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Gourmet Bakery and Cafe to Open on 37th Ave by Renowned Pastry Chef

Dark chocolate ginger truffles (Michael Mignano Instagram)

Feb. 15, 2019 By Meghan Sackman

A French bakery is slated to open on the corner of 37th Avenue and 75th Street next month.

The eatery, to be called Farine Baking Company, will offer pastries and artisanal coffee and will be owned and operated by famed pastry chef Michael Mignano, who worked as the executive pastry chef at the Pierre Hotel for 20 years.

The bakery will occupy two floors and will possess a rustic Parisian decor. The baking will take place on the upper floor, Mignano said, while the first floor will provide room for about 30 to 40 people.

Farine, which means flour in French, will offer an elaborate breakfast and lunch menu each day and there will be a special brunch menu with table service on Saturdays and Sundays.

Items on the lunch menu will include avocado and smoked salmon tartines; naan pizzas baked in a tandoori oven; and a spicy fried chicken sandwich. Brunch items will include Eggs Benedict; spinach and goat milk frittata; waffles; and a chicken burger.

The establishment will serve traditional French pastries as well as some of Mignano’s unique creations. Baked treats include hand rolled dark chocolate candied ginger truffles; warm chocolate souffle with Sicilian pistachio gelato; and triple chocolate chunk cookies.

Mignano says the recipe for many of his baked items can be found in his bestselling book, “The Pastry Chef’s Little Black Book,” which was was released in 2017.

“As a chef, you keep a little black book with recipes in your back pocket,” Mignano said.

One recipe in the book, which Mignano says is his specialty, is his gourmet candy bar on a plate. This item consists of layers of salted caramel, a graham cracker crust, dark chocolate ganache encrusted with toasted cashew and macadamia nuts, covered in dark chocolate and sprinkled with Hawaiian salt.

The rich dessert, which Mignano created while working at The Four Seasons in Manhattan, was written about in the New York Times.

“I took all the good parts of existing candy bars and made my own kind of Frankenstein,” Mignano said, who also spoke of his partial inspiration for the dessert from the episode of Seinfeld where Elaine’s boss eats a candy bar with a fork and knife.

Mignano, who grew up in Astoria, worked as the Executive Pastry Chef at Perrine, the restaurant located in The Pierre Hotel on 5th Avenue, for over 20 years. He has won the Iron Chef Rooftop Showdown competition at the New York Food & Wine Festival in 2017, and was featured on Food Network’s Sweet Genius.

Mignano said he is excited to open in Jackson Heights.

“In my mind, [Jackson Heights] is the heart of NYC,” This is the perfect melting pot. I can try 15 to 20 different cuisines in the span of four blocks…It’s great.”

The new 37th Avenue eatery will be open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

“I hope I can make Farine Baking Company a part of [the neighbor’s] everyday routine,” Mignano said.

Inside of Farine Baking Company (Michael Mignano Instgram)

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36 Comments

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Richard Vagge

Farine Bakery is
the
Savior of The Lower 70s
of Jackson Heights !
Fair pricing relative
to Hiiiiigh Quality.
Diverse crowd and
staff.
Specials timed nicely
during the Week.
Reserved seating
in Advance.
Chef Michael is
hands on and
it shows!
Rabid Richie V
Activist
J Hts 11372

Reply
Zam

Farine is delicious, the staff very friendly, and it brings quality and diversity to the neighborhood, which does not exactly lack cheap eateries. Complain about Starbucks all you want, I’m with you — but Farine is an independent business that cares about quality. Now if it could also focus on recycling, and provide proper coffee cups instead of the paper variety, it would be perfect.

Reply
Leigh

I, too, am eagerly awaiting the opening. You mentioned how many pharmacies there are in Jackson Heights and for years I have been wondering about that. There are way too many pharmacies for a neighborhood of this size and I hope they are not a cover for something else.

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Curlicue58

WOW! I thought the people in Sunnyside could be rude, I never saw so many dislikes for a French bakery! I didn’t realize when I moved back to Queens people could be so nasty and over croissants and brunch!
I will be there instead of traveling to the city for my baguettes and looking forward to the other offerings from this renowned Chef de Cuisine!

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Allan

Just to avoid confusion the Mejbaan space is on the corner of 75th and 37th right next to the bus stop for the 49 and 47. I wondered what was going on there- I wrongly assumed it seems it was renovations for the restaurant. The picture and story about Farine says it would be on two floors -the picture looked like the lobby of the Bruson Building so the confusion ensued . If it is the Mejbaan site I am not sure where the two floors would be. Anyway this is all idling away the time until the first croissants come out of the oven-I hope they will be using french flour which is the key to authenticity.

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BEB

It’s where the old Mejbaan space was at the SW corner of 74th and 37th ave. As for the gentrification worries, it seems the commercial RE prices are just too high to allow for much of that in JH. It seems it will remain mostly chain stores for the foreseeable future (and for whatever reason..pharmacies). I wish I were wrong because I like to frequent small businesses owned by neighbors and friendly people who love and want to invest in our neighborhood. I’m no fan of faceless corporations who care very little about what happens nearby. Did everything go to hell when Lockwood and Table Wine came in? Both are very charming and have polite, helpful sales staff. Lockwood saves me from having to go to Manhattan every time I need a nice card or a small gift…and they too started in Astoria. 😉

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Richard Vagge

A great addition to
our Diverse Jackson Hts
It will be an instant
Star amongst so many
good establishments.
Good Luck
Bon Appetite
Richie V
The Rabid Activist
of Jackson Hts

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Reply
Allan

I walked up 37th this afternoon and I wasn’t sure I could identify where Farine would be. I am assuming it would be in the Bruson Building but I’m not really sure. If it is in the Bruson Building where would it be ? Anyway wherever it is it is very welcome

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BEB

It’s where the old Mejbaan space was at the SW corner of 74th and 37th ave. As for the gentrification worries, it seems the commercial RE prices are just too high to allow for much of that. It’ll remain mostly chain stores for the foreseeable future. I wish I were wrong because I like to deal with small businesses owned by neighbors and friendly folks who love our neighborhood..not faceless corporations.

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paul

They are gonna need a bank or at least a ATM machine to open next door to afford this place. Here come the hipsters. Bring back the old cookie express, good pastries, good coffee and nice servers. Thanks to them I was able to retire nicely instead of going bankrupt if this place was around back in the day.

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Anonymous

Hipsters (if such a thing exists anymore) could really help this neighborhood. We need some good restaurants, bars without TVs, and art around here.

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ArleenMarie

When John opened the Cookie Express it was EXPENSIVE but we gladly paid the prices!! The same will be for Farine if it’s half as good as the Express was. Deal with it. NOTHING ever costs LESS always more…gas, eggs, meats, cheeses EVERYTHING..

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Fethi.

Very well needed.
We’ll be there, for sure.
Please serve good baguette. L’âme de la gastronomie française.
Bon courage.

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Marline

I CANNOT WAIT. Breakfast lunch dinner coffee break afternoon snack I WILL BE THERE. I only pray to sweet baby Jesus that it won’t be a Mecca for laptop table hoggers who will buy one coffee and take up space for the entire day. Ugghhhhh

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JH resident

Who are the negative people down-voting all these encouraging and welcoming comments? QNU supporters?

I’m excited to see an increasing variety in the neighborhood.

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Anonymous

Mostly people who like crappy bars and restaurants where you can get stabbed for looking at someone the wrong way, and apologists for the ills that plague this neighborhood.

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Joseph Heathcott

Welcome to the neighborhood! As a long-time resident, and having spent a lot of time in Paris, I am happy to see a French bakery in the neighborhood. I would say the REAL test of a great French bakery is if it offers an AFFORDABLE baguette for the masses, just like counterparts in Paris. : )

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Lucy Montemarano

Thank God, We really need a French bakery to bring variety and class back to our neighborhood. I for one am really excited about this cafe.

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Q?

I don’t think you can gentrify your own neighborhood. Unless I’m missing something. Like, can an Astorian gentrify Jackson Heights?

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Joseph Heathcott

Of course you can gentrify your own neighborhood. I’m not saying this new bakery does that, but it is certainly possible. Gentrification is primarily about class and the political economy of habitat, and only incidentally about culture and ethnicity. If a new business drives up retail rents, it doesn’t matter who owns that business.

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