A number of restaurants and cafes have recently opened or are about to open on the Upper West Side, including Paris Baguette, Communal, Filicori Zecchini and Szechuan Gourmet.
Paris Baguette opened its doors at 70th street and Amsterdam Avenue this week, serving coffee, sandwiches and pastries. The Korea-based cafe had a soft opening on Tuesday, but plans to hold its grand opening Friday, and will give away jam to people who spend more than $15 (double-check the giveaway details at the counter). The store is narrow, with some seating in the back and near the front. The pastries include breakfast foods and soft breads with cream in them. “Very good coffee!” wrote Ryan, who sent in the photo above.
A new restaurant called Communal opened on 72nd between Amsterdam and Columbus in the former home of Rigoletto. It’s owned by the same people who owned Rigoletto and will serves a full breakfast spread, as well as lunch and dinner. For breakfast, there are homemade pastries, eggs, flatbreads, French toast and more. For lunch, the restaurant serves sandwiches, salads, and empanadas. Dinner also features flatbreads, sandwiches and smaller plates.Plus they have deals for exhausted parents, including the Mombi ($19): salad, a glass of wine and coffee or tea. The Zomddy ($20) is a flatbread, a beer and a coffee or tea. The beers are mostly made in New York, and there’s a wine list too. Fresh-squeezed juices will be available soon.
A new coffee shop called Filicori Zecchini is set to open on 95th street and Broadway in the former home of Frozen Peaks fro-yo shop. Filicori is an Italian cafe with a location in midtown. The coffee sounds like it’s strong and authentic: “If you are sensitive to coffee I would recommend sticking to a choice that’s heavy on milk like a latte,” wrote one reviewer on Yelp. They also get praise for their hot chocolate. Thanks to Ashira and Jamie for the tips.
The former home of Pitaya on 105th between Broadway and Amsterdam has been transformed into a Szechuan Gourmet, Rich tells us. The restaurant apparently just opened, and Rich says it appears to be a branch of the midtown Szechuan gourmet, which earned a strong review from the Times for its spicy flavorful food. “Sichuan’s inimitable heat is a big part — for me, the main part — of what makes this cuisine such a riveting adventure,” Frank Bruni wrote. Another sign that the UWS is becoming a Chinese food powerhouse again.
I worked it out.. Since there are few restaurants on the UWS now that offer nutritious/interesting food and is difficult to reach on foot and costs less than $20 a meal.. The new new york will be community centered developments like the enormous apartment blocks they’re putting up on 11th Ave and 30th St. I bet they will have multiple burger and pizza places over there!
Too bad that the mum and pop restaurants are a thing of the past.
A salad, glass of wine and cup of joe is a “deal” at $20? You can go to a diner and get a much better “deal” for dinner than that. Or spend $5 more and get a real prix-fixe menu somewhere. Or order in/pick up from Shake Shack a few blocks away, and have 2 burgers, 2 fries and 2 custards for $20. I wish them well, but it sounds unappealing and pricey.
Hope springs eternal.
Good luck to all the new ventures
Is Communal serving organic food? Had read in an earlier post that they were going to serve organic salads…
Pretty good Yelp reviews for Filicori Zecchini. Looking forward to this one opening!
By the way, the “For Rent” sign at Alouette’s former space on Broadway and 98th Street is no longer in the window. Anyone know what’s going on there?
I was very disappointed with the dumplings from Szechuan Gourmet I tried for a lunch takeout the other day.
Cold and greasy…
I ordered Sesame Chicken, but they delivered gooey Sweet & Sour Chicken with RAW broccoli and sprinkled with some sesame seeds to make it look authentic! I called to complain and got an argument because the dish had the required broccoli and sesame seeds! HAH! This place deserves the fate it is begging for – unless the local customers are so stupid they don’t know a dumpling from a wanton and do not know what SZECHUAN means!
I’ve never tried Szechuan Gourmet, but you can’t criticize Szechuan food for being greasy – oil is fundamental to the cuisine, so expect lots of fat if you’re going to eat it.
Avoid this “Szechuan Gourmet” like the PLAGUE! I ordered Sesame Chicken (for delivery)and got a sticky-sweet horror poured over raw broccoli and sprinkled with a few pinches of “sesame seeds”. When I called back to complain that I had not received what I had orderd, the girl on the phone treated me as if I was an ignorant “American idiot” by asking me if the order I got had BROCCOLI! When I said yes, she said that I had gotten the correct order – it WAS SESAME CHICKEN! OMG!
If you are looking for decent local Szechuan food and don’t want to be ripped off or treated like crap, stay away from this disrespectful new restaurant – nobody needs to be treated like garbage after they spent their hard-earned money on a fairly common and well-known Chinese food order!
The other two locations serve some of the best sichuan food in New York. i’d give them another chance in a few weeks once they’ve settled in.
Looking forward to some really good coffee in the neighborhood – I’ve been longing for it. I hope the coffee place is good!
The others sound nice too.
their cakes are generally very good. light, moist, and not overly sweet. unsure if they’ll serve all of the same items, but the fried curry donut, the tapioca twist, and peanut butter bread are some of my favorites. in summer, they usually serve a korean shaved ice dessert with fresh fruits and red beans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patbingsu
It is unfortunate that a neighborhood is being defined by its restaurants. But this is a fickle enterprise. I remember the fine dining that could be found in Midtown Manhattan (and to a small degree still is). Then, with the opening of Park Bistro in the late 1980’s, “bistro” was the cuisine of the time. After that, with the growing popularity of the Food Network, food took off – and every hopeful chef or entrepreneur – wanted a restaurant. It was the time of two week wonders – foodies following the food press like lemmings going off the cliff. Food is certainly wonderful, sometimes beyond wonderful, but when it hits critical mass – I believe a neighborhood is should be made up of much more than that.
Never fear, jerry, I think we’re a long way from having this neighborhood defined by its restaurants. But it really is nice having some of these treats moving in.
Totally agree – since when is a salad and coffee a “Deal” at $19??
All this is wickedly expensive. I hate the UWS now. I can’t leave my apartment without dropping $10-$20 for anything that includes the merest scrap of food.
Don’t care what anybody says — no better Chinese food than in Chinatown itself. UWS prices are way too high.
Curious about the sketchy situation with Jalapeno and Bomboloni (on Columbus between 68th & 69th). The owner never paid his employees on time and there was a revolving cast of lovely baristas at Bomboloni as a result. Clearly nothing is happening in terms of combining the spaces and garbage bags sit untouched in the doorway of Jalapeno. I am assuming that the owner is in arrears with vendors and tax authorities. He did the same with Sushi A Go Go. Any insight? Such a prime location.
Now June- still no action at Broadway and. 95th
What gives?
i just saw new DOB permits in the window– it looks like filicori may eventually open after all! I was worried it would go the way of the Metro/ Alamo deal…
Filicori zecchini had its soft opening today, 7/25. Closed tomorrow, grand opening planned for 7/27. Lots of traffic on the first day!