Restaurant Review: Falai Panetteria – New York City

I’ve never in my life had a chocolate croissant like this, or cornetti as it’s called in the italian cafe Falai Panetteria. I had asked them to heat up this perfect little croissant. It appeared perfectly crispy and flaky in it’s petite size and as soon as I tore it open, a flood of semisweet chocolate poured onto the plate. I could not believe how perfect this chocolate cornetti was. It had just enough crisp and flaky butter with melty semisweet chocolate to spoon up. This is the best chocolate cornetti I’ve ever had. The waitress told me that she has to have one of these every day. I totally understand.
I also got some treats to go. Their almond butter sugar cookies are perfectly crisp with a subtle sweet butter crunch. These are perfect to much on with tea. The other treat I got was a box of little dark chocolate bon bons that resemble teeny tiny baby flourless baby cakes. They have a little bite of orange zest.
There are so many other delicious items this place serves. Several other pastries and fresh bread, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. See below for some examples of their menu items.

BREAKFAST MENU:
OVEN BAKED EGGS
FONTINA, baked eggs, tomato sauce, fontina and basil 11
MOZZARELLA, baked eggs, tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil 11
FUNGHI, baked eggs, tomato sauce, sautéed wild mushrooms 12
SALMONE, baked eggs, tomato sauce, smoked salmon and chives 13
TONNO, baked eggs, tomato sauce, imported Italian tuna 13
SPINACI, baked eggs, tomato sauce, fontina sautéed spinach and mascarpone cheese 13
SAUSAGE, baked eggs, tomato sauce, imported Italian sausage 13
PANINI
MOZZARELLA BURRATA, mozzarella and roasted vegetables 10
PROSCIUTTO, San Daniele, prosciutto with mozzarella and tomato 11
SPECK, speck with roasted radicchio and fontina cheese 11
MOZZARELLA, mozzarella with tomato and basil 10
PROSCIUTTO COTTO, ham with fontina cheese and tomato 11
GAMBERI, shrimp with tomato, mayonnaise and parsley 11
FRESH FIGS, figs and gorgonzola dolce 10
SAVORY PASTRIES
FOCACCINA with boiled eggs, mayonnaise and parsley or mozzarella and cherry tomato 6
MINI PANINO with mozzarella and prosciutto San Daniele 4.50
PIZZETTA, tomato & mozzarella or *vegetables with goat cheese 6
*SPINACH RICOTTA, strudel 5
HAM & CHEESE, croissant 5
ITALIAN BREAKFAST
*POACHED FIGS with fresh ricotta from “Di Palo’s” and crunch almonds 9
*FRESH BERRIES with yogurt, crunchy almond slices 8
FRUIT SALAD, assorted seasonal fruit 7
BOMBOLONI with crème, mixed berries jam, chocolate or cream chantilly 3.50
TURNOVER, chocolate pear or apple cinnamon 4
CORNETTO, plain (2.5), crème, jam, chocolate or *almond 3.50
RAISIN BREAD 3.50
LEMON SFOGLIATELLA 4
DESSERTS AND PASTRIES
TIRAMISU 6
PANNA COTTA with strawberry coulis 6
BLACK MOON, semolina biscotto, spiced mousse, dark chocolate 6
SPRING DOME, pistachio cake, raspberry gelee, citrus crème 6
FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE, dense dark chocolate cake 6
*CITRUS TARTE with mandarin, orange, white chocolate 6
*STRAWBERRY TARTE with vanilla cream 5
*CHOCOLATE FONDANT, mini brownie with dense chocolate 5
*ÉCLAIR, choux pastry with milk chocolate hazelnut crème 5
*BANANA ALMOND, almond cake, fresh caramelized banana 5
CANNOLO, puff pastry cannolo, vanilla bourbon crème 5
*SEMOLINA TARTE, semolina crème, dark chocolate 5
*RICOTTA TARTE, ricotta crème and pinenuts 5
*RICE TARTE, rice crème, milk chocolate 5
*APPLE STRUDEL 5
CREPE CAKE, by slice 6
CAFFETTERIA
ILLY ESPRESSO 3, double 3.5, MACCHIATO 3.5, double 4
AMERICANO 3.5, COFFEE 2.5, refill 0.5, CAFE AU LAIT 3
CAPPUCCINO, LATTE 4
ICED CAPPUCCINO, LATTE or COFFEE 4.50
SHAKERATO 5
TEA POT 6
COCKTAILS
BEVERAGES
ICED TEA 4
FRESH JUICES, selection of the day 4.50
COKE, diet COKE, ARANCIATA, LIMONATA, CHINOTTO 3
SAN BITTER, non alcoholic aperitif 4
PELLEGRINO OR PANNA 1/2LITER 4.50
PELLEGRINO OR PANNA 1 LITER 7
TARTS AND CAKES (individual)
FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE 5
BLACK MOON CAKE, semolina biscuit, chocolate mousse, spiced créme 5
PANNA COTTA with strawberry purée 5
SPRING DOME, pistachio biscuit, strawberry purée, citrus crème 5
TIRAMISU 5
STRAWBERRY TART 4
WHITE CHOCOLATE MANDARIN ORANGE TART 4
HAZELNUT ÉCLAIR 4
HAZELNUT AND ESPRESSO MILLE FOGLIE 4
APPLE STRUDEL 3.75
ALMOND BANANA CAKE 3
RICE PUDDING TARTLET w/ MILK CHOCOLATE 3
SEMOLINA PUDDING TARTLET w/DARK CHOCOLATE 3
RICOTTA TARTLET 3
CHOCOLATE FONDANT 3
SWEET PASTRIES
PLAIN CORNETTI 1.75
ALMOND CORNETTI 2.50
CHOCOLATE CORNETTI 2.50
CANNOLO, dark rum and vanilla cream 2.50
CINNAMON RAISIN BUN 2.50
APPLE CINNAMON TURNOVER 3
PEAR CHOCOLATE TURNOVER 3
BOMBOLONE, vanilla custard or berry jam 2.50
LEMON SFOGLIATELLA 3
SAVORY PASTRIES
MOZZARELLA AND TOMATO TART 5
VEGETABLE TART, Zucchini, Eggplant, Goat Cheese 5
HAM AND FONTINA CHEESE CROISSANT 3.75
MOZZARELLA AND BLACK OLIVE PASTE BRIOCHE 3.75
SPINACH STRUDEL 4
TARTS AND CAKES (whole)
FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE S/L 18/28
BLACK MOON CAKE S/L 18/28
FRUIT TART S/L 18/28
SUNNY CAKE (Hazelnut, Banana) S/L 18/28
CREPE CAKE S/L 20/30
PEAR CHOCOLATE TART 15/25
FALAI PANETTERIA
Address: 79 Clinton St at Rivington St., Manhattan, NY 10002
Phone: 212-777-8956
Hours: Mon-Thu, Sun 7am-11pm; Fri, Sat 7am-midnight
Price: Average main course: $12
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Thanks for this great review! I love cornetti as well, and I reach nirvana when they don’t skimp on the chocolate and you get an innundation of melted heaven on your plate, which you attempt to gracefully soak up witht he pastry, when what you really want to do is lick it off… oh cornetti!
Thank you Marta! Yes I did want to lick my plate clean. I was actually asked if I wanted to do that before they took my plate away!