The Thousands

You’re probably aware of Gertrude and Alice’s secondhand-book-come-coffee-shop empire. On one hand, it’s a refuge for quiet folk who eschew Sunday morning’s social blah for Dickens and Eggers with their scrambled eggs (or at least flick through Eggers before the lure of Erica Baxter’s Galliano proves too great.) On the other, it’s home of the breakfast crumble.**Crunchier than French toast, softer than a pancake, able to leap muesli in a single mound, the crumble is the best thing on Hall Street since, well, it is the best thing on Hall Street. A close second is the aptly named breakfast roll; a teetering tower of mayonnaise, lettuce, egg and enough bacon for a Homer-sized conniption.