Baked in Manhattan
Royale Cafe + Pastry brings Brooklyn's best to the West Village
When it comes to coffee and sweets, Brooklyn residents have been able to lord it over Manhattanites: Keep your Magnolia Bakery--we've got Gimme! Coffee and Baked's sweet-salty brownies. But those days are over! The West Village's Royale Cafe + Pastry is now serving some of Brooklyn's greatest hits.
But this bright sliver of a coffee shop--a joint venture of two husband-and-wife duos (including one of Baked's founding partners)--also stocks some of Manhattan's best treats, including croissants and scones from Balthazar, GuS sodas and Café Angelique's healthy sandwiches and salads. The owners round out the pastry case with sundry cupcakes, two-bite muffins and homemade Oreo-like cookies.
Pull up a stool at the jagged reclaimed wood bar and enjoy a fluffy cappuccino and an oversize "monster" cookie (made with peanut butter, oatmeal and M&Ms), or settle into the wide window seat with a bowl of Baked's excellent granola (bonus: great people-watching).
Lunchboxes filled with bagel sandwiches, fresh fruit, cookies and smoothies are geared toward kids from nearby P.S. 41, but no one will tell if you snag one for a weekend road trip.
Royale Cafe + Pastry, 461 Sixth Ave. (at 11th St.); 212-255-5236
