Sant Ambroeus Coffee Bar

An espresso and a Millesfoglie, taken quickly at a small counter, is the whole proposition here. Sant Ambroeus Coffee Bar is the compact New York City format of a Milanese name that began as a neighbourhood pasticceria in 1936.

Espresso first, then the pastry case

The best way to read this branch is through its coffee-and-sweets rhythm. The beverage programme is a full Italian espresso and cappuccino offering, and the espresso is the strongest thing on the counter. Food sits directly beside it rather than on a separate menu: warm pressed panini, bread, croissants and a case of Sant Ambroeus desserts.

Two of those desserts carry the house name. Millesfoglie is the traditional Italian puff pastry layered with cream, and the chocolate mousse cake is the signature richer option. Later in the day the same counter stretches into cocktails and wines by the glass, which gives a small coffee bar a morning-to-evening role that most do not have.

A Milanese room inside a Lenox Hill hotel

This is the small-format version of the brand. It sits inside the Loews Regency in Lenox Hill, on the Upper East Side, and it is a simple café rather than one of the roomier Manhattan Sant Ambroeus restaurants with their full menus.

The design is unusually specific for a coffee bar. Meyer Davis Studio drew the space around a Northern Italian aesthetic, with Rosso Impero stone countertops imported from Italy and custom ivory, black and red concrete floors by Villa Lagoon. Italian art deco details and a handful of outdoor tables complete it, and the result reads as a polished café rather than a hotel lobby with a coffee machine in it.

Order the Millesfoglie before the mousse cake

Begin with an espresso or cappuccino, then treat the pastry case as the real decision. Millesfoglie is the item to order first: a traditional puff pastry with cream, crisp against the coffee, and the pastry aroma is the first thing to reach you at the door.

Croissants cover the simpler breakfast order, while the chocolate mousse cake is the richer named dessert if you would rather finish than start. For something savoury, the warm pressed panini is the choice. Sweets and coffee can be eaten at the bar or carried out, so the same room works as a quick espresso and croissant stop, a panini lunch, a dessert to take home, or a later glass of wine.