“You are what you eat” is how the mission statement of Heritage Grand Bakery, “Quality, health and tradition” was inspired from. Using ancient grains for its bread (the ancient grain bread is my favorite, but the focaccia they serve at the restaurant is also delicious with butter and olive oil), it is not just a bakery: next door is a restaurant that serves some delicious mediterranean cuisine showcased in an overwhelmingly mouth watering menu. We went there over a period of time, so, know that the menu changes from time to time and some of the items below might not be proposed anymore for few months, until they come back. Like the linguine alle vongole ($28), that is always a dish I am looking forward to try. The perfectly cooked pasta is deliciously bathed in a garlic and white wine sauce, with breadcrumbs giving an additional texture to it. It would be an incomplete description if I did not mention the little neck clams that were also well cooked, clean (I hate when you get sand in it) and properly portioned. The mushroom spaghetti ($25), made with ancient grain, and accompanied with roasted mushrooms and Parmesan is also not to be missed: comforting and earthy, it is a nice vegetarian option. Talking about vegetarian, they have indeed plenty of options, like the crispy Brussels sprouts ($16), covered with tahini, or the zucchini carpaccio, that, although interesting was my least favorite, missing a bit of seasoning. Like many restaurants, they also offer a charred cauliflower ($18), serve with baby arugula, capers and tahini. Quite good, and we were glad they did not make it spicy like many restaurants do. Continuing on the Italian theme, their Milanese chicken ($27) is worth a meal: the pounded breast is covered with ancient grains breadcrumbs before being fried, and served with arugula, pickled red onion, grape tomatoes, sweet drop pepper, basil, capers and shaved parmigiano. Crispy, perfectly cooked, it was simply delicious. Now, let's talk about pizza. I remember that the first time we went there, back in 2023, I did not like their pizza crust. However, now, I love it: puffed on the side and nicely charred in their wood fire oven, covered in a delicious tomato sauce, the look and the taste makes all the difference. The stracciatella ($25), topped with creamy mozzarella rags and Parmesan is fantastic, giving that refreshing and unctuous feel when you bite in it, and they used to have an eggplant one that was quite amazing as well.

I should mention their drinks that are creative, like the chai old fashioned ($18) that is good, but I admit that I was looking for more chai flavor, or my favorite, being a coffee drinker: the Eveil eye espresso martini ($18). More refreshing is the Hemingway Daiquiri ($18) that is made with rum and grapefruit. They also have mocktails, and I only tried the Floradora ($12), made with raspberry, pineapple, lemon, soda.

For desserts, I am a bit on the fence: I used to like the way they did it at the beginning, where you could choose your dessert at the bakery, giving you more choices, even if at the end of the day you could only pick what was left. They do have an olive oil cake ($12), that is good, but I find it a little dense, and their cheesecake ($12) is decent, but, once you tried the one at Junior's, it is tough to match. The warm apple tart ($12) though is pretty good, not too sweet, with a nicely flakey crust.

Overall, the food at Heritage Grand Bakery is quite good, with their pizza and pasta being the stars. The bakery itself has not only great breads, but also good cakes. I am not ecstatic about their croissant and chocolate croissant, but their cinnamon rolls, kouign aman (croissant dough with even more butter) and pain suisse are a must have. I definitely recommend it!

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Heritage Grand Bakery - 8 W 40th St, New York, NY 10018

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