Via the EVG inbox:
The wonderful French bakery, Le Fournil, is open for takeout! They are selling delicious French pastries, some savory items and bread. I bought some indulgent items from them Saturday. Le Fournil's pastry lifted my spirits as only pastry can.
Le Fournil is at 115 Second Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street (in the former Moishe's space). Their posted hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Closed Mondays.)
Want to share an appreciation of an East Village business that remains open? Send us an email here. (We'll see how this goes!)
I adore this place. So unique and warming. Their products are delicious. I am happy they are still open :)
ReplyDeleteYes I miss Moishe's black and white cookies, but the croissants from this place will make you feel like you are sitting in your favorite cafe in Paris....mouth watering.
ReplyDeleteThey’ve added to their menu; sandwiches, quiches, soup! And there’s a small selection of cookies and cake from Moishe himself. Oh, and coffee!
ReplyDeleteA cake from Moishe's? Which one? Please tell me it's the honey loaf...
DeleteIt looks like Moishe sends only a cake at a time and it changes. The sprinkle cookies are stocked and there were hamentaschen at Purim and challah on Friday. However, I don’t remember seeing it during lockdown...or it could have sold out.
Deletetheir croissants are amazing!
ReplyDeleteThe apricot danishes are a treat! You really need 2.
ReplyDeleteAnybody know if they do ApplePay?
ReplyDeleteYes they do!
Deleteanonymous 3:01 -- i was in on saturday and they were only accepting cash. normally they have what looks to be some sort of apple terminal so im thinking they normally do accept apple pay.
ReplyDeleteone thing i will add on top of all the good reviews in the comments -- all their pastry has a pretty long shelf life in a breadbox. if i pickup croissants/pastry on saturday they will stay fresh pretty much until next week's run, though of course rarely do they last that long.
people who work there are also very friendly, good service and since its fairly airy plenty of room to buy your pastry while maintaining social distancing :)
I love this place! So glad they are hanging in there. While I am here I will vouch for the baguettes!
ReplyDeleteJ'aime les pâtisseries de Le Fournil!
ReplyDeleteI walked 30 blocks to buy some of Le Fournil's wonderful pastries and a savory Fougasse, half of which I froze for later. After eating a pâte à la cannelle I walked 30 blocks home. That 60-block walk was my rationale for eating a pastry and half of a Fougasse in the same day.
A lovely day, thanks to Le Fournil and its charming staff.
@K/
ReplyDeleteThanks for the answer.
For myself, I am not touching cash. And there are too many other places of businessI can visit who are also doing same. So for now, I'll have to pass. Very sadly.
Cash problem was temporary...their unit was broken for a couple of days! They are accepting cards again.
DeleteI think you'll find that the cash issue was temporary because I bought 2 baguettes with my credit card today.
ReplyDeleteJust went there the first time after seeing this blog entry. I paid with credit card. They are wonderful people.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had a chance to try this place yet, but thanks to the comments here, I will definitely make the effort. I'm so happy a beloved business has been replaced with one that also makes people happy.
ReplyDeleteOf the "old stuff" Jean-Francois carries, I've had the apricot hamentashen and the rugelach and both were proper and tasty, although I can't remember Moishe's versions (since I moved to midtown I'm only in the EV on Fridays regularly) so I guess they could be made and dropped off, or made in-house and passed off, but don't care - savta would approve.
ReplyDeleteAnyone, I guess you'd have to be 85+, remember what the Grecian/Italian/Dutch maybe? -style green/yellow/red tilework on the walls that were under the '70s dark wood paneling were for? I've only been here since '86, it was Moishe's and Kiev for my whole punkrock-wannabe life. Apparently this was Ratner's Bake House in WWII era... back when "bakery" didn't actually mean a seller of baked goods per se, but that they would bake your food for you for a small fee, because who could afford an NYC apartment with a kitchen?!?
This was Ratner’s when I moved to the EV in 1968- a huge restaurant with old time Borscht Belt type waiters (in uniform with vest) and a menu of typical Eastern European food.
DeleteWhen the restaurant closed, the space was broken up. The New Yorker supermarket was also part of the Ratner’s space. The two side walls at the entrance have the original red and gold tile work that was exposed in a renovation.
There was also a Ratner’s on Delancy St that was supposedly owned by a disgruntled brother or cousin.
Jeff's bakery is the best !
ReplyDeleteHe even does some special breads like chocolate bread! To die for!
Thanks to these comments, I just stopped in there and bought some quiches. I let the counterman know about all the positive comments here and he was really pleased. Thanks everyone!
ReplyDeleteAh, Ratner's! In the early 1970s, we'd go to Ratner's for brunch on Sunday. We'd be a bunch of artists, actors and ballet dancers. When our group sat down, waiters deposited a basket of various kinds of bread on the table which we'd all scarf immediately and put in our pockets for later. The table would be charged for subsequent baskets of bread. Every bread basket was empty at the end of every meal. Countless "starving artists" lived on Ratner's bread in those days.
ReplyDeleteThe waiters were all gruff veterans of decades of service at Ratner's.
We often saw art scene luminaries of the time, like Andy Warhol, eating with their entourages.
When the Ratner's on Second Avenue closed there were rumors that it might reopen. When boxes of Ratner's matchbooks appeared for sale in EV stores we knew that was the death knell for our beloved restaurant.
For years you could see the floor tiles in 114 Second Avenue as well as in the grocery store.