A Brand New Oasis in Bryant Park
Heritage Grand Bakery leans into Mediterranean flavors and ancient grains
Over the weekend I had a chance to see Nick Mohamed at Town Hall for a one-night-only stand-up show. For Lasso fans, it was pretty fabulous to see the wonder kid Nathan Shelly on stage. Fans brought “BELIEVE” signs and settled in for a night with the lovable kit man turned dastardly head coach (and back). Nick’s stand up was terrific, but not quite what I expected. He embodies a character called Mr. Swallow and does a bit that goes on for about 90 minutes that’s sort of like of a Ted Talk crossed with a mentalist and stand up comedian. He used a actual Power Point Presentation and talked a lot about numbers and memory. I know it sounds kind of wacky and it was, but it was also really funny. Just fantastic. And Alex Edelman (Just for Us) opened for him. It was such a memorable and special night (thanks to Craig and my kids for taking me!) The only downside was that, sadly, Brett Goldstein was not there. Apparently he has better things to do than see his buddy perform and spontaneously meet me so that we might fall in love and marry. Disappointing.
Obviously part of the evening was devoted to eating, and when we were deciding where to dine before the show, I found the perfect spot. Patricia Joseph, an old friend of mine, reached out a few weeks ago about Heritage Grand Bakery, a new bakery and restaurant milling their own flour from ancient grains like Einkorn flour. She mentioned a wood-fired oven, and a Mediterranean menu leaning into Greece, Israel, and other coastal countries. It sounded great, and since it was on 40th Street, it was out of the fray and madness of the theater district, but still close enough to make it over to Town Hall for the show without stressing out. I reserved a table for four.
Heritage Grand is owned by a trio of old-world bakery veterans: Lou Ramirez, previously a partner in Maison Kayser, Fig & Olive, and President of Le Pain Quotidien; Luc Boulet, a Master Baker and fourth generation bread artisan from France; and Alex Garese, founder of Wolkonsky Bakery. The trio are dedicated to reviving ancient grains—a collection of sustainably farmed non-GMO varieties that have been around for over 10,000 years.
Heritage is actually two businesses, side by side on 40th Street, right next to La Pecora Bianca overlooking Bryant Park and across from the main library. Through the door on the left is a 1500-square foot bakery where two pastry greats run the kitchen: Executive Pastry Chef Damien Herrgott, who grew up working in his parent’s patisserie in Besançon, France, and Executive Head Baker Mark Fiorentino, previously Chef Boulanger at Daniel. The team mills their ancient wild grains on site (super rare in this city to find that) and uses ancestral bread baking techniques, with a natural starter made with ancient grains and a long slow ferment. The pair bake dozens of breads, pastries, viennoiseries, pizzas and Roman Flatbreads made of Pinsa Dough, and prepare a collection of nice looking sandwiches from the grab-and-go case.
There's a beautiful Italian Filone, traditional French baguette, and fat sourdough ciabatta rolls filled with kalamata and Castelvetrano olives. There are traditional viennoiserie and more creative takes like a Pistachio Honey Croissant, a Vanilla “Cruffin,” a laminated croissant dough shaped as a muffin and filled with vanilla pastry cream, and a stunning rose and raspberry macaron called an Ispahan that’s filled with rose buttercream and lychee. There’s also a Paris Brest, Montebello, Austrian Kugelhopf and one seriously good Snickers Tart. Stay and eat on site or take a picnic to the park. Be sure to peek through and see the milling and baking, which is kind of cool, especially for the kids. We actually popped in before dinner to pick up a few loaves and pastries so we’d have breakfast taken care of for the next day. It’s a smart move.
Now, if you take the door on the right, you’ll find the restaurant, designed like a holiday on the shores of Tel Aviv or Paros, tranquil and washed in various shades of white and beige, with soft lighting that gives the room a glow of a pink sunset dipping down into the sea. There’s a lot of spa-like seagrass and rattan, curved white stucco walls, arched recessed soffits lined with gray stone sliced from a mountain, so it has that Greek beach resort vibe; it feels like an oasis on the Aegean.
The lovely room is anchored by two globed wood-fired pizza ovens named Patience and Fortitude for the marble Lions that watch over the New York Public Library across the street. This is where pizzaiolo Merckx fires up extra thin pizzas (we loved the one with spicy sopressata, crushed tomato, and bubbly fior de latte), and where chef Paul DiBari cooks roast chicken, octopus, sea bass, cauliflower, a gorgeous burger at lunch time, and much more.
Start off with some share plates: maybe the Mediterranean Spreads and Breads? Why not when it comes with hummus, roasted baba, tzatsiki, Israeli salad, and slices of charred pinsa bianca flatbread? The octopus salad is also great, with chickpeas, lemon, celery, and herbs in a pool of grassy olive oil. Definitely have the Charred Halloumi with cilantro zhoug and toasted bread points that we used like little edible surfboards to ferry the cheese from a sizzling cast iron pan into our mouths.
In terms of larger plates, please don’t miss the juicy roast chicken with salsa verde, a bird that’s a perfect ode to the OG from Jonathan Waxman. Add on a side of the smashed and roasted fingerling potatoes. There’s also a branzino that leans into the simplicity of the region with lots of lemon, capers, pistachios and haricot verts.
We loved the whole roasted cauliflower, a solid imitation of the stunning one Assaf Granit makes at Habasta in Tel Aviv, this one charred up in the wood-fired oven until crispy on the outside and melting on the inside, dressed in a falafel-worthy sauce of tahini, capers, and lemon. The salmon is from Faroe Island and gets topped with Sicilian almond pesto.
I’m glad I got a chance to chat with Chef Paul a little bit after our dinner, because I learned that he had not watched any episodes of Ted Lasso. I think after our conversation he’s at home right now binging the entire season. Despite his questionable TV-watching habits, the chef has an impressive pedigree; he’s worked with Daniel Boulud, Kurt Gutenbruner, Riad Nasr at Balthazar, and at Bowery Meat with Josh Capon. The food is a solid reflection of this stellar resume. He knows what he’s doing over there, and now that Con Ed has turned their gas on, he’ll be expanding the menu to include pasta, and much more.
If you’re heading up that way, going to the theater or to Bryant Park, or to the best Japanese bookstore in NYC, I hope you’ll stop in and check it out. Let me know what you think!
Heritage Grand Bakery Restaurant & Pizza Bar is open for dine-in, weekdays from 11:30 to 11 pm daily serving lunch, happy hour and dinner and will start breakfast and brunch hours in June.
Heritage Grand Bakery (retail bakery store) is open for dine-in, and takeout weekdays from 7am to 7pm and weekend from 8am to 7pm.
This restaurant sounds wonderful and I cannot wait to try it when I get to New York! The bakery and the restaurant both sound equally divine! I’m really looking forward to that macaron as part of my take out.