The Bakery / The Cafe (Newark, NY)

A bakery, a cafe, a scone in my belly.

Depending on which way you approach this brand-spanking new food joint, you could find yourself walking up to a bakery or a cafe, and you'd be in for a treat either way. For the first time in a long time, I have been to a place that has promised two things and completely succeeded. The baked goods are excellent, the coffee is fresh and varied, the cafe menu is simple and tasty, the service is friendly, and the prices are criminally low for the quality. I ordered the scone plate, which includes a freshly baked scone, a bowl of fresh fruit with a blob of homemade whipped cream, and a cup of yogurt with granola. The plate is well under $6. Some places charge that much for just the fruit! So many places serve scones and so many of those scones are muffin mix in a pile. These scones are worth making the drive for, from Rochester, Syracuse or Ithaca. Take that Ithaca Bakery. They also have sticky buns, freshly made every morning, as I was told by a big table of locals munching on the last of them. I have been told they are more of a brioche in composition. I am not really bake-smart, so I will just say it was good. The next morning I ordered the eggs, toast, homefries and sausage. Really damn good.

The building is just outside town on Main St. amid some of the very handsome homes in Newark, and seems like it's been a local favorite for years, even though it's only been there for about a month.

We ended up moving operations to Geneva the next week, and though there's a lot more going on down here, we really miss our morning breakfast at the Bakery/Cafe in Newark.