Cafe Pedlar Restaurant, Lower East Side, New York City, And Stumptown Coffee And Breakfast Pastries
Cafe Pedlar (and its awesome pastries) take Manhattan
After mastering the art of understated Italian dining in Brooklyn and Manhattan, the duo behind Frankies Spuntino–Frank Falcinelli and Frank Castronovo–has done the same with coffee and pastries.
With the help of Stumptown Coffee founder Duane Sorensen, they opened Cafe Pedlar in quality coffee-starved Cobble Hill in March, and recently followed up with its new near-twin in the Lower East Side.
Both Pedlars brew only Stumptown coffee–but so does an increasingly exhaustive list of spots. However, no other caffeine concern in town sells pastries quite as distinctive.
In addition to chewy, misshapen pretzels (a fixture at the team's nearby Prime Meats restaurant, $2.50) and pretzel rolls filled with butter or cheese ($2.50 and up), Pedlar is home to a robust stout cake ($2.50), an exemplary linzer torte ($4) and–our favorite–a decadent olive oil cake (pictured, $3), a spongy, citrusy, sun-colored treat that's made fresh daily with Frankie's own cold-pressed oil.
We tell ourselves we're going back for the great coffee, but we know better.
Cafe Pedlar Cobble Hill, 210 Court Street (at Warren St.); 718-855-7129 or cafepedlar.com
Cafe Pedlar Lower East Side, 17 Clinton Street (between Stanton and Houston sts.); 212-253-2303 or cafepedlar.com