Abraço lives up to the hype!

I have a real love/hate relationship with food media. On the one hand, I can't get enough of it. On the other hand, I'm always so disappointed when a place that the food establishment loves turns out to be sub par, which happens all too often. Luckily, Abraço lived up to all of my (very high) expectations.

Finding myself with time to kill in the East Village this morning, I walked over to 7th Street and 1st Avenue. Abraço, for those of you who don't know, is more of a storefront than a cafe. There are no seats, just a kitchen, a counter, and a table outside that you can saddle up to. After much deliberation I ordered a cappuccino (no decaf espresso, to my chagrin), an almond rose cookie, and one of their famed brined olive shortbread cookies. All to go.

Sitting on the stoop of a brownstone on East 7th, enjoying my goodies and the street scape made for a wonderful New York morning. The almond rose cookie was just shy of tasting like perfume - a common complaint I have with rose flavored things - and had a wonderful crunchy texture from the almonds. The olive shortbread may have altered my eating habits permanently. I'm usually a forager. I pick out the morsels in a cookie and leave the cookie part. That's a mistake here. The olives alone are too salty. But in combination with the sweet, flaky cookie, it's really something special.

The coffee too was eye-opening. And only because I usually order decaf. It's strong but not bitter or overpowering with perfectly smooth, not airy foamed milk. They're purists. You won't find Splenda or skim, but you won't miss it either.

If only every day could start like this.

Baoguette

It seems I might be a bit behind, as their website indicates they've already won a couple of awards, but last night I chanced upon (literally, I was hoping to hit Gem Spa for my after-show snack, but see previous post) Baoguette's St. Marks Place (East Village) location. I'm not a banh mi authority, but I've certainly had my share and I'm quite fond of them. I can honestly say that theirs is tops.

While I may try some of the other fillings in the future, last night I had their version of the basic banh mi: pork, pork pate, minced pork, and pickled carrots and cucumbers. It stood above the other banh mi I've had in the city in nearly every way. Hot ingredients were hot, cold ingredients were cold; the baguette was fresh-baked (around 12:30am. I asked, and they bake small batches throughout the day), and one I would have been happy getting had I just gone to a bakery for a baguette; the pork was very good, all three kinds; and they offered a sliding scale of spice, going "none"->"sriracha only"->"sriracha and jalapenos"->"sriracha and thai chiles". Definitely a very good sandwich.

I also tried a small sample of their soft serve ice cream, which comes in interesting flavors. They were out of Durian, so I tried Pandan, which had a very interesting, subtle taste.

Also on the menu is some good-smelling pho, some good looking stewed beef belly, and bun (noodle) dishes endorsed by other patrons.

Gem Spa PSA

Quick bit of info -- Gem Spa is currently without a freezer (they plan to replace it, but no ETA), so currently neither shakes nor ice cream are available, and egg creams are not being made with superchilled milk.

Hopefully, it won't be long.