Union Square, 1899. Spot Our Building

Now baking at 64 University Place is Papa d’Amour, the new bakery from celebrated pastry master Dominique Ansel. It’s gonna be fancy. Here’s New York magazine’s take:

On a recent afternoon inside the kitchen that will open as Papa d’Amour later this month, the pastry chef Dominique Ansel was holding a spoonful of tomato-tinted scrambled eggs for the consideration of his wife, Amy Ma. “White pepper,” she said after trying it. “That’s not a bad thing.” She explained that Ansel will add vermicelli to the eggs to soak up any excess moisture so the mixture can then be stuffed inside a soft, steamed bao bun, which — because this is from the same chef who invented the Cronut all those years ago — will be folded in the shape of a croissant.

A single pastry that manages to reference a dim-sum staple, French patisserie, and the tomato-egg stir-fry that Ma’s mother cooked for her at home in Taiwan is but one of the many complex, globally collaged items on the menu of Papa d’Amour, which is Ansel’s “exploration” of Asian bread culture, as he puts it. More than that, it is a manifestation of love for his two children (the enfants to his papa) where customers will be able to find loaves of shokupan and sandwiches made on that Japanese milk bread (plain or laminated); pretzel-salt-crusted Chinese custard tarts; and a banana bread Malay cake derived not from the humble American home-baking staple but of Malaysia’s more elegant, fluffy, steamed sponge cake.

The Papa is particularly excited about a scallion-basil “blossom,” which, you’d never guess unless he told you, is his take on a Taiwanese scallion pancake. “I wanted something I can pull apart,” he says. He’d seen the way the pancake’s dough is fluffed by hand to give it a flaky, almost shredded surface and a chewy middle and wanted to come up with something that mimics that interplay. He was trained in France, so his mind went to two kinds of brioche: a regular version to encase the scallion component in the middle and a laminated, layered crown to encourage ripping.

A true neighborhood standy is officially gone. So long to the Giant Bagel Shop on the corner of University and 13th. Who knows what will take over that high-traffic space.

The sausage spot on University between 12th and 13th is about to become Bambootori, a Japanese yakitori joint.

There will be a co-op meeting on June 7 at 7pm at the Seafarer’s and International House, located at 123 East 15th St.

Please be advised that curbside composting began on October 6, 2024. The program is mandatory and requires buildings to separate food and yard waste from other trash and recycling items. However, there is a grace period until April 2025 to allow buildings to implement the proper procedures and get everything in order.

• We have ordered one bin for each building and have ordered a second for each building in anticipation of participation.
• Residents are required to bring their food waste materials down and place them in the composting bin. The bins are on the second floor of 14^th Street and in the garbage area in the back of the lobby on 13^th Street. They are in place and ready for use.
• Acceptable materials for the composting bin include all food scraps, bones, dairy, prepared/cooked foods, and food-soiled paper (napkins, paper plates, coffee filters).
• Recycling and trash procedures remain unchanged.

Please see the attached DSNY flyer detailing acceptable materials for the composting bin. Additional guidance and recommendations include:

• Drain liquids before placing food scraps in the composting bin.
• Store composting materials in a plastic bag, brown paper bag, yogurt tub, or a designated organics container. Empty the scraps into the composting bin in the basement.
• To prevent odors, store scraps in the freezer if you cannot bring them down immediately.
• Newspapers, paper bags and certified compostable bags are acceptable in the composting bin. Plastic bags may be thrown in the bin as the DSNY has a method for removing them. Hard plastic, metal, and glass are not permitted.

As a reminder, plastic, cardboard, metal, and glass should be recycled separately and not placed in the composting bin. Regular trash items including Styrofoam, pet waste, or diapers must not be thrown into the composting bin.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me or Mecca at 212-986-0001 or via email at TCunningham@akam.com or MWhite@akam.com.

Thank you.

The City Tavern across 13th St. has closed.