www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I OCTOBER 2018 35
BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELL-DOMENECH
After brushing his teeth in the morning, the next thing that
chef Michael Romano thinks about is making the croissants at his
restaurant, QWNS Café in Long Island City.
Romano arrives at his restaurant every day by 4:30 a.m. to
gingerly place trays of the soon-to-be-flakey pastry in something
called a proof box, a tall metal cabinet used to warm bread, in
order to make them rise. His croissants — both traditional and
vegan — are his pride and joy.
The chef not only prides himself on being a committed and
creative chef, but also on a restaurant, and menu, that consciously
works to be inclusive to all its community members. As people evolve
and new dietary restrictions or habits start to pop up, QWNS Café
works to feed everyone.
“Vegans are an afterthought or even a nuisance for some chefs,”
Romano said. This is not the case at QWNS Café, which special-izes
in vegan and gluten-free pastries. Romano has perfected
his in-house vegan butter, which he uses to laminate QWNS’
vegan croissants.
A vegan croissant from QWNS Café. Customers
are often surprised to find out they are not made
with real butter.
QWNS Café offers more than just pas-tries.
Romano has worked as primarily a
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