There is much to love about the new Bayport-Blue Point Library: A chapel-turned-reading room, a children’s wing, and oceanic stained-glass windows retained from when the building served as a convent. It also harbors a library rarity: An on-site cafe serving lattes, croissants and pastries.
Baker Michelle Gillette of Mademoiselle Patisserie in Patchogue won the bid to run the library cafe, a sunsplashed nook with a counter and seating for about 20 people. She now spends her mornings shuttling baked goods between the two spots.
“It’s a magical place, and every day is a little something different,” said Gillette, who opened Mademoiselle Patisserie in Patchogue in 2018 and before that, ran Ms. Michelle’s Urban Gourmet in Bayport.
The Patchogue patisserie is known in part for its gluten-free breads and pastries, and some of that sweet loot is making it to Blue Point, mostly in the form of macarons (in flavors such as red-velvet and rose-champagne) and cookies. While Gillette is still feeling out the rhythms of the library, she makes sure to always have cheese danishes and muffins, as well as cupcakes for the younger customers. Several high school students have expressed interest in working at the cafe, she said, a boon during a time when staffing is tight.
Coffee and espresso drinks are made with fair-trade Malongo beans, and teas are brewed with Harney & Sons leaves. Soups and other savory items are soon to come , said Gillette, and change in tandem with the seasons, as will pastries.
Among Long Island libraries, an on-site cafe is unusual; the Northport Public Library has one, and the Center Moriches Free Public Library will unveil theirs in the coming weeks. It might be hard to best Bayport-Blue Point, which has thoughtfully stacked daily newspapers near the tables, and boasts a bucolic walking loop through the former convent grounds.
Mademoiselle at the Bayport-Blue Point Library, 186 Middle Rd., Blue Point. Open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday, and shares the library’s opening hours Friday to Sunday. The library phone number is 631-363-6133.