Started in 2017 as a “happy accident,” Daily Provisions was launched as a sister café of Danny Meyer’s Union Square Café when it moved that year and a small, adjacent storefront became a part of the deal.
At the time, Meyer, founder of Union Square Hospitality Group, was deciding what to do with the space.
“In Danny's mind, it was like, ‘What do we need to be a gift to this neighborhood? What does this neighborhood need?’ And he thought about great egg sandwiches, wonderful coffee, a roast chicken and easy-to-grab dinner,” said Daily Provisions managing director Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez.
The dark blue exterior and painted windows with simple white writing stand out from the cement surrounding it and welcome guests at the concept’s original location on tree-lined 19th Street.
Take a tour of Daily Provisions below.
It’s the kind of environment where someone might sit down and relax with a coffee and a pastry or two while reading a book or chatting with a friend. This is the atmosphere across all four of the locations, even the newest one that’s meant to attract a business clientele at Manhattan West, the chain’s largest to date, located in the Hudson Yards development.
The plan, however, wasn’t to open more than one unit. Daily Provisions went two years without opening a second location.
“From there, [Meyer] never thought about opening another one, but just thought about, what did he want in his neighborhood? And it turns out that [Daily Provisions is] what is wanted in a lot of neighborhoods,” said Waldman Rodriguez.
The Manhattan West location opened at the end of September and seats about 25 indoors and 30 outdoors. The other units are on the Upper West Side and in the West Village.
The all-day café has an all-day customer. “[Meyer] always jokes that we should have called the café Twice or Thrice Provisions” since people visit the café more than once a day, said Waldman Rodriguez.
While the café draws a mostly neighborhood crowd, the crullers — a doughnut-like pastry — appeal to an international crowd. Daily Provisions has become known for its crullers, Waldman Rodriguez said, and will receive guests throughout the day speaking myriad languages asking for the crispy doughnut with the complex spherical shape on the outside and moist inside, available in flavors like maple and cinnamon as well as seasonal flavors.
The devoted following begs the question: Could this be Meyer’s next Shake Shack? After all, that brand started off as a hot dog stand and is now worth over $3.5 billion as a publicly traded company.
“Unclear what the future holds for us,” Waldman Rodriguez said, “but [we’re] obviously feeling really optimistic about the growth that we're seeing in the businesses that we have.”
Contact Holly Petre at [email protected]