Red Gate Bakery
Bakery · East Village
68 E 1st St, New York, NY 10003
Highlights
Cakes, cookies, and creative buns with unique flavor pairings.
Cakes, cookies, and creative buns with unique flavor pairings.
"Try to visit Red Gate Bakery on Wednesday through Saturday, because that’s when this tiny East Village spot makes their buns. On Wednesday and Thursday, it's cinnamon buns, with loose, squishy layers packed with cinnamon sugar, and on the other two days it's something special, like pavlova buns, or a chocolate caramel pretzel variety. But don't stop at cinnamon rolls—their toffee-spiked chocolate chip cookie is our favorite in the city. They also do some beautiful, creative cakes." - willa moore, will hartman, molly fitzpatrick, sonal shah
"Walking in the East Village, blink and you might miss this tiny storefront from baker Greg Rales (look for the “Be Gay, Eat Cookies” A-frame out front). Cake is the specialty here, though they have been growing in popularity for their oversized weekend-only special cinnamon buns and olive oil cakes as well. They always have several whole cakes you can order, and one type of cake available by the slice at any given time. You might stop by to find a classic like yellow birthday with chocolate sour cream frosting or lil’ pudding (their riff on a devil’s food cake), or you might find a rare slice, like a chips n’ dip cake or latke cake." - Mike Chau
"The Wednesday/Thursday-only rolls at this East Village bakery have crisp golden brown edges and a big plop of a frosting that verges on a glaze. Their glorious signature move is a drizzle of golden brown butter-cinnamon substance on top, which they describe as cinnyGOO. On Fridays and Saturday, they have different flavored buns—like passionfruit and a mint chocolate chip variety—that are just as worth checking out." - willa moore, molly fitzpatrick, bryan kim, will hartman
"Red Gate Bakery super-fans are loud and proud, but the storefront, on the stretch of 1st Street that hides behind East Houston, is pretty quiet. Don't let that stop you though, because this place casually turns out some of the city's best baked goods. On Wednesday and Thursday, they do cinnamon buns, with loose, squishy layers packed with cinnamon sugar, and on Fridays and Saturdays there are special flavors, like pavlova buns, or a chocolate caramel pretzel variety. But any day you come, they'll have their flawless, brown buttery chocolate chip cookies. Everything is made in a tiny kitchen that’s always full of bakers, chatting as they shape buns and pipe pink frosting onto intricate layer cakes. photo credit: Willa Moore" - Willa Moore
"For me, Greg Rales does exactly what I want in a birthday cake: tall, stacked round layer cakes with a tender, plumped moist crumb, rich fillings like ganache or curd, and an aerated, buttercream-style frosting that delivers pure joy. He opened the shop in the last month of 2019 on East First Street off First Avenue, naming it after the Red Gate Farm of his childhood, where he first learned to bake; after a stint in TV and catering and a job helping open Flour Shop, he launched the bakery and kept cakes as the anchor even through COVID. There’s a permanent cake roster (classic-but-epic vanilla with chocolate sour cream frosting, the chocolate-on-chocolate Li’l Pudding, a Toasted Coconut Banana Bacon, and a Ferrero Rocher–inspired celebration cake), one cake-by-the-slice offered on weekdays, and seasonal weekend specials; last year I had the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel for my birthday and this year ordered a custom cake riffing on Sedutto’s mocha almond fudge. Beyond layer cakes, I often stop in for other staples: the PB&J bar with pickled Concord grape jam and a miso-shortbread crust (Rales’s favorite), a brown-butter carrot loaf studded with pistachios and topped with one of the better cream-cheese frostings around, thin bendy cookies in surprising flavors like grapefruit white chocolate and the Cannibal (with crushed homemade Oreos), and wildly imaginative weekend cinnamon buns such as the Lemon Brûléeberry. He ships cookies nationwide (started January 2021), his storefront projects a warm, safe familiarity balanced with playful newness, and a “Be Gay, Eat Cookies” sign — and Rales’s own statement that his homosexuality informs daily decisions — signals the values behind the menu." - Charlotte Druckman
