Viva La Dough is opening yet another location, this one in midtown Manhattan

Boy, what a difference one year makes: Viva La Dough, , the viral Paris-inspired kosher cafe that debuted as a seasonal pop-up outside of Macy’s just last year, is gearing up for the debut of its fifth storefront, this one at 525 7th Avenue by 39th Street in midtown Manhattan. As first reported by Yeah That’s Kosher, the new location will open later this summer.

It’s the bakery’s second Manhattan address in as many months. Back in June, Viva La Dough officially opened its fourth brick-and-mortar at 160 Broadway in the Financial District, a space with its own complicated kosher history: it was home to Milk N’ Honey for years before the pandemic forced it to close, then briefly to Patis Bakery, which shuttered as part of its Chapter 11 restructuring. Viva La Dough stepped in and, to mark the opening, extended its breakfast deal (a sandwich, pastry and drink for around $20) all day, at every location.

As for what’s actually drawing the crowds: the croissant pizzas, laminated-dough pies in flavors like margarita basil, pesto broccoli and cheese truffle oil, are the headline act, alongside croffles (exactly what they sound like) and those chocolate-shell mousse pastries stuffed with fresh mango or raspberry that built the brand’s Instagram following in the first place.

Before FiDi, the brand had already put down roots at 501 Avenue M and 4805 13th Avenue in Brooklyn, plus 1700 Madison Avenue in Lakewood, New Jersey. Add midtown and that’s five locations built almost entirely off the momentum of one holiday stall.

There’s something fitting about landing in the Garment District, blocks from where this whole thing started outside Macy’s Herald Square. The new spot sits in the thick of Seventh Avenue’s showroom towers, a short walk from Penn Station and Moynihan Train Hall, which means built-in commuter traffic, plus the lunch crowds spilling out of Koreatown just a few blocks east. It’s not exactly a kosher food desert the way FiDi is, but a laminated-dough destination this buzzy in the middle of the Garment District is still new territory. We’ll be watching for an official opening date.