Wallflower is adorable. It’s a tiny café situated in the place that does adorable tiny cafes better than anywhere, New York’s West Village. You can find it tucked just off of Greenwich on West 12th St without a sign out front. Inside the space you’ll find a small marble bar serving great craft cocktails from Xavier Herit previously of Daniel. To your left, the slender dining room is lined with antique mirrors and gold tinned ceilings.
The menu is listed out as though it were my own personal rendition of “these are a few of my favorite things.” The menu is new American, small plates, full of craveable ingredients making it hard to not order every dish, You’ll find things like “hamachi crudo, watermelon, jalapeno, ponzu, shiso” and “trout, corn & fava succotash, lardons.” It is food with wildly complimentary ingredients without pretension or fuss. For brunch, they take a stab at having a menu that is at least marginally less predictable than most other restaurants. I was thrilled to find my childhood favorite, toad-in-a-hole, updated with gooey pimento cheese and thick cut luscious bacon. This is a great place if you want to lay low and have a casual meal in the neighborhood that does it better than anyone. Here’s what we had:
Stick bun, royal icing, thyme
Heirloom tomato salad, blue cheese, olive croutons, opal basil
Bacon quesadilla, fried egg, jalapeno, tomato salsa, pepperjack cheese
Toad-in-a-hole, pimento cheese, double-cut bacon, egg, roasted fingerlings
Shrimp & grits with smoked cherry tomatoes
Caramelized bread pudding, drunken cream, Nutela, strawberry jam
Address: 235 W 12th St, New York, NY 10014
Phone: (646) 682-9842
www.wallflowernyc.com