Florencia Bake and Coffee shop — Restaurant in New York

This cozy bakery and coffee shop just opened yesterday on busy Steinway St in Astoria. The interior is a nice blend of light wood, green accent walls and counter and led lights. While the space isn’t large, they have managed to include several small café tables for dining in. On their first day of business, the counter displayed different kinds of cakes, cookies, muffins, croissants and sandwiches. There were even gluten free options displayed in the counters. I ended up getting a Ham Sandwich with Pesto ($9), Chocolate Chip Cookie ($4), Bear Pastry (43.75) and a Tiramisu Cake ($8).

The Ham sandwich was good. It was filling but not too heavy. And I really liked the bread they used for the sandwich. It was much lighter and flakier than a regular baguette with a chewy interior. I just wished they put more pesto on the sandwich.

The Tiramisu was quite good. I saved this and ate it the next day so it was more soft almost soggy by the time I ate it. It probably would have been better eating this right away. The flavor was good; slightly sweet and with a soft espresso presence.

The Chocolate Chip cookie was great. The bottom had a nice crunch and was filled with lots of dark chocolate chunks. I put it in the microwave for like 5 seconds so that the chocolate became slightly gooey.

My favorite purchase was the Bear pastry. It was slightly sweet and had a slightly dense texture. It had dark chocolate accents (for face, arms and legs). It looked cute and tasted even better.

Looking at their Instagram profile, it looks like they specialize in cakes for special occasions. I didn’t see much of that in the shop but good to know they offer it. Hope more people support this small business and best of...

Clean and aesthetically pleasing coffee and bakery on Steinway Street. The person who attended me was friendly and knowledgeable about the products. She even let me know one of the cookies contained nuts. This was very thoughtful as even though it didn't apply to me, it showed me that they took allergies seriously and thus the care of the guest as well. I saw what I assumed was the owner and their family as one of them greeted me when I entered.

The cookie I selected was delicious. Someone mentioned the little bear cookies which I didn't see but what I did enjoy and regretfully didn't take a picture of was a dark chocolate chip cookie with a milk chocolate center and a mini oreo. Not a sugar bomb but obviously a cookie with a great dough to chip ratio. There wasn't a bad bite, unless you count the last one :(

They also roast Devoción coffee if you want a caffeine fix. It was too late in the day for me to have a cup but I guess I'm going to have to return earlier some time and take a picture of that delicious cookie with some joe.

Please support family owned businesses like this instead of larger chain places. Astoria is sorely lacking the homey feel it had many years ago. I wish the very best for this cozy...

Finally a cafe/pasteleria I really like. It is a tiny spot on a busy street. Very cute interior including the posters on the wall. The cashier Mica is charming and accommodating. Coffee is good and the food is made with love! The pastries we tried including guava pastafrola/tart and choc chip walnut cookie, were not cloyingly sweet. You could actually taste them. Finally, someone gets it right. And gluten-free lemon cookie + “melt in your mouth” lemon cake with simple frosting was amazing. They also have empanadas with shredded chicken and/or ground beef + hard boiled eggs, with a hint of cumin, which tells you they are “de Paraguay.” Hope to try the other items soon. Truly a welcome addition to any neighborhood. This is the kind of place we really need. Grab and go, or sit and stay a while family-run all-day cafe, with good food + beverages, and honest-to-goodness charm. P.S. They also do custom cakes and serve wines. Hope they stay around...