast burrito well enough, but I think next time I’ll go for the TLT, tempeh bacon, avocado, greens, tomato and chipotle mayonnaise on focaccia. Note: Little Canal closes from 4 to 6 p.m., then reopens for wine, cocktails and small plates. I’d mark it down as a good stop while waiting to get into Eel Bar.
An all-day cafe with Michelin pedigree
An exciting development on the fancier front: In May the space that was formerly Oxalis, the Michelin-starred restaurant in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, from the people behind Place Des Fêtes, became Cafe Mado. The good news? The space is large and airy and laptops are allowed. The better news? This isn’t your usual tiny-kitchen-with-limited-offerings type of cafe.
In the morning there are high-end egg sandwiches, one with pork sausage and another with a hashbrown, both on a sweet potato bun. The bun is made by Laurel Bakery (from the same owners) in Cobble Hill, which also makes Cafe Mado’s pastries, including a delightfully crackly kouign-amann, the queen of sweet breakfast pastries.
Around noon, the cafe transitions to the kind of lunch that requires a kitchen line with a sous chef and a chef de cuisine. There’s handmade pici pasta with fava beans, properly Frenched fries, and pissaladière, a caramelized onion and anchovy flatbread native to Provence that you rarely see on menus at New York’s many, many French restaurants. In other words, it’s the kind of neighborhood cafe worth leaving your own neighborhood and braving the heat for.
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