November 17, 2003 |
Ask Gael
I want a discreet spot uptown for breakfast.
I can’t promise that your mate, your aggressive business rival, or the “Intelligencer” won’t spot you sharing an indiscreet breakfast BLT with a tattooed ingenue. I’ve already spied a few power powwows and hungover duos at Nice Matin, alongside moms-attached-to-strollers and telecommuters lingering over breakfast. Till autumn grows wintry, the doors are flung wide, and the early a.m. crowd can sit at sidewalk tables shuffling papers over a plate of “perfect” grapefruit segments, sliced apples, honey, and granola; an egg-white frittata with asparagus; or a “New York Heart Attack”—two fried eggs, sausage, and cheddar on a toasted roll. Of course, having chosen to evoke a Provençal bias by naming his place after Nice’s morning paper, Andy D’Amico just had to do breakfast. This being Amsterdam Avenue and not Nice’s Cours Saleya, you’ll find blueberry muffins, McCann’s Steel-Cut Irish Oatmeal, lox and bagels, and iced cappuccino, as well as a Roquefort omelette and bowls of café au lait.
201 West 79th Street 212 873 6423