Do you ever just eat the dessert? Or maybe you just want a treat. Gerry Frank’s Konditorei (pronounced Cone-D-Tor-Eye) is the right kind of place then. There are 35 different cakes and cheesecakes, and a variety of pastries and cookies. The cake is exceptional. My usual is "Italian Cream" with its rich flavor and texture, a yellow cake with pecans, a hint of coconut, and a maple cream cheese frosting. (Writing this is killer -- you can only presume you know the flavor described, but I can actually taste it and it just makes me want some -- right now.) The carrot cake is very fine too. In fact, I know someone who favors just about every cake on offer. The various spins on chocolate being the most popular.
Slices are $4.75 each, but they aren’t stingy slices. Cookies and pastries are mostly about $2 and if you’re there during the evening a basket near the register should hold discounts from the day at $1 each, unless they’re all sold out. Whole cakes are expensive, the cheapest being the seasonal Strawberry at $25.
Beverages are various types of teas, coffees and chocolate. Coffee is $1.25 with refills.
Place your order at the counter. The staff will deliver pots of tea, anything else you get at the counter and carry with you to the table. Sit where you’d like. You’ll probably have to flag them for refills, but the space is small and getting their attention isn’t that challenging.
The Konditorei serves breakfast, lunch, and light dinners as well. Breakfast, served until 11am, is simple fare; fruit, granola, toast, bagels, scones, cinnamon rolls, and coffeecake are your choices. Essentially the menu is the same for lunch (11am-5pm) as for dinner (5pm-7.30pm) with slight variation in items as well as in price; soup, sandwiches, lasagna, quiche, and spinach salad. There is $9.95 lunch special that includes dessert. I don’t have recommendations on the rest of the meal though because I never get past the dessert.
The décor is simple and cheerful but touches of extra effort are apparent in the fresh flowers on every table. I’m usually here with a large group, we drag tables into a configuration that works for us and they are always gracious about it. The extended business hours make it a convenient stop at almost any hour. Weekend evenings are predictably the busiest.
Gerry Frank (here’s a mini bio) wrote the book on New York City. That’s what they say. That’s what he says. And you can purchase a copy while you’re here. "Where to Find It, Buy It, Eat It in New York" is a guide to help you take a bite of the Big Apple, now in its 11th edition. It’s actually considered to be an excellent resource. Howard Koch endorsed an earlier edition while he was still mayor.
Opens at 7.30am and closes 11pm (Mon-Thurs), 12am (Fri-Sat) and 10pm (Sun).