Note: I was invited as a guest of the establishment and received a complimentary meal. This was not in exchange for a positive review and opinions expressed are my own.
Why Come Here? Affordable, healthy all-day cafe in the East Village
If you’ve been to Europe you may have noticed their cafe culture is a little different than ours. Instead of serving as makeshift offices for people with tiny apartments, European cafes are all day affairs where people come to drink, eat and meet people. Apparently the same is true for Israel where Spiegel owner Shmulik Avital was raised. Last May he brought this concept to the East Village with a Mediterranean accented cafe described as “the place you want to be with your friends.”
Spiegel operates eighteen hours a day (7-1) in a cozy corner space in the East Village. There are two walls of windows that afford an ideal spot for both sipping a coffee in the morning watching the world go by and drinking a glass of wine while laughing at drunken NYU students stumble by at night. If you need someone to laugh with, you can grab a seat at the 40 foot horseshoe bar in the center that provides about half the cafe’s seating. And next spring you’ll be able to dine on the sidewalk as well.
Spiegel begins the day as a coffee shop serving up breakfast fare like egg dishes, house baked croissants and the only East Coast location of Verve Coffee Roasters coffee (which makes an excellent espresso.) This menu is generously served until 1PM. In the afternoon and evening they offer an eclectic, vegetarian-friendly menu with cuisine from around the world including many dishes from Avital’s native Israel and Morocco. The fare is mostly light and affordable with all items coming in at less than $20. Pair all that with a global wine list with no bottle over $40 and Spiegel makes a prime candidate for your neighborhood go-to spot.
My favorites from the lunch/dinner menu are below:
Baked Feta 
The dish may be called baked feta, but the spicy Moroccan tomato pepper sauce it comes in steals the show. It’s rich and peppery yet slightly sweet making it a perfect compliment to the salty hunks of feta, eggplant and kalamata olives.
Stuffed Mushrooms First, forget everything you know about stuffed mushrooms. These mushrooms are lightly fried and stuffed with smoked salmon and cream cheese. I know, it sounds a little weird. But somehow it comes together in a surprisingly tasty and smokey app I consider a must-order.
Zucchini Fritters 
These are a notch above your usual fritters owing to the solid fry job and addition of feta and tzatziki.
Spiegel Chopped If I tried to list all the ingredients of this salad, this post would be twice as long. Let’s just say, if you can think of a vegetable it’s probably in here. And they’re all covered in a very refreshing lemon dressing that somehow makes it feel even healthier.
Couscous Another vegetable bomb, this time with the addition of couscous and a light vegetarian broth for a more complete meal.
Beets My top pick of the sides features sweetened slices of beet with a light dusting of cumin.
Spiegel
26 First Avenue (@ 2nd St)
New York, NY
