Atla, (the name comes from an Aztec symbol for fire and water) is a reinvisioned diner for our times. “It’s like a Mexican kitchen, open from the morning until 11 at night,” notes manager Carlos Jiminez. Cleanly designed with indoor plants and bar tables, it’s a place you can drop in at any time of day for coffee, a full meal or a cocktail. But for me, breakfast is key: delicious, subtle, and casual all at once.
Even more informal is Honeybrains next door, a cafe offering ultra-nutritious, feelgood food—sprouted, raw, fermented, you name it—that fits squarely into the current mania for all things wellness. As you eat your chicken and beets on seeded sourdough toast with labneh and sage alongside a mostly youthful crowd, you can bop through tasks on your laptop while basking in the knowledge that you are simultaneously exercising superlative self-care.
Lafayette’s Great Jones Dining RoomPhoto: Noah Fecks / Courtesy of Lafayette
And then there are croissants. When I first moved to New York, I was able to stave off my desperate homesickness for Europe with visits to Balthazar, whose ersatz French interior and cuisine was every bit as good as the real thing. Ditto Lafayette. If you wake up feeling a little less than zealous or adventurous and want to revert to the comfort of a classic French breakfast, Andrew Carmellini’s large, clean, efficient, open-all-day-and-evening Lafayette never disappoints. The omelettes are legendary, and the inhouse bakery answers every carb-and-sugar-loving person’s need for the occasional pain au chocolat.
Dining and Cooking