Diplomatic Community

A couple of weeks ago, Meghan and I made our way north for Sunday brunch with good friends, and fellow eager eaters, Neil and Amy. Despite constantly professing my inexorable stance on “brunch” being nothing more than a presumptuous portmanteau coined by hedonistic Manhattanites bent on finding a way to justify shelling out $14 for pancakes, my passion for early morning eats remains constant. After some light debate, Neil and Amy made mention of Community Food and Juice, a happening “brunch” spot in their Upper West Side neighborhood that was not to disappoint.

At 116th and Broadway, this good looking spot sits smack dab in the heart of Columbia University’s thriving campus neighborhood, just steps away from the famed Ahmadinejad Hall and the newly chartered Obama Graduate School of Race Relations (which will occupy the building once home to the now defunct Chelsea Clinton Beauty School).

Saving the local curriculum for another day, inside large floor-to-ceiling windows illuminate an L-shaped dining room outfitted with sleek furnishings and muted colors that create a comforting “Crate & Barrel” feel, sans the gay sales guy named “Ty”, of course. Even so, Community remains true to its name, hosting a healthy mix of garrulous students, doting new parents, and savvy young professionals, engaged in vibrant chatter over large plates of good-looking food that made me want to eat.

The menu here is pleasantly straightforward, devoted to a balanced selection of what I would consider to be traditional brunch fare “souped up” with organic as well as home-made ingredients that take familiar favorites to a new level.

Neil’s Omelette was a well-sized, liberally stuffed pouch of organic goodness, accompanied by a soothing mesclun salad that evened out an already large portion of food. Amy’s Bacon, Egg, Lettuce and Tomato (B.E.L.T) was a breakfast version of a lunch-time classic, despite its waist-related moniker.

The Brioche French Toast, while impressively thick and nicely browned, seemed a bit dry for my taste, a flaw easily corrected by the accompanying house-made maple-butter that would be good on just about anything. In fairness, as with most of what I eat, I maintain a powerful predilection for French toast that is grossly undercooked. This represents the polar opposite to Meghan’s unnerving desire for food that is, in my mind, overcooked or “nuked” as I like to put it. As a result, in addition to bone-dry French toast, she opts for towel-like pancakes, and fat-less, shamelessly "well-done" bacon that crumbles into dust when ever-so-slightly touched. Though a tall task, I am working to correct this disturbing pathology, one meal at a time.















These pathos aside, the grass-fed burger was exceptionally enjoyable, showing itself as a medium-sized disc of juicy beef, topped neatly with tart white cheddar and caramelized onions, cradled by a buttery griddle-toasted brioche bun that for me, sealed the deal. This was a stellar burger inside and out, and easily one of the more upstanding burger presentations I've experienced in the city. It was job well done (though the burger was quite rare.)


To me, the typical Manhattan brunch has always seemed more of an impersonal affair than a meal, marked by exaggerated prices, lengthy lines, and food that fails to justify either. There’s an inherent laziness in going for breakfast at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, as well as an air of pomposity associated with the expectation that, somehow, someway, breakfast should wait for you.

Either way, should you find yourself in or around Columbia, perhaps exhausted from a ruthlessly competitive Carbon Offset Auction or looking to wind down in the wake of a most invigorating "9/11 Was an Inside Job" protest, I advise you to quench your thirst for change with a dose of some good ole' Community.

Food: A- (Clean, neat food, the Burger was well-executed)
Ambiance: A (I had no qualms with the surroundings, comfy place, good vibe, felt like breakfast, not brunch)
Service: A- (would've given them an A, but they dropped the check and then said "take your time". That's like asking someone if they want the last piece of pizza...I know what you're up to)
In a thought: Definitely a "go back", serving classy breakfast treats at fair prices)

COMMUNITY FOOD & JUICE