The Pavilion Market Cafe
Description
Simon Oren (Marseille, Nice Matin) resurrected Union Square's neoclassical colonnade as a café before summer hit in 2014. With 200 indoor and outdoor seats, heat lamps and lots of umbrellas, the lovely oasis stays open all day, every day, rain or shine, until October or so. Rattan furniture, verdant plants and flowers bring Paris to mind, but since it's in the midst of the famed and busy Union Square Greenmarket on one side and a lively playground on the other, it's classic New York City. The American-Mediterranean menu is uncomplicated, featuring an appealing line-up of raw bar items, salads, sandwiches, short rib ravioli, hanger steak and organic salmon pot au feu. There are market-day specials, ingredients straight from the farmers' tables and an emphasis put on local sourcing of alcohol, too, from New York Distilling Company's Dorothy Parker gin to Finger Lakes' grüner veltliner from Dr. Konstantin Frank.