Coppelia
Description
This festive, Havana-style luncheonette serves breakfast all day and will soon be open around the clock—happy news for Chelsea club kids whose hunger pains strike at 4am. Julian Medina (Toloache, Yerba Buena) is behind the comfort-food menu, joining forces with Pichet Ong (Spot Dessert Bar) for desserts. While there are classic Cuban dishes—ropa vieja, arroz con pollo, a delicious Cubano sandwich—other pockets of Latin America are represented by arepas, nachos, fish tacos and a Peruvian stir-fry of meltingly tender beef short ribs and red onions. Ong's Latin-inspired cakes (tres leches, carrot with Manchego cheese) are temptingly displayed on pedestals on the counter. When the liquor license comes through, look for tamarind or guava mojitos.