Butler

Butler is a fine-dining-caliber bakeshop and espresso bar founded on October 5, 2016, by pastry chef Ryan Butler alongside partners Rod Coligado and Hugo Murray. Ryan Butler is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America who spent over a decade refining his craft in some of New York City's most acclaimed kitchens — including Park Avenue Cafe under Richard Leach, Tocqueville, the Gramercy Park Hotel, The Django, Madam Geneva, and Mary Queen of Scots — before serving as executive pastry chef at Piora, where he helped the restaurant earn and maintain a Michelin star across two consecutive years. Rod Coligado brings deep hospitality operations experience from his career in Sydney, Australia, and oversees the cafe's coffee program, staffing, and finances. Hugo Murray, also from the Sydney hospitality scene, handles the brand's marketing, public relations, and interior design. The South Williamsburg location at 95 South 5th Street — just south of the Williamsburg Bridge — occupies a sun-filled former Turkish cigarette production facility and ice cream factory that Hugo Murray transformed into an intimate, French bistro-inspired space. The interior features custom brass tabletops, wrap-around leather banquettes with yacht-style storage, low-slung two-tone rattan chairs, pendant lighting, handmade sconces, and open shelving that showcases the day's pastry selection. The architectural design is by Architect Associates, who also designed Butler's DUMBO and SoHo locations. The concept applies Michelin-level pastry technique to accessible, all-day neighborhood fare. Ryan Butler's signature breakfast empanadas — handmade through a meticulous six-step process and finished with a dusting of dukkah — exemplify the philosophy of fine-dining precision in a counter-service format. Other staples include sausage rolls made with ground pork and onion confit wrapped in house-laminated puff pastry and topped with pickled cabbage and poppy seeds, sticky buns elevated with miso and toffee, and morning glory muffins inspired by Ryan's childhood love of carrot cake. Ryan has cooked at the James Beard House on multiple occasions and has given demonstrations at the Institute of Culinary Education and the International Culinary Center. The cafe has been featured in the Michelin Guide, The Infatuation, Highsnobiety, StarChefs, and We Heart, among other publications. Intelligentsia Coffee anchors the drink program, complemented by teas and fresh juices. All pastries and breads for every Butler location are baked at the SoHo headquarters — a 2,700-square-foot production kitchen and cafe at 177 Lafayette Street that opened in 2021 as the brand's first Manhattan outpost. Butler also operates a DUMBO location at 40 Water Street, where Ryan leads weekly baking classes, and a North Williamsburg coffee-and-pastry kiosk at 101 North 8th Street.