As many mentally prepare to round the corner into year three of remote work brought on by the onset and subsequent ebbs and flows of a pandemic, daily hot-girl walks can only do so much. For that reason, Gertie (357 Grand St.) is stepping up to the plate (pun intended?) as a go-to change of scenery when your rental-friendly wallpaper gets to be too much and you’re itching for a fresh backdrop to your spreadsheet-making. Not to mention, free coffee.
Gertie — founded by NYC native couple Nate Adler and Rachel Jackson — opened months shy of COVID-19 closures and has since seen many iterations, including operating to-go only for months of the pandemic, serving as a relief center complete with gourmet meals for laid-off members of the hospitality workforce, and operating Restaurants Advocating for Democracy events like fundraisers (most recently, it teamed up with Gage & Tollner to raise $4,000 for the abortion access fund Brigid Alliance) and political phone banking.
Today, Gertie flexes a well-crafted focus on Jewish comfort food like a bialy with hot smoked pastrami salmon, turkey pastrami club with jalapeño schmear, and matzo ball soup, to name a few.
So really, we can’t imagine a better complement to a hearty deadline than the Ryan’s Hangover Hero, which boasts a large latke, fried egg, smoked trout roe, pickled beets, and plain schmear on a bagel — which, like all of Gertie’s breads and baked goods, are freshly baked in-house. And now, Monday through Thursday, diners can enjoy free hot or iced coffee with their meal, plus access to fast WiFi, perfect for taking camera-off Zoom calls (or camera-on, as the dining room mural by Lea Carey is truly a sight to behold).
Gertie also features a picturesque backyard, holds a particularly popping weekend brunch, hosts pop-up dinners and cookout collabs, and is available for private parties and events if the non-working hours are more your scene.