Openings & Closings: Maman, Mast, Hungry Betty, Fillup Coffee, Yu Kitchen, Bourke Street Bakery, Fedex, Spadet
Maman, a French bakery and cafe, just opened at 429 Amsterdam Avenue near 81st Street. The cafe has lots of baked goods and heartier fare like tartines. Check out the menu here. Photo by @emilyyffeng.
Chocolate shop MAST Market is opening in the long vacant Babette space at 353 Columbus Avenue at 76th Street. “If you’ve never heard of MAST, they are a boutique chocolate brand (sold at Whole Foods). The company describes Mast Market as “an organic market intended for food, family, and community gathering,” writes our tipster Upper West Sider.
Hungry Betty is opening next door to Cibo e Vino, at 2418 Broadway near 89th Street. “According to the waitress, it’s the same owner and will serve pastries and coffee,” says our tipster Karen. An employee confirmed it has the same owner as Cibo.
Fillup Coffee has opened at 2486 Broadway between 92nd and 93rd. Thanks to Twilla and Linda for the tips.
Yu Kitchen at 2656 Broadway (101st) appears to have closed. It’s emptied out with a For Rent sign on the window. Thanks to Jed for the tip.
Australian bakery Bourke Street Bakery (one of NY’s top bakeries, according to Time Out) will be replacing Piccolo Cafe at 313 Amsterdam Avenue near 75th, according to a new Google Maps listing. Thanks to Twilla and Linda for the tips.
A new Fedex office location has opened at the site of the former Mandee store on the east side of Broadway between 95th and 96th. Thanks to Robert and Amelia for the tips.
A beauty and wellness shop called Spadét just opened at at 140 West End Avenue, Unit 1F. “Our all natural skin, body and hair treatments are made with the finest fruits and plants for safe and effective beauty and wellness,” writes founder Annabelle Santos.
The former Cure Urgent Care on Broadway between 102nd and 103rd has become a Northwell-Health Urgent Care facility.
Yu Kitchen was damn good. Such a shame. Went there many times with my family for dinner. Great authentic Chinese food, but definitely a very competitive market in that area right now.
My family loved Yu Kitchen. So sad it didn’t make it. It has been closed for a few months.
Bourke Street Bakery is Australian, not Austrian. They already have a location on E 28th. They are famous in Australia. Great breads. They have other things too.
Thanks, fixed.
Really upset about Yu Kitchen. That place was excellent.
I don’t know if they’re still the same owners but MAST Chocolate had a real reputation problem not that long ago:
https://qz.com/571151/the-mast-brothers-fooled-the-world-into-buying-crappy-hipster-chocolate-for-10-a-bar/
Wow! Who knew there was so much drama, scandal and intrigue involved in the chocolate business?
This gives me a great idea for one of those awful Bravo reality shows. A bunch of Brooklyn hipster chocolatier entrepreneurs battle to the top of the cut throat world of over-priced, fancy chocolate consumer products. I call it “Bean to Bar”.
Andy Cohn, call me.:)
I was never wild about the taste of their chocolate. A little too unsweet for me. Like so many of us, I was raised on Hershey’s. But good luck to them
I’m so sorry that Yu Kitchen closed. Their food was outstanding. Sigh!
Any word on whether Northwell is planning on running two facilities two blocks away from each other (Northwell has a GoHealth faciliy in the Ariel East) or if it’s going to consolidate the two?
Never knew about You Kitchen. I’ve been trying to find decent chinese food on the UWS for several years – end up with bland overcooked beef most of the time. 20 years ago we had our pick. Any recommendations?
Han Dynasty and Szechuan Garden are fantastic!
Legend 72 for Sichuan dishes. Jing Fong for dim sum.
I second that. Both are excellent.
Szechuan Garden used to be good before the pandemic, but I’ve found it’s gone downhill. They were closed during the height of the pandemic and I think there is a different chef when they reopened.
The closest approximation to Yu Kitchen in the neighborhood is probably Happy Hot Hunan on Amsterdam between 107 and 108. Same kind of restaurant.
Yes I agree that Han Dynasty is fantastic. We order take out from them once a week. If you like spicy food, try the Dry Pot style. So good.
Discovered Tri Dim Shanghai recently… food and service were both excellent.
The best chocolate ever is still Kee’s Chocolate at 266 Columbus(between 70th & 71st on the west side of Columbus.) Life-changing stuff.
Most of these places seem to be selling desert items of one kind or another, and a lot of others like them have opened recently. Is there a saturation point for baked goods/coffee/confections on the UWS?
Maybe. Against my better judgement, though, I do my part to absorb them 🙂
Cure was so excellent, and I had a terrible experience at the Northwell in the 60’s. I wonder what happened?
Peaky Barrister opening on east side Columbus Ave. @92-93rd Street. New coffee bar.
Peaky Barista, I believe — though now I want to open a law office and call myself the Peaky Barrister.
Another FedEx store? Now we have three between 93rd and 98th on Broadway. Maybe the idea is that each new building should have one?
Those are UPS locations not Fed Ex locations . Although one location is a copy center which is an authorized FedEx location.
Any update on the fate of Cesca and Cafe Lalo? Both seem to have been doing renovations since the beginning of the pandemic and have not yet opened.
The word I got tonight oct 28 while visiting the great new jewelry shop, JENNIFER RUTHENNY, located next to LaLo at 215 W 83rd is that there is a gas line issue that needs to be remediated before they can re-open. Estimates were 6 months but take that with a grain of salt.
Seems like a lot of new growth is taking place in our UWS garden, which is cause for celebration. Some may quibble over “we don’t need another [blank],” or over “affordable,” but, as someone once said, “Let a hundred flowers bloom.”
In my neverending search for the best chocolate chip cookie in the universe, Maman appears on the top 5 list.
(For non-purists, Daily Provisions’ chocolate chip caramel cookie & Bibble & Sip’s Earl Grey CC cookie appear in the Alternate Takes list.)
Seth, maybe you should do a Here’s the Dish column. I’m sure a lot of people would be interested. I know I would be.