The West Village's Newest Café and Bakery
As the food and drink scene in Brooklyn's isolated Red Hook neighborhood becomes saturated (sort of, anyway), isolated again, and perhaps again, signs point to at least one thriving Red Hook business (and no, I don't mean Ikea, opening June 18th): Baked, the three-year-old bakery and café on Van Brunt St. A month ago, it started selling its packaged granolas to Dean & Deluca and Whole Foods Market. Now, Baked is looking to sell its brownies elsewhere beyond at its two operations. That's right—Baked co-owner Rafi Avramovitz quietly opened the supertiny Royale Café + Pastry in the West Village a few months ago. Same pastries, same Gimme! Coffee. Why the new name? Avramovitz says he wants all his spots to have different names, or in other words, to be "like Danny Meyer." But mostly he dreams of "a store full of cupcakes, tons of different ones." For the record: he puts them out at 11AM.
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