Photo by Joeanna Sayler.
Now you’ve done it, Upper West Side! Your incredible cruller-obsession has shocked and amazed the bakers and baristas of new cafe Daily Provisions on Amsterdam and 78th Street, and they’ve become completely exhausted. Less than a week after opening, the cafe closed on Monday for the day, and will close again for the next two Mondays so staff members can “catch their breath,” according to a sign on the window.
The lines started last Wednesday at 6 a.m. — the moment the store opened — as seen in the photo below by Dan Woo.
A rep for the restaurant said they need “to give the team some rest after a crazy opening week — we’ll be back at 6am tomorrow morning though.”
“It’s been such an incredible welcome to the neighborhood, we’re beyond grateful to everyone who has come in!”
Photo by Dan Woo.
And just down the block people are also clogging the narrow sidewalks in front of Levain.
Let usthrough!
Newly opened UES (Third avenue) Levain is packed daily as well.
I stopped by Sat night. No line. Not pretentious. Relaxed.
Great food. Lovely people working there. Especially Max. Wonderful addition to the neighborhood.
Who said that upper west siders don’t appreciate good food? What do they know! We welcome quality options. Welcome to the best neighborhood!
That Cruller pictured looks so tiny! But I’ll take quality over quantity I guess.
Either that’s a giant thumb or a tiny cruller. How big are those things? I assume a ‘regular’ donut size.
Cruller pictured was free sample one. Reg ones are a bit bigger
The crullers I’ve had are larger than the one in that photo, they’re basically a standard cruller size. That appears to be from the pre-opening when they had some smaller versions available for tasting.
The salted caraway rye bread is off-the-charts good. I bought aloaf the other day and it was still warm when the guy handed it to me.
Nothing like the good ole days of getting a hot butter bagel at Z’s deli.
Us Upper West Side’er are so awesome and we know the best of the best and will not except anything less and we will tell you!
We are awesome complainers and we will tell you right to your face without any hesitation!
And it sure looks like we’ve got a few new deliciousness good winners in the hood.
Danny Meyers’ Daily Provisions on Amsterdam and Billy’s bakery on Columbus, Asset about to open and the holiday season upon us. Yummy yummy!!!
If I recall correctly, when DP opened you referred to their customers as “Fattys” and said you would “wave from across the street.” Interesting about-face there, buddy.
Too many people with too much time…
Nice to hear of a new restaurant succeeding!!
On a different note, does anyone know what’s going on with The Cottage on 77th & Amsterdam. It’s been closed almost 2 weeks now. First a sign saying they had a gas leak, and now a sign for the past week saying “reopening soon.” Anyone know what’s really going on?
Cottage has the worst Chinese food on the UWS, maybe even Manhattan. How on Earth is that place popular and still in business I will never understand.
If you call they say closed for renovations
The owner of The Cottage told my friend that they were remodeling and would reopen soon.
I hope that’s the case but if so, why did they start with a sign saying they were closed due to gas leak. And I see no construction going on inside. If they were going to close for remodeling, wouldn’t they wait till right before the construction was ready to begin?!
The windows are covered with black paper
That nickle sized nonsense is what they are lining up for?
This just goes to show that regardless of low rents or high rents, what matters is a good business plan.
Opening up a kosher mexican restaurant or a kobe beef steakhouse is not going to do it, even if the rent is $1 a month. Opening a store that sells lightbulbs or stuffed animals is not going to make it.
Folks on here keep talking about high rents and protecting the small businesses and keeping the character of the UWS. All of that rests on the good business judgement of the folks opening these businesses, not on anyone else.
Over the past 12-24 months there have been numerous examples of this – of businesses that have opened on the UWS and thrived.
Blue Bottle
Joe’s Coffee
Sushi Kaito
Daily Provisions
Warby Parker
Marine Layer
Flying Tiger
And there are even more examples of businesses who have been around for a long time and doing very well
Cafe Luxembourg
Jack Rabbit
Patagonia
Zabar’s
Trader Joe’s
Zingone’s.
Almost all of these are chain stores. And Zabar’s owns the building.
Zabars owns the Verizon and DSW buildings and many others on UWS but not the building it occupies…..
Nonsense, Louis and Lillian Zabar and later brothers Stanley and Saul partnered and co-owned Zabar’s with Murray Klein and owned the building since 1960.
Go ask them. I did
So what?
What difference does that make?
Local people work at them.
OK, so hint – maybe you should own the building and maybe you should open more than one location. Owning the real estate is the key for many businesses to be successful. And ask a restaurateur or many others and most of them will tell you that you need more than one location to make it in NYC.
By the way, the overwhelming majority of businesses on the UWS are not national or international chains and many of them have been around for decades:
Cafe Luxembourg
Zabar’s
Magnolia Bakery
Gray’s Papaya
Joseph Pharmacy
Q Florist
Schweitzer Linen
Zingone Brothers
Mitchell’s Wine
Acker Merrall
Artiste Jewelers
There are dozens and dozens of businesses that have been around for a long time and doing well!
I was excited about this menu until I read the ‘no cash’ mention on their website. If somebody can explain how this policy isn’t as discriminatory as it sounds, I’ll be happy to listen. Until then, happily back to the Levain line for us.
Vote with your money, in this case literally cold hard cash, if you are so inclined. I personally like cash-free places, less hassle with fumbling around for change, and the business assumes less risk when it comes to being robbed. But to each his/her own.
I paid cash…
A business has the right, freedom and liberty to decided how it wants to be paid. The law would seem to reflect that.
At the same time, the customer has the right, freedom and liberty to decide whether to agree to those terms or not.
There is nothing discriminatory about a business asking to be paid in cash or not accepting checks. Nor, is there anything discriminatory about a customer wanting to pay with a credit or wanting to barter.
Lets not confuse opinion and points of view with facts or pit them against some self-created standard.
Credit and debit card only payments are discriminatory to people who don’t have credit cards or banking accounts with debit cards. There is in fact a significant amount of people who don’t have either.
Not being able to have or afford something does not make that discriminatory. Poor logic.
I’ve been there three times and have paid cash every time with no problem.
As much as the next guy I like a nice pastry in the morning. There are tons of very good bakeries within a few blocks of Provision-Levain isn’t one of them. Im out of town and will have to wait to try the new place. But to line up like they are providing money or a cure for cancel is really absurd. It’s a damn bakery. Just chill, it’s only a donut
please name a great bakery on the UWS that is not French and where I can buy an actual danish
Europan
Kirsch.
To expand on my one-word post above, Kirsch Bakery, on Amsterdam between 86 and 87, makes a nice, light, not-overly-sweet Danish and a stupendous hearty sourdough loaf coated in a delicious mixture of seeds.
If you are a cruller fan read on: DP has great crullers! Great addition to breakfast treats. They’re a really delicate and difficult recipe to master. (Dunkin donuts does not sell true crullers…) Mitchell London excelled in these. And just across town you can get these excellent crullers at Butterfield.
Makes sense. I was really disappointed both times I tried to go. First time too crowded; second time, one person told me I had to order from breakfast side (11:20 am), but cashier refused saying breakfast was over (sign says 11:30 am). They need a reset.
Guess this is the UWS’s version of the Cronut! Eat your heart out Dominique Ansel!
This whole dialogue is beyond shameful. Waiting in line at 6 a.m. for a pastry; recommending Mitchell London; Levain with its absurdly expensive cookies. How about making yourself a piece of toast and contributing your savings to City Harvest?
What’s wrong with Mitchell London? he transformed Fairway Cafe, which has never been the same. He took cooking and the restaurant biz seriously.
Okay, so let the place close and then you can complain about another empty UWS storefront. The commenters here are never satisfied. It’s a new business, it’s bound to generate overexcitement for a few weeks. Buncha grinches.
LOL / You Westsiders complain complain complain
So, they just opened on Monday and they already need a break??
A neighbor has been doing some research, surveying people standing on “cool” food lines – exploring if people are registered to vote, if they vote etc.
The results are dismaying though not surprising…..particularly people responding that they
“ lack time” to register/vote….
How about we stop judging people. You do your thing and I will do my thing. You vote if you want and I won’t if I don’t feel like it. A little less lecturing!
Your neighbor is a busybody.
@Jay
To be clear – my neighbor is a student working on a research project.