The Great Northern Food Hall, a 5,000-square-foot Nordic food court brought to life by Danish culinary entrepreneur Claus Meyer, officially opens on June 25 with a soft opening on June 18th.
This morning I had a chance to sneak past the ropes and get a preview of the much anticipated space. The Great Northern Food Hall features a bar and five food stations that will spotlight local ingredients and rotate menus daily:
- Almanak will focus on salads, fresh juices and vegetable-based snacks
- Meyer’s Bageri will boast an in-house bread and pastry program
- Grain Bar will offer porridges of both sweet and savory varieties
- Brownsville Roasters will serve coffees made at Meyer’s roasting site in the namesake Brooklyn neighborhood
- Open Rye will be wholly dedicated to Denmark’s open-faced rye sandwiches, smørrebrød.
Only a few stations were open at the time, but I had a good sampling of the delicious baked goods at Almanak and I had a delicious Cold Brew from Brownsville Roasters to wake me up after my commute from Connecticut.
Highlights from Almanak – I did a lot of pointing through the glass display of what I wanted because I didn’t know the names of the items. Thankfully the staff knew the names of each item and provided a description of what they were. To help my readers:
- Spandauer ($4.50 each) – I guessed they were Danishes, and they were, but less sweet than what you typically find at bakeries (big plus for me). Almanak sells two kinds – one with vanilla custard and hazelnut and another with berries. Get one!
- Kanelsnurre – Norwegian Cinnamon Twist Bun
- Frosnapper – Scandinavian Poppy & Sesame Seed Twist
- Tebirkes – similar to the Frosnapper, these are Danish poppyseed pastries
- Flodboller
- Cinnamon Raisin Scones
- Muffins – they offer three kinds – Chocolate, Red Beet and Currant, and Carrot). Try the Red Beet and Currant muffin.
- Flodeboller – cute Danish cream puffs. Didn’t try one, but I’ll save that for my next visit.
The treats at Almanak aren’t cheap, but they are delicious and worth the price. I may need to run an extra mile each morning as I could see myself stopping by their station when I hit Grand Central Terminal.
Have you checked out the Great Northern Food Hall yet?
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