Drink to your selfie: Latte art has entered the digital age. At Hicksville’s Sugar Bae Dessert Café, visitors can customize their caffeinated beverages with messages, doodles — even selfies — which baristas print onto coffee using espresso-based ink.
“We’ll print any image you want on your cappuccino or latte,” said owner Veena Prithani, who left a career in finance to open the new dessert spot. “It’s a fun place to be.” The cafe opened in late June.
Beyond Instagram-ready lattes, its menu includes crepes stuffed with lotus cookies and Belgian white chocolate or New York cheesecake, dulce de leche and fresh berries. Crisp and custardy Hong Kong-style “bubble waffles” can be curled around scoops of pretzel-peanut-butter gelato, or topped with whipped cream and caramel, and an array of bubble teas can be dressed up with taro, rose syrup, or watermelon.
Daily-changing fruit tartines, croissants and macarons come courtesy of house baker Shauqat Hussain, who honed his skills Pierre’s in Bridgehampton and Manhattan’s Michelin-starred Indian restaurant, Junoon.
And while many diners may view coffee and pastries as morning things, owner Prithani is hoping people will linger into the evening: “My friends go into the city for late night spots to get desserts and waffles, but there’s nothing like that around here,” she said, adding, “I want people to feel like they’re in candy land.”
Sugar Bae Dessert Café is now open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. or later. 259 W. Old Country Rd., Hicksville; (516) 470-9598. sugarbaecafe.com
