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

However, sometimes it’s hard to get a reservation, especially on the spur of the moment.  And sometimes, I just really want one of their desserts and don’t want to deal with all the fuss of dinner.  That’s where Locanda Verde’s bakery counter comes in.  Many people don’t know you can walk right  in and get  all kinds of bakery and dessert-like items without waiting.  Everything from scones  and muffins to donuts, coconut cake and slices of pie.

Nutella cookie from Locanda Verde Bakery Counter

Today I scored two mini rhubarb pies.  I couldn’t resist because Rhubarb is in season and they looked a bit like hostess fruit pies from my youth.  Imagine the format of a hostess fruit pie except created and baked by one of the best pastry chefs working today.  As if that weren’t enough of a pitch, they were also only $2.50 each!

Locanda Verde Scone

If you’re expecting a sweet, syrupy, pie-like rhubarb filling you will be dissapointed as these things were quite tart.  In other words a perfect use of a seasonal root vegetable.

Dark bitter pistachio tart from Karen DeMasco

Locanda Verde’s web site is here.

Locanda Verde is located at 377 Greenwich Street (off North Moore St.)

Peanut chocolate chip cookie from two little red hens bakery

Here’s the thing with cookies:  Even the not-so-special ones are pretty damn good.  If a bakery has high turnover even pedestrian cookies are often really good.  After all, the main ingredients are butter, sugar, flour and perhaps some type of chocolate, peanut butter or other type of candy chip.  Ben and Jerry’s already proved with their cookie dough flavors that you don’t even need to bake these ingredients for them to taste good.

So how does a bakery distinguish itself from all the others and deliver a cookie that stands above the crowd?  Truthfully, I don’t know, but I do know that Two Little Red Hens has some of the best cookies in New York.  They might not be as talked about as  Levain or Jacques Torres but that’s only because their tiny bakery is all the way up on 2nd Ave and 86 St.

The peanut chocolate chip cookie is slightly crisp around the outside and softer and cake-like on the inside with an awesome peanut flavor and nice big square chunks of chocolate.  For peanut and peanut butter lovers, this cookie is a “must eat” right behind the Bouchon Bakery nutter butter.

Pumpkin spice scone from two little red hens bakery in NYC

Next up was the seasonal pumpkin spice scone.  I was mentally prepared for a letdown after the cookies but the scone was every bit as good as the cookie.

Don’t be turned off by the scone’s huge size.  Instead, just think of it as a good value. The first thing you’ll notice is all the great spice flavors inside.  Then, you taste the bits of Cranberry and pumpkin.  The texture reminded me of banana bread.   It’s also very moist.  And this moistness is all the more amazing given that it was 2:00 p.m.  when I purchased my scone.  That means if you get there early in the morning you’ll have an even fresher product than I did.  Look for more Two Little Red Hens reviews soon.

Recommended: Any of the cookies but especially the Peanut Chocolate Chip and the Pumpkin Spice Scone.

Two Little Red Hens bakery  is located at 1652 2nd Ave (86th St.)

Their website is here.

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.

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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.

Recommended: City Bakery Maple Bacon Biscuit $3.00

Tips: Buy it before noon for best results