Hani's bakery delights and boasts a life changing PB&J — the best in the city
The doorhandle 'D' might stand for delicious or decadent, both of which apply to Hani's, located at 67 Cooper Square. It's the neighborhood's biggest draw since the rotating Astor Place Cube was installed in 1967.
Hani's is a labor of love by celebrated former Gramercy Tavern pastry chef Miro Uskokovic and his wife, Bon Appetit senior food editor Shilpa Uskokovic, who took over the space late last year.
8 Miro Uskokovic and his wife Shilpa Uskokovic conceived Hani's and developed its delectable menu together.
Mark Weinberg
8 The peanut butter and jelly sandwich 'is the most American thing,' according to Uskokovic, who prides himself on his traditional US menu staples — and grinds the peanuts for it in-house.
EMMY PARK
'We debated whether to keep the 'D' and decided it was pretty cute,' Uskokovic chuckled.
Uskokovic, who first came to the US from Serbia shortly before 9/11, set out to make his pastries, cookies and other goodies all-American — not influenced by Eastern Europe or France.
'I became known for my American desserts at Gramercy Tavern and other restaurants, and PB and J is the most American thing,' Uskokovic said.
Hani's is a simple, ultra-clean space with a few booths and counter chairs, although most customers take their purchases out. Doughnuts, buns, croissants and rolls gleam inside a glass case. A sign lists a rotating lineup of sandwiches.
8 Hani's, located in the east village, takes a space formerly run by Dunkin' Donuts, and the chain's conspicuous 'D' logo is still on the door.
EMMY PARK
8 Hani's turkey club sandwich eschews the traditional third slice of bread to pack in plenty of filling, complemented with a chunky pistachio and kale pesto.
EMMY PARK
8 A tripple chocolate chunk cookie topped with sea salt from Hani's. They certainly don't skimp with these chunks!
EMMY PARK
For me, the life-changer was the PB & J. I've eaten the combo in every conceivable form since I was a child, even including a peanut-butter-and-jelly lobster nightmare in Miami.
Hani's version, for a mere $6, laughs at all of them. Like the bakery items, it's meant to be 'nostalgic, but artisanal,' Uskokovic said. The single, thick slice of milk bread, which like all baked goods is made in-house, is toasted to a crackling turn. The peanut butter is ground in-house from Bazzini peanuts. Thick raspberry jam was from locally grown fruit.
Unless you want to make a mess, I advise attacking the open-face sandwich with a fork and knife. Think comfort food sent to finishing school. It was as satisfyingly full-on tongue and palate as a juicy steak, but more fun with its interplay of creamy peanut butter and sweet jam atop the crusty bread — the summer picnic lunch of my dreams.
8 The bakery counter at Hani's — where hungry customers usually clean them out of stock by 3 p.m., hours before closing.
EMMY PARK
8 The interior of Hani's bakery, located at 67 Cooper Square.
EMMY PARK
8 A 'deliciously gooey' malted milk-glazed cinnamon bun from Hani's.
EMMY PARK
The turkey club ($17) needs 15 minutes to assemble, and is worth the wait. It's a skyscraper of a sandwich using two slices of buttery, multigrain bread, rather than the common three.
Lightly salty turkey slices share the space between them with lots of crisp bacon, orange and gold tomato slices and pistachio and kale pesto.
'We make the pesto a bit chunky,' Ukoskovic said. The result has a pleasing, tapenade- like texture.
Hani's baked confections have a timeless quality that made me forget Cronuts. The best-sellers are the triple-chunk Valrhona chocolate cookie and lusciously moist, malted milk-glazed cinnamon buns.
But my choice was raspberry tea cake, a gluten-free number made with almond cake, labneh cream (strained yogurt), Mexican herbs and sugar. The almond flour is made with corn milk drawn from a Brooklyn granary. It's just $6.50, less than you'd spend on a slice of commercial layer cake in a diner.
Hani's is open only from 7:30 a.m. daily on Monday through Thursday until 4:30 p.m., although they tend to run out of many items by 3. It's open until 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, but Uskokovic said they're adding from 6-10 p.m. on those days.
'There's always a line outside on weekends. We apologize to our neighbors about it and we bribe them with treats,' he laughed.
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