Crisp cool morning, warm breakfast

Couleur Cafe is currently offering what might just be the most satisfying little breakfast dish a person could have on a cool September morning.

It's well below 70 before work now, and they open at 7AM, so you'll just have time to sit down and enjoy a delicious but hastily made cappuccino or a latte while they make you an order of baked eggs.

Hot Cap

From the specials menu, you can add any three ingredients from a very short list, and choose a side of either toast, garlicky potatoes, or salad. I felt like I scored a win with Gruyere, bacon, and caramelized onions. Layered in a small ceramic tartine dish with two eggs cracked on top and baked for ten minutes, this was like a little delicious oven in my tummy for the rest of my morning.

Baked Eggs!

The the eggs maintain a mostly runny yolk, at the expense of also having a slightly runny white, but there's enough deliciousness below them to soak it all up, and the potatoes I chose on the side were there to help and be tasty while they were at it. The nest of onions and bacon held together by one of my favorite melting cheeses could have stood on its own, but runny egg yolk always makes a breakfast dish that much better.

If you're up early and can't quite shake the chill, head over and treat yourself.

-SdJ

Couleur cafe, revisited

I said this place warranted a return visit, and I went back to try something other than coffee. (There was coffee, too, of course.)

C'est adorable!

A special of the day was a Croissant D'Avignon. I love little sandwiches on croissants, so I gave it a try. The croissant itself was good but maybe a little stale. It was loaded with fresh summery radishes and cucumbers, though, held on with herbed cream cheese. Hard boiled eggs (but with slightly translucent yolks, so not boiled as hard as some might be used to,) and cornichons finished the presentation. It really was a perfect little bite for a warm August morning.

Croissant D'Avignon

The fact that everything here at Couleur Cafe is presented on little mismatched porcelain plates and that the bottle of cold water you're given comes in an old French lemonade bottle just add to the charm of this cafe. The staff is young and energetic, considering the early hours, but good caffeinated offerings like you can find here probably help. I'm looking forward to a lunch visit in the very near future...

-SdJ

Couleur Cafe, Park Slope

I found myself on 7th avenue the other morning on my way somewhere and in need of an iced coffee. Between 14th and 15th streets is the little jewel box called Couleur Cafe.

I was really just popping in for a cold beverage and leaving, but this place is adorable enough to warrant a return visit. The owners must at least be aware of the song by the late Serge Gainsbourg of the same name about his love of dark-skinned women. (the husband of Jane Birkin and father of Charlotte Gainsbourg was famously down with brown... There's a clip of an appearance by him on a tv show where a young Whitney Houston was also a guest and he was so lewd and forward with her that it caused quite a scene... NSFW so don't click play if you're going to get in trouble)

The theme here is low-key French cafe, and they do it up perfectly. From the menu of standards like soupe a l'oinion and ouefs aux pain, to the decor and the knickknacks used for the condiments straight from the marches aux puces, it would be easy to be transported for a morning or an afternoon. It's not a Disney version of a French cafe, it's just a neighborhood French cafe.

I've found several coffee shops to love since moving to Park Slope, but I haven't wanted to be a regular anywhere as badly as this place. Like I said, it warrants a return visit, and you may hear more in the near future.

-SdJ