30 to Midnight

François Chocolate Bar, Upper East Side

Tuesday, 4:30pm

François Chocolate Bar
714 Madison Avenue (63rd St.), Manhattan

We were downstairs shopping for 30-thousand dollar emeralds at Mauboussin when we noticed the sign for the 4th floor chocolate bar. Intrigued, we entered the satin-padded elevator and went up. The Payard packaging reminded us where we were - François Payard's return - but the manager told us he would never actually be there. We think he may not have ever been there, given the muddy, cold coffee and decor that looks created and painted by a middle school art class. But the few people inside were surely AA, and the chocolate is of course delicious, and the prices are confusingly reasonable. It's no Payard, not by a long shot, and it's only been open for a few days, and we can't figure out who would go here more than once, or why someone would think it was acceptable/possible to serve drip coffee that was one hour old (espresso was much better, though also cold), but we're compelled to tell you about it because that is what we do.

Sant Ambroeus, Upper East Side

Saturday, 5pm

Sant Ambroeus
1000 Madison Ave. (78th St.), Manhattan

Named for the patron saint of Milan (Ambrogio; isn't that the name of the kid in A Bronx Tale? Nope. That's Calogero, a Sicilian (duh) hermit and performer of miracles)...where was I? Oh...Named for the patron saint of Milan, Sant Ambroeus is an Age Appropriate stop for pasticceria, confetteria and lovely espresso and espresso derivatives. We love the standing-room-only coffee bar, where we had our most recent drink (pictured), but the small tables by the front windows are customer favorites. The booths and tables in the back are for the full restaurant. Note: next to us at the bar were a couple of dreamy Italian guys who didn't notice us at all (though we had a moment of thinking they paid for us; they did not). Otherwise the house was, as usual, full of women, couples, and gelato-eaters of all shapes and ages. 

Heavenly Cafe, Upper East Side

Friday, 5pm

Heavenly Cafe, Church of the Heavenly Rest
2 East 90th St. (Fifth AVe.), Manhattan

When you're gorgeous and 80 years old and your neighbors are the Guggenheim and the Cooper-Hewitt, you know you're going to get some traffic, no doubt why the Church of the Heavenly Rest recently opened up the Heavenly Cafe (11am-6pm weekdays, 5pm weekends). Sit here amongst the Age Appropriate, drinking iced tea, regarding Museum Mile strollers, marveling at the goodness and peacefulness life can offer.

The Smile, NoHo

Saturday, 4pm

The Smile
26 Bond St. (Lafayette), Manhattan

Hipsters, lots of hipsters, patrolling every inch of this, er, multi-use space (food, drink, soap, tattoos). Overheard: "I was thinking of getting that tat right here, over my tit (dramatic pause), what do you think?" Well, we think you better be damn sure about a tattoo, missy. Not that we're anti-ink; we're just old enough to know not even yellow disappears, though it does fade. It's not InAppropriate in here, but it is indefinable, which doesn't mean inapproachable or inappealing, but does give us pause.