Coffee & Dessert

CROISSANTS FIRST, PROSPECT PARK AFTER: A MORNING AT MIOLIN BAKERY

An apartment-window beginning, a handsome Park Slope storefront, and a very good excuse to make breakfast the first plan of the day.

A croissant is a wonderfully unreliable walking companion. One bite, and the breakfast you carried so neatly out of the shop starts leaving evidence on your coat.

At Miolin Bakery on Brooklyn’s 7th Avenue, that seems a reasonable occupational hazard. Put this Park Slope stop before your walk, pick something from the pastry case, and give yourself permission to open the bag sooner than planned. Prospect Park can wait a few minutes.

Explore Park Slope Pastry

BEFORE THE COUNTER, A WINDOW

Miolin began in the spring of 2020, when professional baker Claudio started making sourdough in the small Park Slope apartment he shared with Pamela. Restaurant work had come to a halt. At home, there was dough to tend.

Loaves passed through their first-floor window. In return came fresh eggs, drawings, homemade cocktails, even hand sanitizer: the peculiar currency of a time when ordinary errands had become complicated. Bread gave neighbors something to exchange, and a reason to stop at the window.

The menu grew to include croissants, cookies and cakes. While Claudio baked, Pamela built a website and Instagram account, giving their apartment operation a life beyond the block.

Then the city began opening up again. Miolin kept going.

Deliveries took them across Brooklyn and Manhattan, often before their full-time jobs. For four years, the bakery existed partly at home and partly on the road, its reach measured in the distance between an oven and somebody else’s front door.

Eventually, they decided to put down the car keys. The next journey would belong to their customers.

Today, that journey leads to 422 7th Avenue.

START WITH THE PLAIN ONE

The plain croissant makes a persuasive opening order. The Infatuation praises its airy interior, buttery layers and particularly crisp base. With nothing tucked inside, the pastry itself gets your full attention.

Then allow for a second opinion. The chocolate-hazelnut croissant brings together chocolate and plain dough around a Nutella filling; pain au chocolat and kouign-amann have also featured in the bakery’s pastry lineup. Check the day’s selection before settling the matter.

Going with someone else has one practical advantage: a plain croissant and something chocolate give you two directions to explore. The difficult part is agreeing that “sharing” means roughly half.

A LITTLE MARBLE, A LITTLE THEATRE

Inside, a curved counter of Rosso Levanto marble and dark wood gives the room its shape. The marble’s deep burgundy tones pick up the maroon wall behind it; above the counter hang slim pendant lights designed by AlexAllen Studio.

A small window in that wall frames the bakers at work. It makes a lovely connection to Miolin’s beginning: another opening through which to watch bread taking shape.

There is plenty here to notice before looking back at the pastry case. Which, inevitably, you will.

LEAVE ROOM FOR THE WALK

Once breakfast is in hand, you have a pleasantly small decision to make. Stay on 7th Avenue for a look at the storefronts, or turn toward Prospect Park and find somewhere to open the box.

For a weekend outing, make the bakery your first stop. That leaves the walk free to become whatever you feel like: a loop through the park, a detour along a brownstone block, or a seat beside someone who has already started on their half.

Bring a napkin. Keep the bag within reach.