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Morning buns and cheddar biscuits at Amanda’s Good Morning Cafe.
Photograph: Grub Road
Good morning from Fort Greene, Brooklyn, the place the intersection of Fulton Road and Lafayette Avenue is a sudden hotbed of morning exercise. As of final week, the block that homes Mr. Mango is residence to 2 formidable bakery initiatives popping up inside eating places through the day. At Margot, Laurel Bakery’s takeover of the entrance bar with numerous European boulangerie and viennoise specialities is a extra everlasting association. And within Unusual Delight, two doorways over, Amanda Perdomo runs Amanda’s Good Morning Café, which is a New Orleanian tackle the concept with some barely extra substantial breakfast gadgets equivalent to bowls of buttered grits and pepper-jellied breakfast sandwiches on sesame rolls.
We’re right here to not declare a winner in a same-block face-off, partly as a result of each pop-ups are welcome additions to the realm and in addition as a result of by way of a surprise of scheduling, the one days they’re each open are Wednesdays and Thursdays. In any other case, Laurel runs Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays whereas Amanda’s is open on Mondays and Tuesdays. There’s not a single day of the week when a pang for a contemporary sticky bun should go unsated.
The morning buns at Laurel are flavored with speculoos cookies and they’re joined by some equally upscale-y choices: good croissants, kouign-amanns (good luck saying it the best approach if you order one), oily focaccia with little slivers of squash on prime, and pan Suisse which can be like ache au chocolat however crammed with a chocolate cream as an alternative of these arduous little cocoa nubs that infect too many pains aux chocolats across the metropolis. Seize a baguette to go.
The vibe leans extra American-nostalgic at Amanda’s — Perdomo is identical pastry chef who turned strawberry Jell-O pie right into a citywide sensation at Kellogg’s — the place the comfortable morning buns are crisp-edged and stickily candy. However the true marvels are the fried-to-order beignets, costing a mere $5, dusted with much less powdered sugar than they might be at Cafe du Monde (that’s a great factor: the du Monde doughnuts are buried), and neatly tucked right into a folded paper bag so you may pop them into your mouth whilst you stroll over to the C prepare.
Anna Hezel wrote about this metropolis’s boundless urge for food for little treats again in 2024, and with every passing day it seems to be more and more more likely to by no means abate. These two spots additionally appear to herald a brand new period for hype bakeries: They’re already tucked into each storefront and nook accessible. They’re now taking up restaurant area that’s already occupied earlier than turning it again over to the unique companies at evening. I don’t see a draw back right here, although I do surprise if Amanda’s will ever increase to weekend hours. Good beignets stay criminally arduous to search out right here, and a spot that may serve them alongside a frothy Ramos gin fizz on a Saturday morning can be, and I say this with full confidence, big.
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