Origin story
Cove, Brandywine Coffee Roasters, Loring Place, Khaite boots, best Upper West Side restaurants, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Rare gem
The Skinny: New from chef Flynn McGarry of Gem Home, Cove brings California aesthetics and sophisticated treatments of local produce to a sterile 1990s office building nearly as far west as you can go on Houston St.
The Vibe: Dramatic, without an ounce of chaos. In what’s otherwise a no man’s land for dining and most other forms of city life, Cove is a refuge, with polished wood-cladded walls, high ceilings, and oversized canvases with floral illustrations. The open kitchen is the restaurant’s focal point, with at least a dozen chefs neatly playing their part in near silence, including McGarry, who moves gracefully from station to station.
The tabletop details transcend the ordinary high-end restaurant experience, especially modern David Mellor silverware and sleek water glasses by Copenhagen-based Service Projects. Per the Cali-Scandi aesthetic, Louise Polsen lamps hang from the ceiling, and chairs are neatly under polished wooden tables, as if on display in a furniture showroom.
The Food: The à la carte menu is mostly small, appetizer-sized portions, with only two larger proteins, a duck and a lobster. A FOUND colleague rightfully described this selection as “challenging.” He meant it as a compliment, but some diners may find the lack of choice unsatisfying. Similarly prescriptive touches appear throughout the meal — a single slice of bread is served per person, and the porcini mushroom, leek, and pear tart is cut into slices instead of arriving as a whole.
Compounding the challenge is that very little of the food appears as expected (or described). Golden beets with turmeric and yogurt arrived as tiny almost-raviolis made of thinly sliced beets with the yogurt tucked inside. The homemade sourdough comes with marmite butter, an umami flavor that’s unfamiliar but addictive.
Still, Cove excels in these subtle sensory surprises. In the expansive and airy setting, Cove’s most impressive moments are the smallest, like the gummy-texture of a fluke cured with cherry leaves, presented in the shape of an octopus with Half Moon Bay-grown wasabi. Cheese pumpkin schnitzel was made meaty with hazelnuts and porcini mushrooms, topped with a sauce that mimicked the gravy one might typically serve with a traditional pork version of this dish.
The eight-course tasting menu is $210 per and served in the 30-seat “kitchen room.” We were told there’s some — but not a ton — of crossover between the à la carte and prix fixe menus. (If you’ve been for the tasting menu, by all means, send us your report.)
The Drink: Served in perfect, thin glassware from LSA, layered cocktails take the same cues from local farm ingredients as the food. A fig leaf gin martini was perfectly balanced and cold. A mezcal cocktail with beet, habanada, and mango and chile liqueur was a burnt orangey-red I’d nominate for Pantone color of the year. A selection of non-alcoholic drinks follow the herbaceous and savory approach of the alcoholic cocktails, like an apple shiso coriander tonic. The wine list unsurprisingly highlights biodynamic and organic varieties.
The Verdict: While there’s no escaping the echoes of the corporate vessel in which it exists, Cove feels like an oasis in its corner of the city. Portions are restrained and the options limited, but the flavors are complex and, ultimately, rewarding. Challenge accepted. –Sylvie Florman
→ Cove (Hudson Square) • 285 W Houston St • Tue-Sat 5-10p • Reserve.
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NYC RESTAURANT LINKS: Chambers Street Wines team opening wine bar Freddy’s across the street • Santo Taco adds University Place location • PDX’s Voodoo Donuts prepping Union Square outpost, its first in NYC • Din Tai Fung planning downtown Brooklyn expansion • Why Maru is still the only coffee shop that matters • What to do when a hit doesn’t hit.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Object
Magic beans
Last summer in Montauk, a self-proclaimed coffee snob friend brewed me a pre-beach cup. I was expecting something good; what I got was transporting — crisp, robust, with notes of apple, cherry, and a hint of honey, and still very much coffee.
These exceptional beans came from Brandywine Coffee Roasters, a Wilmington, DE-based roaster sourcing from small growers spread out among the great coffee regions of the world: Peru, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. Head guy Vic Scutari keeps his roasts on the light side to better bring out the beans’ natural flavors. And those flavors pop when brewed, whether by pour-over, French press, or a big old carafe of drip.
The only problem is there’s never enough. To account for this, we started getting the Single Origins of Mystery 2lb subscription. On the first Friday of every month, give or take a few days, a package arrives in the mail. It might be from the Santa Barbara Estate in Colombia, with peach, honey, cherry, and grape tones, or Ethiopia’s Shantawene, bursting with cranberry, graham cracker, and honey notes. In September: Finca El Rosal Bourbon Chiroso varietal (passionfruit, intense florals, apricot). No matter, it’s excellence in a cup.
Earlier this year, I bought my business partner a six-month Single Origins of Mystery 12oz subscription for his birthday. When it ran out, he re-upped with his own open-ended monthly 2lb subscription. He’s learning what I now know, too: At this point, it’s almost criminal for any self-respecting coffee drinker to settle for the world of mediocre beans, when roasters like Brandywine make it so easy to get such reliably great coffee. –Noah Davis
→ Shop: Single Origins of Mystery 2lb Subscription (Brandywine Coffee Roasters) • $52.50 per.
GOODS & SERVICES LINKS: DTC sock brand Bombas opens first retail store on Bleecker St. • The age of flying cars has arrived • The best food to buy online • Why are so many people dreaming about malls?
WORK • Tuesday Routine
Shopping portal
JENNY GREENSTEIN • style & identity coach • Your Soul Style
Neighborhood you work and live in: Greenwich Village
It’s Tuesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
I’m grateful to work from home, though, if I’m being honest, it often feels a bit chaotic after the morning hustle of getting two girls off to school. Once the energy settles, I take a quiet moment: just me, my coffee, and the soft natural light that floods our southeast-facing apartment.
When I set out to build my own business, one of my motivations was to create a life with more autonomy, where I could shape my schedule and protect a sense of balance between my work and personal life. As a Style & Identity Coach, I guide clients into a fuller expression of their authentic self, where their outer world is in alignment with their inner truth.
What’s on the agenda for today?
Moving my body helps me reset and transition into work mode, so I either go to the gym or take a Pilates class at Avea on 14th Street. Then I shower, get dressed, and ease into work. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, you’ll find me curating pieces in a store or moving through an in-home styling session. These are tactile, personal parts of my work. But they’re just the visible layer. Behind each session is intentional preparation. To me, style is a portal, one that opens through a deep understanding of a person’s lived experience, history, and identity. It’s never just about clothes; it’s about embodiment.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
My wife and I have standing date nights every Tuesday and Thursday, something we committed to a few years ago as a way to stay connected amid the busyness of work and parenting. It’s become sacred time for us, a reliable touch point in the rhythm of our week. You’ll often find us at neighborhood favorites like Loring Place, Leon’s (highly recommend the carpaccio di tonno), Kubeh, or Sant Ambroeus. Every now and then, we mix it up and try somewhere new. Our latest outing was to Bar Mercer, and we’ve got upcoming reservations at Passerine and Francie in Williamsburg.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I bought the snakeskin Khaite Arizona boots last fall and wore them nonstop all season. This year, I found the sold-out solid black version to add to my closet for the fall and winter ahead. These boots are hands-down one of my favorite pieces, both for fashion and function. Ridiculously comfortable, impeccably made, and chic AF.
What NYC store or service do you love to recommend?
Because I spend so much time shopping for others, I don’t often shop for myself, at least not in person. But The Frankie Shop is one store I make time to visit now and then.
On the self-care front, Raquel New York is hands down the best place to get a facial in NYC (book with Raquel herself). I’m also a big fan of Christine Chin.
My favorite massage therapist, Sophie Bolvary, recently moved her practice to Raquel New York as well.
Tzipi at Bumble and Bumble (Meatpacking location) is the best colorist in NYC and has been doing my hair for over 15 years.
Where are you donating your time or money?
I’ve been donating to Planned Parenthood for years, and now more than ever, their work needs our support. As a family, we make an annual donation to Harlem Grown, an organization doing incredible work in our city, and Covenant House, which provides housing to homeless youth.
WORK LINKS: Jamie Dimon’s $3B monument to work • Midtown leasing boom is good news for… La Tete d’Or • It’s time to embrace the absurdity of work • Is 7a too early for a meeting?
ASK FOUND
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Who do you trust to do your eyebrows?
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RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Restaurants, Upper West Side
From 60th St to 96th St. The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@foundny.com.
Cafe Luxembourg, since 1983, Paris-inspired bistro serving up classics like croque monsieur, moules frites