What with their impeccable taste in bespoke tailoring and rampant George Clooney adulation, we heart Esquiare Magazine now and forever. So when we saw the April issue's wildly subjective list of the 59 Best Breakfast Places in America, we only had one question: How many of these joints are in New York?
Six, as it turns out. Fully 10 percent of the nation's best breakfast places are in New York. And we're not talking Rochester and Oyster Bay, either. All six are right here in New York City. Bold, Esquire. Very bold.
So who are these wizards of breakfast? Shopsin's (Esquire notes their grits, which come in 13 flavors, and their 45 kinds of pancakes) and Katz's (cheese blintzes, knish) rep the Lower East Side. Esquire hearts the E.V.'s Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar -- just like everybody else -- for their poached-egg pork buns. Washington Heights' Carrot Top Pastries (home of the ur-muffin) forms the uptown contingent. The only chain in the bunch is Lenny's, whose egg sandwich Esquire is fully in the tank for. And the only place outside of Manhattan? King 5 Noodle House in Flushing, where your day begins with deep-fried dough dipped in sweetened soy milk.
