"This is Highly Recommend, a column dedicated to our very opinionated editors’ favorite things to eat, drink, and buy. I’m a late riser with an aversion to lines, which is why I avoid brunch like Times Square. But if I’m ever in a restaurant before noon, I’m at Davelle. It helps that the Japanese all-day cafe is just blocks away from my Lower East Side apartment, but I would happily journey cross-borough to start my day with their Kyoto-style cold brew, elegantly dispensed from a vaguely steampunk slow-drip Oji cold brew machine. While Davelle’s lunch and dinner menus are devoted to all kinds of delicious things, from uni spaghetti to fluffy omurice, the morning menu is a singular salute to toast. But there’s a twist: There’s no avocado in sight. Instead, thick slabs of Japanese milk bread are artistically smeared with a cream cheese and berry jam checkerboard, polka dots of cinnamon sugar, or swirls of natto (fermented soybeans) and cheese. Each toast is stunningly beautiful—but far too tasty to be pure Instagram bait. Best of all, the quietly minimalist space feels miles away from the hysteria of boozy brunch and bagel lines. It’s also an excellent launchpad for lazy walks up to the Union Square greenmarket or other dreamy weekend activities. On rare weekday mornings, I’ll even stop by before work for cream cheese toast and a corner seat at the bar. There, with sunshine on my back and a cup of genmaicha in hand, the charms of early rising are revealed." - ByAliza Abarbanel
