Kellogg’s NYC Café opened this month in Union Square and will be a permanent location for people to come and make their own cereal creations, take pictures, and relax.
The menu will also include favorites from Kellogg’s® original Times Square location, all featured within a DIY cereal bar.
The space includes cereal-themed furniture as well as personal hammocks and a view of Union Square Park. It is available for private events, including kids’ birthday parties.
Kellogg’s NYC is located at 31 E. 17th St., and is designed to not only be a place to eat, but to relax, create, and of course, take amazing pictures. To help with that there is an Instagram station where users can stage their cereal creations complete with professional lighting and props. Conceptualized by Anthony Rudolf and Sandra Di Capua of Co.create NYC, the Kellogg’s NYC Café experience is five times the size of its former location.
“This space is really about embracing New Yorkers more with a big, open, airy space where they can chill, have a coffee or a bowl of cereal, access free Wi-Fi, or do work here,” Rudolf says. “We focused on the two the best parts of the home, the kitchen and the family room.”
Both Rudolf and Di Capua have backgrounds in fine dining but Rudolph says, “Regardless of how fancy things are, food and hospitality are all about memories. There aren’t many stronger food memories than cereal….[When we developed this place we thought] Can we make people happy? Can we nourish them? Can we show them a good time?”
Kellogg’s NYC Café opened Dec. 14 and will remain there permanently.
Check out my interview with Lauren Conrad, who helped launch Kellogg’s NYC Café, below:
Can you take us through the inspiration for this concept?
It’s a permanent space. They originally had a location in Times Square that had a lot of success, this is five times the space. They opened a larger space so that they can entertain a lot more people. The concept is to come in and have fun with cereal. You can either order off the menu or customize your own cereal bowl. It’s open all day so you can even have breakfast for dinner, if you want. And it’s a fun thing to come out and do with your family or friends.
Tell us about the recipes you created?
I created three. I feel like cereal is such a comforting thing so I wanted to do familiar, nostalgic flavors. First is Apple Pie, because it’s very wholesome and they have Apple Jacks to work with. They had given me the menu of items and let me get creative with it so I started with the cereal bases and went from there. The Wake Me Up has a pumpkin spice feeling, there’s ginger and it’s very holiday appropriate, it smells like the holidays to me. The Nutty Parfait I thought was a really nice breakfast option, it has dried fruit, and peanut butter for protein. I think that it’s always fun to dress up everyday meals.
Do you have a favorite cereal?
I like Rice Krispies.
In the age of Instagram we are at a point where food not only has to taste good but look good. What are your thoughts on that?
We have a whole Instagram station! I think the presentation of food has always been important, we just now broadcast it and we kind of show off the beautiful food we are eating, so it’s fun to be able to come in here and style your meal. And they have provided a setting for you to photograph it in. There’s nice lighting and props, which is fun.
You are obviously a very creative and visually minded person, can you take us through your creation process when it comes to food, fashion, or décor?
I think that I just know what I like. So when I was coming up with these recipes I thought about what I would create if I came in here and had the option to create anything, and I gravitated toward those flavors. That’s my same approach to any sort of design. I think when you are your own demographic, you create what you like and you hope that others share your interests.
This will be your first holiday season as a mom. Do you have any traditions you are excited to share with Liam?
I am excited to put him in tiny Christmas pajamas, but he’s so little that I think next Christmas he will be more into the idea of Santa. But we are just excited to have him there and have a lot of family around us, and they are all excited to spend some time with him.
Do you have any tips for moms who might be hosting the holidays this year?
Oh man, well I haven’t done it yet so I don’t know. I’ve only hosted one party since having Liam, and I think he was just a month old. My mother-in–law had her 60th birthday, so I had a party. I’m typically the person who wants to do everything. I want to do the floral arrangements, I want to cook everything myself, and I think that when you are hosting, allow others to help you and don’t try to do it all because then you are not going to enjoy your own event.
How have you adjusted to life as a new mom?
Pretty well. I am pretty fortunate because I have such a great support system and I have the type of job that gives me flexibility so that I can work my schedule around time with him. So I feel really lucky. But I think the biggest change is just a lot less time for yourself and a lot less sleep, so we are adjusting to that but we are also having a lot of fun with him.
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Main image: Lauren Conrad at Kellogg’s NYC Café cereal bar.
Sara Jaye Weiss
