Librae Bakery — Restaurant in New York

The interior is truly adorable and cozy, and the staff are all attentive, friendly and helpful. Even they were insanely busy over the weekend crowds, they still didn't hesitate to offer help enthusiastically. The barista girl even remembered that I've been waiting for the lakte bun and kept updating me about it. Excellent dining experience!

＊ Rose Pistachio Croissant The croissant itself was stunningly well-made with a golden flaky shell and multiple inner folds. Generous spread of pistachio between the croissant, and the rose petals gave a subtle floral flavor to the pastry, which further enhanced the overall layers of taste. It is better to share as the pistachio filling was thick and sticky. The best pastry to satisfy all pistachio lovers ;)

＊ Bread Pudding The outside was crunchy, while the inside was still gooey and warm. The egg-based custard contained raisins and nuts to increase the texture.

*Jerusalem Bagel w/ Labneh Hands down the best Jerusalem bagel ever. Pairing the bagel with lebneh absolutely rocked my socks off. Spreading a thick pile of creamy lebneh on the bagel was an out of this world experience. The thick strained yogurt had an interesting chemistry with olive oil and silk chilli. I'm quickly obsessed with the sweet-and-savory collage of flavors.

*Loomi Babka Bun A sweet braided bun with swirls of lemon curd. A delightful citrus overtone penetrated with its black lime. Beware that the bread texture is quite dense so better share it with your companion.

*Za'atar Labneh Morning Bun The bun tasted exotic because of the middle eastern influence. It was wrapped in multiple laminated pastry layers. The center was bold with its unique herbal fragrance. Personally not my fav and may not order it again.

*Iced Coconut Cardamom Americano Visited Librae when they just released this seasonal iced beverage. I was immediately in love after my first sip and gulped down the entire cup with satisfaction. It was lighter than any milk coffee bc of its americano base, while a hint of sweetness from the coconut cardamom foam came through the midway. Refreshing drink in hot summer.

＊ Morning Lakte Bun Hanukkah weekend specials! Latkes are traditional treats that the Jews have to celebrate Hanukkah. Librae recreated a lakte in the form of potato fritter roll serving with sour cream and fish roes. Lucky enough to grab one as the lakte buns were only available for 3 days!

＊ Cappuccino w/ Oat Milk ＊ Sea Salt Mocha Decent porcelain tableware. The coffee was served with a flower petal shape saucer. Love the teddy latte art on my sea salt mocha. The espresso base was bit acidic.

＊ Pumpkin Pie Sticky Bun Seasonal pastry alert! Whipped with beautiful swirls of torched marshmallow frosting, the bun dough was brushed with shiningly golden pumpkin purée. It had a crunchy graham cracker base. The bun was flavored with a subtle hint of spiced chai. It wasn’t too sweet, but I thought the pumpkin flavor would be stronger. It undoubtedly looked divine in photos, yet the texture was a bit too dense and dry for my liking. Sorry to say that but it was my least favourite pastry from Librae...

＊ Everything Pretzel Real ones order the pretzels. Recommended by a friend, I’ve been wanting to grab their pretzels but they are always gone when I go after noon. I had a hard time choosing between everything, salt and cheese flavors. The pretzel was bursting with everything seasoning flavors! It was chewy with a slightly crisp outer layer like bagels. I didn’t know I could ask for labneh mustard on the side. It must be a sign to try their pretzels again.

＊ Pistachio Cardamom Latte I rushed to Librae with excitement when I saw they launched this new seasonal drink. It smelled heavenly with cardamom spice, tasted light and slightly sweetened. I enjoyed every sip of it and will definitely order it again when it’s still available.

My Recommendations: Rose Pistachio Croissant, Jerusalem Bagel w/ Labneh,...

I sent this email 2 weeks ago! Nobody answered. Really bad 👎🏽

“Good morning,

My name is Ariana Arias. I have been a guest at your wonderful bakery numerous times - everything you guys do seems to be better and better with each visit. I am especially enamored with your tahini date latte and pistachio croissant! I have brought many friends into Librae and they always leave with the same sentiments I have; what a wonderful treat to visit a world class bakery at the weekends.

I am writing this email because recently I had a sub-par experience on my most recent visit. This past Sunday, I came into the city from my home in Queens with that tahini date latte on my mind. I happily waited in line for the standard 20-25 minutes or so, a wait that is always worth it. This time however, when I got to the front of line, I ordered my latte and was informed that the espresso machine was broken, and that drip coffee was the only thing available for the rest of the day. "oh well" I thought, ordered a drip coffee and a croissant.

After ten minutes or so of enjoying my purchases, I noticed the barista firing away espresso-based drinks and lines of lattes and cappuccino forming at the counter. A little confused, I went to the point of coffee and asked if the machine had been fixed? "It wasn't broken, that's just what we say to people when we have too many espresso orders at once", was the answer. I was a little taken aback by this response. I understand Librae gets incredibly busy, and rightly so. However, if this situation was explained to me, I would've happily waited an extra 10 minutes or so for my coffee. It was, after all, the main reason I'd already waited in line 20-25 minutes in the first place. This, coupled with the shortness in response to my question, and unwillingness to do anything to remedy the situation unfortunately left a really bad taste in my mouth.

I would like to be very clear and let you know that the intention of this email is not to receive any kind of refund, freebie or future special treatment. Working in the hospitality industry myself, I would never be one to leave negative reviews on google maps, yelp etc... This email is sent with the hope of shining a light on a step of service and guest interaction that could potentially be improved.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this email, I already can't wait to come back for...

Still my favorite bakery even after I have moved 3000 miles away. It’s a perfect balance between classic flavors and innovative new ideas, textures and combinations

The focaccia is all insanely good and especially the French onion. The pistachio rose croissant is not my favorite but that’s just because I’m not a huge pistachio fan. The banana pastry which is seasonal is fantastic and I mean really good. Like unexpectedly excellent. I do think they do everything well although naturally Like some things better than others.

My favorite is the everything pretzel bagel with labneh for dipping. It’s so so good. The service is decent but not necessarily perfect. They’ve forgotten to ring up some of my order several times. I do think there should be more tables in there and I believe they could fit a few more- it would be tight but there’s space… and always people waiting to sit. The ambience is beautiful. There is a mixture between nature and art and you can see into the kitchen which is really exciting. It’s just a little crowded and again they could squeeze a few more chairs maybe along the window and then a couple more tables. I do think it would be good for business. Highly recommend Librae… still my favorite bakery since moving to LA oh and the coffee is fantastic too.

It’s fantastic but seats are limited because it’s fantastic and word is out ! The savory bagels and pretzels and bagel pretzels lol are excellent. The labneh is ridiculously good. The focaccias are all perfect but the French onion is my favorite and a standard (whew).

My new discovery is the seeded oat loaf of bread. Wow just wow. The pastries are great and I love trying the seasonal ones. The banana creme thing recently was insane and I thought I’d hate it. Banana can be done poorly but this was balanced perfectly. The coffee is great. the ambiance is busy, exciting, efficient and fast sometimes a bit too fast if you’re indecisive like me.

The decor is gorgeous … natural yet modern and the open kitchen well i could stare into it for hours. The smell down the block always welcomes me in. I do wish people wouldn’t sit for so long once they’ve finished eating. There’s simply never enough space.

Bottom line- I fly across the country for Librae. I always come to NYC for new bakeries but they usually disappoint me and I end...