Italian grocer Agata & Valentina will open a fully gluten-free outdoor café on June 1.
The new cafe space is the grocer’s first outdoor venture. The cafe will offer service at 11 tables, with 22 seats, in a devoted area set off by planters filled with greenery and yellow umbrellas at 79th Street and First Avenue.
“We are excited to bring this option to our customers, who not only have a safe gluten-free space to buy food, but now have that same space to sit and enjoy a bite to eat,” says owner Valentina Puleo.
The family-owned store, which opened in 1993 on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, is already home to a gluten-free market. Agata & Valentina’s Gluten-Free Market was born initially from a personal need, when Puleo was diagnosed with Celiac Disease.
The new café is just the next marker of gluten-free innovation by Agata Musco and her daughter, the pair behind the grocery store.
The outdoor café will serve brunch, lunch, and dinner items — and even includes a kids’ menu, a bonus for parents of children who eat and drink gluten-free. Agata & Valentina’s Spaghetti Involtini is on track to stand as the café’s signature dish.
The café’s menus are set to include the below:
Lunch & Dinner:
● Chicken or Vegan Eggplant Parmigiana
● Organic Roasted Salmon
● Veggie or Chicken Feta Burgers
● Various pizzette
● Focaccia
Weekend Brunch:
● Grilled caprese panino
● Housemade gluten-free muffins, scones, croissants
● Egg sandwich or wrap
● Fresh seasonal berries / yogurt and granola parfait
● Cavatelli in homemade pomodoro sauce
● Bellini
● Mimosa
Kids:
● Chicken fingers
● Turkey burger
● Various pizzette
● Focaccia
Desserts:
● Tiramisu
● Chocolate mousse
● Biscotti trio
● Homemade blueberry tart
The outdoor space opens June 1 and will operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 11 a.m. through 8 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through the summer.
Related: The Best Italian Markets in the United States
