Amy’s always offers a range of pastries for a midmorning pick-me-up (photo by Mark Orwoll)
Taste something unique at these worldly cafés that make their bread and pastries by hand.
Adventurous diners don’t usually exhibit their curiosity and valor before their first coffee. But those willing to try something new to start the day or for a midmorning treat can do no better than Manhattan’s international bakery/cafés.
World cultures that count baking among their culinary attributes most likely have a presence in Manhattan. (And if you can’t find an Uzbeki or Egyptian or Bolivian bakery there, try Queens, the most ethnically diverse urban area in the world.) If you’ve ever wanted to have a go at fruitti di bosco, cardamom buns, or choquettes, you’ll find them in the Big Apple.
So, forget the blueberry muffin that you always order. The adventure begins now. Let’s start right here at home.
The fun and funky entrance to Amy’s Bread (photo by Mark Orwoll)
Amy’s Bread (Creative American)
Amy’s celebrates the USA, but with an uncommon flair. As founder Amy Scherber says on the bakery’s website, “We believe that the best bread and pastries are made in the Old World way—by hand and enjoyed within hours of being freshly baked.”
With its brick-lined interior and tile floors, a narrow front and wider back, Amy’s Bread shares the footprint of dozens of classic New York City dive bars. But the only thing you’ll get drunk on in this Hell’s Kitchen bakery is the selection of pastries: oatmeal scones with dried fruit and nuts, pain au chocolate, sticky buns, pistachio croissant twists, and more.
The lights are low in the seven-table seating area, which is just as well, since it makes an appropriate place to rendezvous with someone you shouldn’t be seeing, or even just a retreat from the traffic and noise of Ninth Avenue. After a walnut-raisin snail and cappuccino, buy some of Amy’s bread to take home (the potato-onion-dill loaf is a good choice).
Vibe: Funky old-school. Other Amy’s Bread locations: Chelsea Market, New York Public Library, and the Museum of the City of New York.
Gateau Marcel, lemon passionfruit cakes, and cinnamon rolls are on display at Ole & Steen (photo by Mark Orwoll)
Ole & Steen (Danish)
This Scandinavian import arrived in the U.S. in 2019 and set up shop adjacent to Union Square. Considering that chefs and foodies from all over New York descend on Union Square for its four-day-a-week greenmarket, Ole & Steen must be doing something right to have survived that kind of critical observation.
On an average day, the crowd is mostly 20- and 30-something office workers. The mood in the shadowy dining room is upbeat but low-key. Expect to hear Sade on the hidden speakers.
The pastry choices are lengthy. Have an old-school danish if you want (this is a Danish bakery, after all), but I’m going for a cheddar-jalapeño scone and one of their Swedish cardamom buns.
Vibe: Scandinavian-style cool. Other Ole & Steen locations: Midtown East, Bryant Park, TriBeCa, and the Upper East Side.
Ole & Steen attracts a crowd all day (photo by Mark Orwoll)
A subtle sign masks bold flavors at Bourke Street Bakery (photo by Mark Orwoll)
Bourke Street Bakery (Australian)
An Australian bakery? Who knew! Baker Paul Allam was determined to make it in the Big Apple after 15 years in Sydney, where he perfected his artisanal baking techniques (everything here is made from scratch) based on strong flavors.
Bourke Street Bakery (named for Allam’s original in Sydney) is so popular in NoMad that the pastries start to run low by lunchtime. “I’d recommend you get here by 10 if you want the best choices,” said the smiling young woman behind the counter. And what choices! Anzac biscuits, classic Aussie meat pies, toast with Vegemite or cardamom jam, or traditional brownies, croissants, and scones.
At one table, two writers discussed turning a novel into a musical; at another, a woman spoke with a high schooler about enrolling in college. It’s a fine place for a tete-a-tete over a blueberry-ricotta muffin and a flat white, but no worries if you come alone. The picture window giving onto 28th Street is a fine source of solo amusement as the neighborhood goes about its business.
Vibe: Aussie casual. Other outlets: none.
Fresh fruit and chocolate pastries are a highlight at Bourke Street Bakery (photo by Mark Orwoll)
Veniero’s stained-glass ceiling, marble-and-mirrored walls, and 100-seat dining room make it one of the classier bakery/cafés in Manhattan (photo by Mark Orwoll)
Veniero’s Pasticceria & Caffe (Italian)
A bakery-café with table service?! Fuggedaboudit! Normally, you’d wait at a counter, place your order, and then look for an empty seat. Not at Veniero’s Pasticceria (family-owned for five generations), which exudes Italian class.
In the heart of the East Village, Veniero’s (since 1894) makes the neighborhood smell like the best of the old country. The aroma of sfogiatella, Italian cheesecake, strawberry millefoglie, cannolis (I like mine topped with crushed pistachios), and custard-filled pasticciotto wafts through the streets, leading guests to float inside like Pepe LePew chasing a paint-striped cat.
The East Village has been home to Italians, Jews, Beatniks, Ukrainians, Hell’s Angels, Hispanics, punk rockers, Eighties hipsters, and, increasingly, yuppies. Through it all, Veniero’s has been a welcoming spot for a shifting crowd. The number-one reason to come here is for the crunchy-creamy cannolis.
Vibe: Upscale. Other outlets: none, but they offer nationwide shipping.
Veniero’s makes a customer feel almost helpless when faced with its abundance of pastry choices (photo by Mark Orwoll)
Continue Your Round-the-World Bakery Journey
Here are some other international bakeries where you can travel the world without leaving Manhattan.
China: Chiu Hong Bakery (no website; 161 Mott St.; 212-966-7664) is one of the oldest Chinese bakeries in Manhattan and is especially known for its red-bean mochi and coconut tarts.
Greece: Poseidon Greek Bakery, in Hell’s Kitchen, is locally famous for its finikia, oval cookies flavored with orange, cloves, cinnamon, and honey. Seating is bare bones and limited.
France: Befitting its location in the raffish East Village, Le Fournil NYC is anything but snooty, yet the bread and pastries are as French as they come (beignets, madeleines, chouquettes, canelés, and the like).
Eastern Europe: Yonah Schimmel’s Knish Bakery(established in 1910 on the Lower East Side) isn’t your typical bakery/café, although there is some seating in the plain interior. But if what you want is a knish, this must be the place. Your choices are vast: kasha, chocolate cheese, peppers and onion, red cabbage, apple strudel, and potato, among many others.
Southeast Asia: Enjoy some pastries you’re unlikely to find elsewhere at the Thai-inspired Chim Chim in Gramercy Park: green tea cake, sweet corn cheesecake, coconut-pandan fresh cream cake, and sliced taro and ube salted egg yolk burnt cheesecake.
Veniero’s is most famous for its cannoli—crisp on the outside, like a sweet rain cloud inside (photo by Mark Orwoll)
Author Bio:
Mark Orwoll writes about travel, film, food and drink for Highbrow Magazine.
For Highbrow Magazine