Sunday Morning, a bakery offering cinnamon rolls and coffee from Chef Armando Litiatco and Ahmet Kiranbay who own and run Rana Fifteen in Brooklyn is now open. The East Village bakery (29 Ave. B near 3rd St.) highlights Armando’s favorite American pastry – he was born in The Philippines but grew up in the US and before opening Rana Fifteen, worked at restaurants in San Francisco, Miami and NYC, including Restaurant Daniel.
Sunday Morning offers 10 different cinnamon rolls daily as well as a range of coffee beverages. The cinnamon roll is Armando’s favorite pastry but he felt it was hard to find a great one in NYC so on his Sundays off he would bake his own at home – hence the name Sunday Morning. The cinnamon rolls are made in the classic American style: soft and pillowy with a save-the-center-for-last texture and served warm. Armando developed his recipes using less sugar than traditional cinnamon rolls and premium ingredients such as Belgian Callebaut chocolate, bread flour, housemade fruit preserves, caramel, pralines, frosting and custards. The enriched dough is proofed 3 times – the whole process takes 6 hours for each batch of rolls.
The menu features 10 rolls, with two simple Classic and Glazed rolls ($8) and eight other flavors ($8.50), changing seasonally, starting with:
- Ube Macapuno with coconut preserve, and ube yema (Filipino custard with purple yam) – a classic flavor combination in Filipino desserts that Armando loves
- Chocolate Almond Babka with dark Belgian Callebaut chocolate and almonds
- Caramel Pecan with housemade caramel, roasted pecans, and cream cheese frosting
- Pistachio Mascarpone with housemade pistachio praline butter and mascarpone frosting
- Bananas Foster with dark rum & banana liqueur caramel, and caramelized banana on top – inspired by the namesake dessert
- Blueberry Lemon Curd with housemade blueberry preserve and housemade lemon curd
- Strawberry Earl Grey with strawberry preserve and bergamot cream cheese
- Guava & Cheese with guava paste inside, very light cream cheese frosting and a wedge of queso blanco cheese on top for a salty bite – inspired by Cuban pastelito pastries (Armando and Ahmet lived in Miami for 9 years)
Sunday Morning is located at 29 Avenue B in the East Village, hours: daily 8am – 6pm. The bakery, which has seating for 20, is Armando and Ahmet’s first place outside Brooklyn.
