I had the pleasure of dining at Sant Ambroeus on a recent trip to New York. Sant Ambroeus hails from Milan, founded in 1936 and is your typical Italian, high end coffee house and restaurant.

When you enter, there are small tables with the coffee bar on one side and an amazing display with an assortment of small tantalizingly sandwiches, cookies, pastries and croissants on the other. In the back, there is a full-service restaurant.

Whether grabbing a coffee and sandwich at the bar or sitting for a full meal, you can’t go wrong! The pastas are homemade and delicious. The shaved artichoke salad topped with shaved parmesan cheese is fresh, light but filling. The fettucine with the Bolognese sauce was truly out of this world! The pasta melts in one’s mouth. Forget about any diets when you visit Sant Ambroeus as you should savor every bite.

If the food wasn’t such a temptation the desserts are heavenly. From homemade cookies, to plum tarts, to chocolate decadence creations. Each dessert left me breathless! It can be pricey but the quality is there and I was on the Upper East Side so I guess it goes with the territory.

I want to go back when I have more time to savor a pasta dish and top it off with a plate of homemade cookies and coffee. That would be pure food bliss.