maman — Restaurant in New York

Maman’s newest location and (I think) 13th store in NYC, had their soft opening today. Located near Lincoln Center and across the street from ABC studios, Maman is a great place to make a pit stop before seeing a concert or performance. Currently, they are open every day but close at 6pm. I wish they stayed open later but apparently the shop becomes an event space in the evening. Also, their kitchen closes at 4pm daily which means all of the savory items on the menu are no longer available at point.

Like all other Maman locations, the décor here is beautiful, sort of rustic French provincial. The shop, from the inside and front, is very aesthetically pleasing. I’ve been to several other Maman locations and have found that the food offered, from the pastries to the salads and sandwiches are usually a match to the décor, both in presentation and taste. Their Chocolate Chunk cookie is well known and is on Oprah’s Favorites list. So, you know I was excited to stop by.

I hurried after work to grab something but unfortunately was a little too late. I got there about 45 minutes before closing and all of their pastries were already gone. Bummer. Only drinks were available for purchase at that point. I ended up just grabbing a honey lavender latte instead. Was the drink good? Yes, it was excellent. I loved the slight aroma of lavender with the smooth but strong latte flavor. It would have been hundred times better if I had one of their pastries to go with it though. Luckily, I work near this neighborhood and I’m already planning on coming by another day.

Another thing I wanted to note is that they are donating 100% of the proceeds from today to Ukranian families via Welcome Baby. The money raised is used to fund baby packages and will be sent to the Ukraine and Poland. This kind of philanthropy is something that Maman has been doing since the beginning of the pandemic; they’ve been donating the proceeds from the first day of each new store from the past two years to charity. How can you not want to support a business like that?

Tip: download the new Maman app to get loyalty rewards and $5 off...

✅ has WiFi. As in not a maman WiFi. (No maman café offers WiFi because they're trying to be alternative but it's more inconvenient than it is alternative). As in, because of its arbitrary location, this maman happens to be on 2 freely accessible WiFis : LinkNYC and LincolnSquare public WiFi. So this feature affords a lot of added value to this maman café. ✅ has outlets. —A rare feature for a maman café, once again because they're trying to be alternative but, as with WiFi above, the resultant effect is inconvenience. Also a much appreciated feature of this maman café. ✅ Located across the street from ABC Studios and you can watch the giant live news band scroll across the front of the building which is pretty cool. ✅ atmosphere is different at this one relative to the one on W 81st (and more consistent with every other maman café on Manhattan). Because of its location, this maman is more business-y, downtown-y & impersonal. It's a lot of young (and less young) professionals grabbing coffee on their way to work. A lot of solo customers enjoying a beverage or snack for 15 min before heading back to the grind. The maman on W 81st is flush with strollers and baby chairs; most tables are groups; it has a distinct family and community feel. This one does fill up with groups later in the day but not with as many young children. In the morning, this maman is, to some measure, calmer and "has more room" because more customers are ordering things to-go. ✅ has a larger, more lovely, more comfortable, less awkward terrace space relative to the one on W 81st. The terrace is directly sun-facing from the late morning until early afternoon, until about 3pm. It's very enjoyable on sunny days.

Those were the things I wanted to comment on. The pastries at maman are rich, decadent, delicious albeit overpriced. The beverages are expansive, inventive, delicious, well-prepared albeit overpriced. I have not tried the food but it looks delicious and is popular and is...

Listen, I've been to A LOT of coffee shops (trust me, I've had my share of experiences with managers and staff), but Maman is something special. This place gets it right in every single way.First off, the pastries? Absolutely unreal. Their croissants are buttery perfection - like, you can taste the actual butter layers and they're flaky without making a complete mess of your laptop setup. The cookies hit different too, not those dry corporate chain things but actual artisanal treats that taste like someone's French grandmother made them.But here's what really got me - their breakfast sandwich game is STRONG. Perfect ratio of everything, and the avocado toast isn't just Instagram bait, it actually tastes incredible. Like they understand that food should be both beautiful AND delicious, revolutionary concept apparently.The staff though? This is where they really shine. Everyone there treats you like you're actually welcome, not like you're some inconvenience interrupting their day. They remember regulars, they're genuinely friendly, and there's zero weird power trip energy. You know how rare that is these days?The atmosphere is exactly what you want - cozy enough that you feel comfortable staying for hours with your work setup, but not so cramped that you're fighting for table space. Great coffee, incredible matcha drinks (their matcha lattes are legitimately perfect), and the kind of vibe where you can actually get work done or just hang out without anyone questioning if you "bought something today."This is how coffee shops should be run. Period. Maman gets all my money and all my recommendations. Finally found a place that treats customers like humans and serves food that's actually...