The beautiful black sesame panna cotta, sour cherry sphere, mandarin sorbet

2011 has to go down as one of the most exciting and tumultuous years ever for the top end of the New York pastry chef world.  On the exciting side: Bravo’s Top Chef : Just Desserts franchise finished its second season with NYC’s own Johnny Iuzzini as the head judge and a bevy of New York based pastry chefs as guest judges and hosts.  Alex Stupak, another of NYC’s elite pastry chefs, finally got the praise he deserved for his restaurant Empellon, proving once again that pastry chefs can make the switch into savory (or management) and blazing a trail for future pastry chefs to follow. (more…)

Best fancy pants restaurant desserts, Best of New York City, Le Bernardin | 2 Comments »

Paris New York

Today we continue to go through the sweet side of the menu of Dominique Ansel Bakery.  Go here for part I.

Paris-New York: Mr Ansel’s take on Paris-Brest features a split ring of choux pastry filled with chocolate ganache, peanut butter ganache, peanut butter cream, and caramel.  If the Mini-Me cake is a chocolate lover’s dream, then the Paris-New York is for peanut butter lovers.  The pastry is light and is used primarily as a (GDS) -that’s a ganache delivery system.  Why order it? If you like peanut butter and dark chocolate it’s a no brainer.  Ansel on the Paris-New York “a twist on the Paris-Brest, a pate a choux pastry usually filled with hazelnut cream. I call mine the Paris-New York and used chocolate, caramel, and peanuts as my flavors. Can you tell where I got my inspiration from? It’s the ingredients you’ll find inside a Snicker’s bar, my favorite candy bar.” (more…)

Best bakeries, Best high-end pastries, Best of New York City, Dominique Ansel Bakery | 4 Comments »

World class canneles from Dominique Ansel Bakery

The recent trend in New York City restaurants and bakeries is to offer one thing and (hopefully) do it really well.  See Puddin’ on St. Marks.  But what if a bakery opens up and kills it in multiple categories?  Well, after my third visit I have even more conviction that Dominique Ansel Bakery is the best new bakery in Manhattan in a long time.  They have a number of best-in-class pastry from the canneles to the kouign amann (dubbed the next big thing by pastry chef and instructor Francisco Migoya) to special eclairs.  Let’s take a walk through the sweet side of the menu.

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Best bakeries, Best high-end pastries, Best of New York City, Dominique Ansel Bakery | 6 Comments »

Bisous Ciao had the NYC macaron crown for almost 2 years

Why is it so important for New Yorkers to know what other people think is “the best”?   With the opening of Laduree in New York City there has been a considerable amount of macaron hype, most of it around how superior their macarons are to everything else. Last week I finally got to try about eight of them (thank you Doctore) and I can safely say they are the best this city has to offer right now.  They feature perfect buttercream, super-soft almond flour cookie shell and insanely strong flavors–despite flying 3600 miles from Paris every day!   (more…)

Best of New York City, Bisousciao Macarons, Bouchon, Dessert Truck Works, Financier patisserie, Francois Chocolate Bar, Francois Payard Bakery (FPB), Gallery 32 bakery, Georgia's, Gourmet Macaroons, Hester Street Fair, Kee Chocolatier, LaDuree, Macaron Cafe, Macaron Parlour, Silver Moon Bakery | No Comments »

Locanda Verde's Mini Rhubarb Pie

Locanda Verde is one of my favorite restaurants in New York City for many reasons.  Their savory dishes are always excellent, it’s not that expensive for how great the food is, and their desserts, by pastry chef Karen DeMasco, are always off the hook.

Karen DeMasco's mini rhubarb pies from Locanda Verde NYC

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Best Scones in New York City, Best of New York City, Locanda Verde | 2 Comments »

Nectarine posset with elderflower and shiso

Annisa reopened a little over a year ago after a fire destroyed the original 10-year old restaurant.  Normally, if you want a Saturday night reservation you have to give a few weeks notice but after I told then I was with DessertBuzz they opened up there entire schedule for us (actually they probably never heard of dessertbuzz, but they did have a cancellation!) (more…)

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Chocolate souffle from The Four Seasons Restaurant NYC

When I first found out I was going to lunch at the Four Seasons, I was pretty excited but soon realized that despite growing up in New York City, I really knew nothing about this storied institution except that it has very special chain mail window shades.

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Best fancy pants restaurant desserts, Best of New York City, Four Seasons | 5 Comments »