I’ve been annoyed at myself for not getting to Locanda Verde for dinner, because (a) I get excited when a restaurant opens in the neighborhood, particularly if it’s ambitious, and (b) I liked the food that the chef, Andrew Carmellini, had made when he was at A Voce, off Madison Square Park. This morning, to celebrate the decent weather, I walked my dog over to the restaurant because I had read in New York magazine’s excellent food blog, Grub Street, that Locanda Verde had opened a bakery-café, with goodies made by the pastry chef, Karen DeMasco. The room is very pretty, far more appealing than when it was Ago, and—like many hotel restaurants, I suppose (Locanda Verde is in the Greenwich Hotel)—it struck me as an ideal place to have a breakfast meeting. The restaurant is civilized and there’s a fair amount of natural light. The pastries looked good, if a bit on the pricey side, and I ordered a blueberry-polenta muffin and a cappuccino. Someone named Andrew, if I remember correctly—perhaps a manager, but not the chef—came over to say hello, and we chatted about the weather. The experience was altogether lovely, friendly but not overbearing, and I would have said so even if they hadn’t comped the muffin and cappuccino. (I think they were embarrassed at not yet having any paper napkins or bags.) The muffin was delicious, but I was more charmed by the welcome—well, that and the coaster that I was given as a sort of plate. It has a map of Tribeca on it, a red star marking the restaurant’s location. By the time you have the coaster in hand, of course, you’ve presumably found the joint….

Note: Grub Street has a full rundown of the bakery’s offerings, both at breakfast (7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.) and beyond, here. And if you follow restaurants, you’ll want to sign up for its daily email newsletter.