will be in NYC 11/22-11/28. My daughter had mentioned she would like to go to dean and deluca's. What is it and where? A restaurant, coffee shop? Help me out as you always do! I have never heard of it. Thanks in advance!

We were in NYC a few weeks ago and tried to go in the one in Times Square - not sure if there are others? Anyway, it is a coffee shop and it is right where they shoot the Today Show. It didn't look like there was a long line from the outside and when we got in the line was wrapped around the store.

It's a gourmet grocery store in SOHO at Broadway & Prince. They also have cafes around the city that serve drinks, pastries, sandwiches, etc.

http://www.deandeluca.com/

The original Dean & Deluca's in Soho started out as a gourmet grocery shop.

Dean and DeLuca is a food store. They have very beautiful and very expensive charcuterie, cheeses, breads, pastries, meat & fish, prepared entrees and gourmet packaged products. It is on Broadway down in SoHo.

There is at least one Dean and DeLuca cafe around town that has just some coffee and pastries, but I doubt that's what your daughter is after.

I often take a soft-side cooler on the plane when I go to NY so I can take perishables home with me. I have the non-perishables boxed up and shipped from the store.

D & D is also great place to just buy a basket full of what ever strikes your fancy and have a little pic nic in Washington Square or some other park.

Enjoy!

Coffee shop is really not the right description. It is more of a gourmet shop, can get pastries, salads, sandwiches, coffees, etc. Plus they sell their brands of various "gourmet" food items. There is one right across the street from where they shoot the Today show in Rockefeller Center (which is not Times Square like the other poster said).

Oops! Sorry. My only time there - didn't mean to give out bad information. Wish we would have seen the one in SoHo.

I often get my morning coffee at the D & D next to the Paramount Hotel on 46th between 7th and 8th. It is more like a usual Starbucks. Some pastries and order a coffee drink at the counter. It has a handful of tables and a counter at the window. I think their lattes are the best of any of the chains.

Thank you all so much for your input. I have learned so much from this website. After my trip you are all going to hear about it!

Funny, Patrick, I get my morning coffee there all the time ... we probably passed. That little store is nothing compared to the Soho store though. It's definitely worth taking a trip to see if you love food.

There are 6 D&D's in NYC, 2 in Washington DC, 2 in Charlotte, 2 in Japan and one each in Kansas City and Napa (St. Helena) CA.

Most good ideas seem to be given over to franchising, it seems.

Actually Jean, after I posted that it occurred to me that after the first week or so of my month in New York, I moved to getting my lattes at The Coffee Pot, corner of 9th and 49th(?). But yes, we may have passed at the other place.

Anyone know who owns or owned or started Dean & Deluca?

From their web site, link poasted above:

In 1977, the area south of Manhattan's Houston Street was still a bleak warren of warehouses and small manufacturing companies. A bright light had emerged a few years back, when a history teacher decided to abandon his career to pursue a dream instilled during childhood. The little cheese shop on Prince Street that Giorgio DeLuca opened in 1973 quickly became an institution, offering artisan cheeses, lovingly made and the finest in their class. But his SoHo neighbors had a growing appetite for more products of such outstanding quality.

Joel Dean, a publishing executive with Simon & Schuster, had been talking with Giorgio DeLuca for years about opening a special kind of food store. They dreamed of a place that would offer customers a sumptuous celebration of food, a place to experience all of the pleasures that cooking and eating can bring to the senses.

Oops, C&P left out the founding:

That dream, the original Dean & DeLuca, opened for business in September 1977. Artist and founding partner Jack Ceglic designed the original store to evoke a turn of the century food department, with high ceiling fans spinning over a vast array of products that lined the high, white walls. Joel Dean and Giorgio DeLuca traveled the world in search of handcrafted products and artisan foods, and imported these discoveries into their enchanting emporium.

The Dean and DeLuca I have been to in Rockefeller Center acros from the Today Show studios is more like a coffee shop that also sells various food items. It is a nice place to grab a cuppa joe and a dessert and people watch on the plaza. It's all about the ambiance.

Just an FYI, as a New Yorker, anyone who speaks of Dean & Deluca is usually referring to the main Soho Emporium and not the little cafe outposts. And there is the coffee bar at the main one, just no place to sit. However, be warned it's frightfully expensive for the provisions. But if you love food, it's worth a look-see and a splurge on a coffee and danish. It's quite beautiful. After you check it out, buy from nearby and more reasonable Gourmet Garage (453 Broome St, couple of blocks east of Broadway). If you want spices and another great food store to visit, check out Kaluystans in the Indian/Pakistani section (fondly called Curry Hill, a take on Murray Hill)on Lexington and 28th st.

There are a few seats at a window bar table in the Soho store.

I love shopping in the D&D in Soho on a Sunday afternoon, buying the wonderful breads and standing in line at the cheese counter while people pick out and taste the many cheeses, most of them smelly
You cannot believe how pretty veggies can be until you see their displays!
I always get lost in the kitchen wares and feel that I will not be able to cook unless I have this gadget or that!
They will make or already have ready made sandwiches and ingredients for picnics, which is what we love to do with Pup along for the treat.
It is at the corner of Broadway and Prince St.

One of the things to buy at D&D is their line of herbs and spices that are packaged in attravtive round tins.