Where to Eat: New York City
A perfect Vietnamese coffee is reason enough to celebrate. But a few sweet treats can’t hurt.
I’ll never forget the first time I tried a sweetened, iced Vietnamese coffee, or cà phê sữa dá: I was subletting a room with my friend Elizabeth one muggy summer in Athens, Ga. — every summer is muggy in Athens — and she had just returned from a study abroad trip to Southeast Asia. She brought back a new obsession with Vietnamese coffee, which she passed on to me.
Since then, I’ve had a real taste for cà phê culture. As someone who used to make coffee in a moka pot every day, I appreciate the ritual of preparing a really good cup of Vietnamese coffee, which traditionally involves pouring very hot water over ground coffee, drip-style, through a phin filtering device. But then again, traditions are meant to be flipped on their heads.
Pandan, many ways
The first coffee shop in New York to catch my interest was Lê Phin, a small cafe in the East Village. This is the place to go if you want to watch a classic cà phê come together in real time. (The less tradition-oriented might go for Lê Phin’s incredible pandan latte, made with espresso rather than drip.)
But I also realize that you subscribe to this newsletter for food recommendations. And no one is doing Vietnamese coffee plus food (mostly desserts) like Bánh by Lauren. Lauren Tran, the shop’s co-owner, has a fascinating story, having gone from making pastries at Gramercy Tavern, to unemployed at the height of the pandemic, to creating a perpetually sold-out bakery pop-up. (My colleague Amanda Choy produced a short documentary about Lauren and her pop-up that you can watch here.)
Luckily for all of us, Bánh by Lauren is now a proper brick-and-mortar in the heart of Chinatown (and dangerously close to Golden Diner if you’re looking for a pre- or post-meal treat). I stopped by early on a Sunday morning and ordered one of everything: chiffon cakes by the slice, three types of macarons, coffee cake, bánh bò (honeycomb cake), bånh khoai mi nuóng (cassava cake), a scone and a chocolate chip cookie. Oh, and a Vietnamese coffee, which they make with espresso rather than drip coffee for a final product that’s much bolder to counteract the sweetness of the condensed milk.
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