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Zabar's takes on Pinkberry with their "Zaberry". See the side-by-side nutrition comparison
Expanding on the news that DessertBuzz broke back in February, The New York Times’ Florence Fabricant reports on her blog that Francois Payard will be opening a bakery-cafe at 116 West Houston Street where he’ll serve sandwiches and “rustic stuff.” He will also be opening a second cafe on the Upper East side with A Voce owner Marlon Abela. I’ll update this story as soon as I get some more details.
A friend of mine is married to a woman who always cooks really unbelievable meals. The meals often have 6 or more courses or involve advanced cooking procedures like “reductions” whatever those are. Over the years, stories about her meals have attained near mythic status: “Remember the time in 2000 when she made 12 different plated desserts after serving a 5-course meal?” The point is, her food “street cred” is as good as Warren Buffet’s financial advice.
So I had to take notice when she told me about Blue Ribbon Brasserie’s Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding. She said it was a category killer.
If you like to eat good food and you live in New York and have never been to any of the Blue Ribbon restaurants – you must be either unemployed, or a shut-in, or both. You could easily live off the contents of their menus for the rest of your life. The ingredients of chocolate chip bread pudding lend themselves to success. You might ask ”how could eggs, bread, butter, sugar and chocolate really be bad?” Well, for one thing one can easily make it too sweet or add too much butter – making the pudding look like some 10,000 calorie, Cinnabon airport special. The quality of ingredients is also a factor and here is where Blue Ribbon shines. Dark chocolate surrounds Blue Ribbon’s homemade bread which is crispy and delicious. Multiple textures of hot chocolate, crispy toasted bread and ice cream combine to make this an outstanding creation. Is it worth making a special trip for? Yes. Have one at the bar.
. . Unfortunately, the other dessert we ordered, the Bruno, was a disappointment on the night we visited. My guests said that it was an off night for the Bruno as it used to be part of their regular order prior to discovering the pudding. I tend to believe them as many people have referred to it on the web. It looked great when it came to the table but the cold served chocolate cake lacked a deep chocolate flavor.
Savory note: The food at Blue Ribbon was all outstanding from the bread to the appetizers to the main courses.
Recommended: Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding
Map to Blue Ribbon Brasserie in Brooklyn
Like muffins, New York City scones are a great excuse to eat cake for breakfast. Or, depending on where you get them, to eat cookies in the morning. Or, basically, to have dessert any damn time of day you want. We have an especially wide array of different types here in the city as New York is truly the Madagascar of scones. Anywho, here is my list of 12 recommended scones.
I’ll start with my favorite scone, the raisin scone from Payard. [Payard is closed, try Francois Chocolate Bar for pastry- no scones or bread to date 3-1-2010] A very thin crisp shell with a sweet soft Challah-like inside. The aroma of the center of this scone is one of the great food pleasures for $1.50. Notes: Go early or they won’t have any left. More on Payard.
The Maple scones from Blue Ribbon Bakery are almost like shortbread cookies. They are very small, sweet and flavorful with a thin layer of frosting. Perfect if you are not in the mood for a full-on bread bomb. More desserts from Blue Ribbon.
The goat cheese and herb savory scone from Clinton Street Baking Company has a thick, crunchy, textured crust and a very salty and flavorful inside. This is a big scone that is fun to eat in the same way ripping off pieces of French bread is. More Clinton Street Desserts.
Perhaps I should not have included the tiny savory biscuit-like scone from Dovetail since it’s only available with their delicious brunch. However, it left an impression on me so I felt it deserved a spot. Chewy on the edges like a buttery chocolate chip cookie but 100% savory almost like a cornmeal grain, butter rich biscuit that’s been cooked on a griddle. More from DessertBuzz 5-star Dovetail.
The savory bacon cheddar scone from Bouchon is a highly textured and flavorful creation worthy of the Bouchon name. More like a small specialty bread, this scone is not at all crumbly or buttery. Notes: You must go early to get these as they can be dry if you get them in the afternoon. Check with the staff if you go after 12:00 to see when it was baked. Also for god sakes, get a pastry here if you go.
The chocolate strawberry scone from Alice’s Tea Cup packs tons of delicious dark chocolate and fresh strawberries. Their crust is thick and the inside reminds me of buttermilk pancakes with starwberries and chocolate. They are the biggest scones and most filling in this feature. Perfect for fueling up for a long walk around Central Park. Notes: ask for a hot one. It simply DESTROYS! More from Alice’s Tea Cup.
The chocolate scone from E.A.T. definitely has some croissant in its bloodlines. Very buttery, light and flaky (um, like the inside of a good croissant?). This is the opposite of the dense Clinton St. or Alice’s Tea Cup scones. Notes: The dark chocolate in this scone is simply outstanding. More from E.A.T.
The organic cranberry scone from Le Pain Quotidien is like a muffin but with an interesting glazed soft exterior that makes it stand out. The tart cranberries and low sugar content also keep this from becoming too sweet. Notes: if you like your scones to be very distinctive from muffins you might not like this scone. More dessert from Le Pain Quotidien.
Forget the name of the scone I am going to describe here and just go buy one and enjoy it. The vegan (yes vegan) chocolate chip scone from Whole Foods is really just a big thick less dense chocolate chip cookie that you can eat for breakfast. It has coconut inside and some other great textures to go along with excellent dark chocolate chips and a crunchy crust, all for $1.79. Notes: I said forget it’s vegan! More Whole Foods here.
The currant scone from Bouley Bakery is a work of baking and culinary art. The cookie-like exterior is not buttery but is perfectly browned. The inside is crumbly and not too sweet. Like a less-sweet, less buttery slightly more dense shortbread cookie. Notes: Try some other items while you are down there – almost everything is superb.
No review on New York City scones would be complete without the monster offering from the Levain Bakery. A thin but crispy exterior layer and a super buttery smooth interior. When hot, these scones are hard to beat in the more traditional category. Notes: Monster size means you won’t need more food for hours. Pair it with one of their world famous cookies and you could feed the entire Army Core of Engineers. More Levain.
Honorable mention goes to the Street Sweets Truck oat currant scone. Very textured, flavorful and extremely fresh, this is a perfect morning scone to go with your coffee. Cake-like although not particularly scone-like in texture, you couldn’tt eat it as a stand alone dessert. One to try if you can figure out where the truck is parked. Try Midtown Lunch to see where their spot is.
On April 17th, 2010 from 1 to 4 p.m., at Willie McBrides Bar in Hoboken, NJ, 20 bakers will feed a congregation of hungry guests and an exalted panel of Judges at this boisterous, delectable, extraordinary shindig to benefit Autism Speaks.
Winners will be selected in the following categories
100% of the proceeds will go to benefit Autism Speaks
DessertBuzz is honored to be joining the posse below on April 17. Click the Vicious and Virtuous logo above for more info.
Big Gay Ice Cream Truck at The Vendy's
Cupcake Stop "Elvis" at the Vendy Awards
Gourmet whoopie pie at Dessert Truck Works on Clinton St.
Wafels and Dinges at the Vendy Awards
Believe it or not there are still more baked goods to talk about from my multiple trips to Francois Chocolate Bar. According to Wikipedia a financier is a small French cake, often mistaken for a pastry. In this case, it’s actually a light-ish teacake made with almond flour. It tastes like an ultra-fancy brownie with a unique chocolate-almond flavor. It isn’t too buttery or too sweet either. I also noticed that it keeps well compared to other baked goods as it was still decent a day later.
Recommended: chocolate financier, a steal at $3.50
Francois chocolate bar is located at 714 Madison Avenue on the 4th floor of Mauboussin.
