Category: Food

Sweet! Dessert Places That Deliver

Posted on by NikkiOnTheDaily in Food

It’s 8 PM and you just finished dinner. As you’re cleaning the kitchen, drying the dishes, suddenly, a craving hits. You recall strolling through New York City, or even Jersey City, and coming across that bakery. It was delicious, mouth-watering, and right now you wish you could be back in that moment again for one more bite. You’d give anything to satisfy your sweet tooth. The stomach wants what it wants. Sadly, your home is out of range for Uber Eats. So, you put the dishes away and turn on Netflix as another disappointing night without dessert goes by.

Well, there’s a solution for that. I’ve compiled a list of indulgences that do nationwide delivery, from Manhattan, Brooklyn, Jersey, to the Hamptons. Dessert brought directly to your door.

Milk Bar, recognized for its classic confectionary style, hit the dessert scene in 2008 when it opened its doors in the East Village. Since then, James Beard award-winning pastry chef Christina Tosi has expanded Milk Bar to 16 locations. Whether you’re craving a classic B’Day flavor or seasonal Pumpkin Dulce De Leche, it’ll arrive at your home when you order.

Baked In Color, located at 58th Street and 8th Avenue, is noted for its original rainbow chocolate chip cookies. They sell out so quickly that the website even suggests ordering in advance for those nearby. Not a worry, they do nationwide shipping on all tins, tubes, brownies, and cakes.

Gluten-free, and ready-to-eat cookie dough is a dream Willy Wonka would rave about. Kristen Tomlan is the mastermind behind serving of edible cookie dough in ice cream cups out of her flagship location in Greenwich Village. DŌ serves upward of 10 flavors, with new ideas churning out. Trade in the Pillsbury container and think outside the tin.

For a cookie with a doughy feel but cooked in classic form, there’s Gooey On The Inside. The brick and mortar store is on Chrystie Street, but with a Dunkaroo Cookie and molten cookie jars, it’s worth going to.

The bite-sized cupcake, which really only leads to more bites, delivers directly to your door thanks to Baked by Melissa. S’mores, cookie dough, peanut butter cup, tie-dye and more await.

But if you’re more of a go-big or go-home type and feeling like a full-sized cupcake, splurge on the popular Magnolia Bakery. Since opening its first location in 1996 in the West Village, Magnolia has proven to be a household name. Let a piece into your home.

Some names are synonymous with the streets of New York, like Carnegie Deli and Russ & Daughters. Maybe desserts aren’t the first thing you think of when you hear these classic names, but black and white cookies, rugelach, and chocolate babka make coming home all the sweeter. Explore offerings at www.goldbelly.com.

Over to Brooklyn, Oneg Bakery in Williamsburg has been voted “best babka in NYC,” an order that would make Elaine Benes and Jerry Seinfeld proud (season five, episode 13). Try it for yourself.

If chocolate isn’t your thing, then surely the world-famous Juniors Cheesecake can satisfy your craving. Since 1950, the corner of Flatbush and DeKalb has been filling bellies with its golden classic, and seasonal offerings like pumpkin, apple crumb, and more.

Hopping over the Hudson is a lesser known but large in flavor cookie shop. Bang Cookies, located in Jersey City, plans to open two new locations in the upcoming weeks at the American Dream Mall and another in Hoboken. With boozy cookies, Bourbon Walnut Toffee, Cinnamon Whiskey Crackle, classics like Sea Salt Chocolate Chunk, and so much more, it’s no surprise that this small shop is making big baking waves. Taste it for yourself.

After opening its doors in 2011, Carissa’s Bakery in the Hamptons enjoyed an expansion this past summer. Known for its breads and pastries, it’s no wonder it ships domestically every Thursday.

Levain Bakery was founded in 1994 with a headquartered shop on the Upper West Side, but luckily their summering in the Hamptons clientele brought them out east as well. Taste what everyone is talking about. And who could forget about Tate’s, the Southampton shop that made crispy cookies a craze. Go in yourself or order online at www.tatesbakeshop.com.

 

This article first appeared in The Independent Newspaper here.

Love Coffee, Love People

Posted on by NikkiOnTheDaily in Food, Hospitality

Since the mid-1600s coffee shops have been cultural hubs for connectivity, a place to unwind and think. As the centuries have rolled on the technology may have changed but the allure of a cozy café remains prevalent.

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owner Evan Santiago holding a flat white with oat milk

Hybrid Coffee + Kitchen is the newest coffee shop to open in the Jersey City area, at 110 Cambridge Avenue, but many locals are already familiar with the name. Less than a year ago, owner Evan Santiago debuted Hudson County’s only mobile coffee cart on Exchange Place, which he custom built from a converted 1970s horse trailer. After only a few months of proven success, he decided to expand to a brick-and-mortar location, which opened in late November of 2019.

 

“My desire is to create a coffee culture that is outside of your standard norm and my brand overall is inspired by my travels and things that I went through in life,” Santiago expressed.

 

As an art director by trade, the decor of his new location is certainly reflective of said attitude. A hand blown glass neon sign that reads Love coffee, love people; an original wooden 1970s Pac-man with over 60 games; a display case with plant life; reclaimed wood; a real fireplace with colorfully upholstered antiquity furniture. Then there’s the eye catcher, tables made from old cast iron Singer sewing machines, a touch Santiago refers to as his signature style, creating and cutting out the wooden tops himself. 

 

“I wanted to create something that was a conversation starter. I curated the space as a little piece of my mind. I wanted to make it feel like home. Each space has a purpose.”

Even the location itself has a deeper purpose. Hybrid is in the same building as the Hope Center, a modernized church. Santiago is the centers acting art director and media director, taking part in over 20 free community events annually. While the center technically owns the space and licenses the brand, Santiago owns the brand itself. But it’s all filtered through the non-profit, adding real heart to this home.

“I’ve always had this desire to open up a coffee shop and to be in the service space industry. When you’re doing something like this you’re not only serving people and pleasing people, but you’re pleasing palates as well.”

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Sopa

In addition to the lattes, teas, coffee, and espresso, currently the food menu lists items such as avocado toast, eggs-in-a-blanket, a hybrid waffle, brioche French toast, stew sandwich, and latin style chicken soup, made by Santiago himself.

It’s rare to walk into a new place and immediately feel at ease, but Santiago has an innate capacity for empathy, a likely reason why he’s seen such success.

Hybrid brings in the local community in every aspect of business. The coffee is from Jersey City’s own ModCup, where Santiago was a consumer for many years prior to owning his own piece of the culture and various delicious pastries are sourced directly from Choc-O-Pain on Palisades Avenue.

 

“Coffee is full of science and full of art, to create a great drink. I want to pair good coffee with good product.”

 

All the dishes, cups, and stoneware are handmade from Union City based artist Jono Pandolfi, and in the corner customers can purchases pieces from missionary group, Traveling Thrift, and leather by Billy Kirk. For the future Hybrid plans to dig its roots even deeper into the community, selling local art work, product, even flowers.

“I want a space you can walk in and you feel like you can get everything. Where you can work, you can eat, you can buy a card. A place that fulfills all the needs, all the things that you need to get through your day.”

With the new year will be a new opportunity to grow. Hybrid aims have a calendar of events for the whole community to enjoy, including live music and open mic nights.

“I’m planted here. I want to grow where I’m planted. My wife and I, with our kids, wanted to build in the location where we live. It’s easy to go out, but why not invest in the city that you walk in every day?”

Hybrid Coffee + Kitchen is located on 110 Cambridge Avenue in Jersey City. Find them on Instagram.

An Appetite Grows In Brooklyn

Posted on by NikkiOnTheDaily in Food

Brooklyn is home to more than just Nathan’s Famous hotdogs. Here are seven places you need to taste on your next trip to the BK.

 

L & B Spumoni Gardens in Bensonhurst has been a name for over 80 years, famous for their Sicilian pies and spumoni. With a pizzeria to one side and a restaurant to the other, out of all the times I’ve visited I can’t say I’ve ever actually been inside the restaurant itself but there’s a full menu. Sit down and grab a square slice with a crisp bottom, soft dough middle, topped with thinly sliced cheese, a signature red sauce above it, and scattered with a saltier cheese on top. I can’t wait for the 100 year anniversary pie.

 

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Other Half Brewing

 

Other Half Brewing sits in a seemingly inconspicuous location, as all the best places do, situated between Park Slope and Red Hook. Wooden benches, a TV screen for football, high tables alongside the back by the silo’s, and plenty of merch to go. There’s a draft beer list around 20 varieties each day. Not much for IPAs, which dominates the list, there were two coffee flavors I simply couldn’t get enough of; the Double Sunset Imperial Stout with Ethiopian Worka Coffee (13% ABV) and a Short, Dark & Handsome Stout flavored with coffee and coconut (7.2% ABV).

 

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Steve’s Authentic

 

Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pie in Red Hook is one of only two commercial bakeries in the United States to use fresh squeezed key limes in their pies. They have a 10-inch, eight inch, and even four inch pie sizes. The four inch was a sweet little bite to share between stops. Eat at one of the several wooden benches in front or walk over to the small pier and stare out to Lady Liberty and lower Manhattan.

 

 

Dangerfield pie
Octopus

 

Over in Clinton Hill, Speedy Romeo wows with flavor. Located in a bar over 100 years old, it’s named after a champion race horse, which explains the champion style food. Grilled Octopus with Hazelnut romesco, potato, and chili oil, a sauce so savory I could endlessly dip bread into it. Then, the thin crusted Dangerfield pizza with bèchamel, pork-veal meatballs, ricotta, basil, and garlic chips. The toppings slid off the sides and onto the plate as I topped it off with green and red pickled peppers.

 

The boutique cafe Urban Vintage also in Clinton Hill has the charming allure of a vintage shop meets quaint cafe, and everything I’d personally want in a coffee shop. Amid the countless style seating options, from the front window to the back mirrors, it showcases unique jewelry and other small home good tokens, things very unlikely seen anywhere else. The cafe part offers a full menu with coffee and teas, some flavors especially unique like a Rose Late.

Hibiscus, glazed, cafe au lait, maple pecan

Dough is a corner shop only blocks away from Speedy Romeo. Their brioche style doughnut is light yet on the cakey side. They have tons of flavors but the Hibiscus pink frosting stood out as the real game changer.

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at Bed Stuy Barbs

 

New to the cleaned up Bed Stuy scene is Barbs on Garvey Marcus Blvd. It’s where the locals go to kick back and have a conversation with the extremely friendly bartender, Jill. Cash bar only, the drinks are right and the vibe is very relaxed.

The Mayor & The Spring Flower

Posted on by NikkiOnTheDaily in Food, Inspiring

Kuppi Coffee Company in Edgewater, New Jersey, was a fun little find on my search for a healthy place to drop in after working out.

Subway tile line the walls, brick to compliment the room, hanging lights, wide windows in the front overlooking the parking lot, and airy windows in the back afforded a view of the Hudson River. Couches, high tables, communal wooden tables, and trendy stadium style seating scattered throughout the room. A place for every type of customer. I arrived at the counter and ordered a Chickpea Smash, smashed chickpeas over multi grain bread with arugula, radish, and topped with Sriracha, side of cappuccino.

 

As I placed my order an elderly man struck up a conversation with me. He was an Armenian fur designer living in Cliffside Park who moved to the area from Istanbul many years ago. I bit my tongue not to mention my adversity to animal cruelty amid my animal rescue efforts. By the time I signed my receipt he offered me a seat at his table. Since my original position was surrounded by several children playing under the age of five, adorable but no thank you, I took up the offer for a quieter atmosphere. Here, I’d sit for the next two hours as I sipped and nibbled.

 

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I enjoy meeting strangers in public places, especially those from another country. I find there’s so much to learn, like an audio book in first person perspective. The individual paths that led such a stranger to the exact moment I share with them, listening to their passions, discovering a foreign city that is soon added to my travel list, and trying to understand their, oftentimes broken, English. The Mayor* did not disappoint. I soon discovered he was a regular at Kuppi and the owner dubbed him Mayor because he spoke to every new face that entered the shop.
What I found most amusing about Mayor was the amount of times he seemed to contradict himself. He doesn’t like when others talked about history, he has no use for the past, and yet he loves to read history books; he doesn’t like people but yet smiled at everyone in the room; he thinks those who talk too much don’t understand when to ask questions, and somehow in the two hours we sat with one another he monopolized the conversation for about an hour and 45 minutes. As he spoke, I remained essentially silent but smiled and nodded my way through. Sometimes people just want to be heard, and I’ve made a career off of listening.

Journalists are oftentimes treated like therapists with a byline.

I looked around as he pointed to the Turkish woman dying of cancer, the Russian customer with the billionaire husband, the Palestinian millennial always with her laptop, the mortgage (or insurance) salesman typing away, the disgruntled Eastern European on line who is inherently miserable with two children, and the owners mother who sat directly next to us. Each person with their own backstory, and the Mayor was privy to them all. Then, there was me, a new character for him to learn. I’d undoubtedly be his ‘spring flower’ (a nickname I quickly acquired) from Long Island with a penchant for smiling.

Our time together grew to a close as my two hour parking was up. We shook hands and I gathered my turned off laptop. I didn’t get the work done that I had planned but I walked away with something more. Kuppi’s became more than an atmosphere. For me, it’s the story of The Mayor & The Spring Flower.

Hello Oma: A Little Piece Of Home

Posted on by NikkiOnTheDaily in Food

This article first appeared in The Independent Newspaper. Read more about #EverythingEastEnd here

Hello Oma is an inconspicuous little gem sitting directly next to Dopo La Spiaggia on Race Lane in East Hampton. Upon initial glance, it almost looks like a tent is permanently propped up. But within its solid walls is a little piece of home.

“I love East Hampton, as I grew up here and have many great memories of this place. I wanted to create a homey space, where I would like to spend time myself, with a cozy atmosphere, good coffee, and good food,” said owner Kristofer Kalas, who opened Hello Oma with his wife, Galyna. The name “Oma” comes from the Dutch and German word for grandmother. “I wanted to create a place where you feel like you did as a small child being held by your grandmother.”

On the right wall next to the counter hangs a black and white picture of Kalas’s “oma,” holding him and his brother, a tribute to the woman that inspired a business. Kalas’s mother, he said, also took pride in cooking real ingredients for her two growing boys while simultaneously managing a full-time business. Basically, farm-to-table is in his blood.

“I have two amazing godmothers who are farmers and bring us the best and freshest produce I have ever tasted: Regina Whitney of Regina’s Farm and Franca Tantillo of Berried Treasures,” Kalas noted.

Independent/Nicole Teitler

This desire for the freshest ingredients carried over when Hello Oma opened its doors, carrying everything needed “to stock a kitchen and make dinner,” he said. The conscientious consumer can purchase in peace. All products are no spray and no pesticide, with a guarantee to have been grown responsibly.

There is also a selection of shelf-stable goods from producers who uphold the same values of sustainability — oil and vinegar from Il Buco in New York City, Amish pickles from Pennsylvania, and Japanese soy, for example. Regulars are seen coming in up to three times a day for Tristar strawberries.

Walk to the counter and order a regular iced coffee, served in a Mason jar, with half regular and half oat milk, as recommended and made by Kalas himself. The bakery section proves satisfying, with bites both large and small. A particular Oma original is the granola mix with almonds, oats, sunflower seeds, and coconuts cooked with olive oil and maple syrup. Put it in yogurt, a cereal bowl, or a snack to go. On a nice day, patrons even have the backyard oasis to enjoy reading a book or relax over conversation, all the while noshing and sipping.

Fall hours are 8 AM to noon during the week and 8 AM to 5 PM on the weekend. Newly introduced are breakfast items and lunch-to-go, in addition to regularly set menu in the morning.

Kalas said, “Expect anything from gluten-free overnight oatmeal to eggs shakshuka and of course, avocado toast.”