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Francois Chocolate Bar Macaron with cocoa nibs
In my book, more than 7 or 8 distinct comments on one post makes for a true, viral sensation. I would even call the reaction to my Financier post a genuine kerfuffle. It’s interesting how much New Yorkers have to say about macarons. They might just be the next cupcakes. (more…)
Francois Payard Opera Cake
As has become a tradition on Dessertbuzz, we have some breaking Payard News. The temporary pop-up shop in the Plaza Hotel will become the permanent new home for Francois Chocolate Bar. The Chocolate Bar currently located in the Mauboussin Jewlery store on Madison Ave will close Tomorrow at 6:30!
Payard's Pan Au Chocolat
Perfect weather for one of these and a hot chocolate
On Sunday I stopped by Francois Chocolate Bar in the Plaza Hotel. I was surprised by how nice the space was. Not that I expected anything less from the Plaza–it’s not the Red Roof Inn, but I was struck by the amount of square footage. This outpost of the ever-expanding Payard empire is a nice departure from most NYC pastry shops. There’s plenty of seating and the tables aren’t so close together that you feel like a sardine in a can. The seats along the fountain make for a nice place to sip a hot chocolate or eat a one-of-a-kind pastry.
Francois Payard Opera Cake
Valrhona Pastry Chef Alex Espiritu's superb desserts
The New York Chocolate Show is back in town again this Thursday through Sunday at the Metropolitan Pavillion. The shows brings together over 65 local and international chocolate vendors under one roof. Tickets are $28.00 if purchased in advance and $30 at the door. Here’s a tip: take advantage of the advance purchase option and avoid the massive lines. This will enable you to maximize chocolate consumption time. (more…)
Cool logo
After the much-loved Payard patisserie and bistro closed last summer Francois Payard told DessertBuzz that he was planning an ambitious return to New York City with a large central kitchen on the Lower West Side and a number of Payard bakeries. He also said he planned to open a more upscale Upper East Side location as well. Meanwhile, we have had to make do with the small Francois Chocolate Bar outpost inside the Mauboussin jewerly store.
The best Pan Au Chocolat in NYC is back
Now the wait for stage two of the Payard New York Empire is over as the first “FPB” – Francois Payard Bakery is set to open on September 21 at 116 West Houston Street. Last night Dessertbuzz was there for a preview party and tried to eat as many of the bakery items as possible.
S'mores macaron on a stick
The customer space is very pleasant with 20 seats. It leans towards rustic with wooden signage and chairs and an open kitchen. The feel is the polar opposite to the colored plexiglass of Pinkberry or modern formica stylings of Starbucks. The huge open kitchen is many times the size of the bakery customer area. A blackboard details the days fresh baked menu.
The Menu - sandwiches, desserts and more
There are plenty of items you would expect to find at a French cafe or bakery like the croque monsieur and some more unusual items like Salmon on pretzel bread and the vegetarian-friendly tofu with tomato and basil. There are also plenty of nice gifts for the Payard fan. Such as FPB branded English Breakfast Tea, Pates, gourmet coffee, artisan jams, homemade chocolate spreads, givrettes, pretzels, fondues,biscotti, and pastry-scented candles, and of course lots of chocolate items.
Chocolates and more
The huge open kitchen is many times the size of the restaurant
FPB baked items will include: Croissants, pains au chocolat,brioches, crème brûlée, cinnamon buns, seasonal muffins, orange blossom donuts, éclairs, cookies, large macarons, le gateau roulé,seasonal fruit tarts sold by the inch.
the chocolates
Sandwiches: Breakfast sandwich du jour, croque monsieur, tomato and mozzarella panini, smoked salmon on pretzel bread, ham and brie, prosciutto and fresh ricotta, and vegetarian tofu with tomato and basil, etc.
passionfruit macaron
And don’t forget the macarons. The S’mores macaron on a stick was my favorite but it is not planned to be a regualr offering. The Cola flavored macaron however will be available and that seemed to be a crowd pleaser. Look for more reviews of the pastries from FPB in the coming weeks.
The FPB take-out containers are very cool
Read the interview with Francois Payard Part I and Part II.
DessertBuzz video: Francois Payard speaks to DessertBuzz.com about the Du Japanais Verrine pastry.
DessertBuzz Photo gallery: Payard Pastries
Francois Payard Bakery is located on 116 West Houston St.
The best chocolate cake in the world?
Editor’s note: DessertBuzz dispatched their top team to Spring St. for opening weekend of The World’s Best Chocolate Cake to see if it could live up to it’s name. And in an effort to offer as many informed opinions as possible this will be a “team” review, with a special guest writing the main copy and my comments in brackets.
Anyone claiming, let alone branding their store , “The Best Chocolate Cake in the World.” is inviting assessment. Maybe even criticism. It’s hard to imagine something, anything, being the ‘Best Chocolate Cake in the World”; with all the various tastes, preferences, options, moods and moments in life, how could anything be so? The truth is that it can’t, and to assess or criticize “The Best Chocolate Cake in the World” using this standard seems not only unfair but misplaced. [Misplaced or not, we're going to criticize if criticism is warranted. This is New York City and people want to know if they should drop $6.50 on this thing].
The 70% version
Let start with the good:
The store is tasteful and considered – ’styled’ – and perhaps a bit self conscious. The staff is nice, if a bit overwhelmed by the small footprint. The clientele, curious and expectant [the customers were tourists and recent transplants - basically the same people who line up for the Magnolia Bakery]. The cake, in two varieties, 55% cocoa, semi sweet ‘traditional’ and 70% cocoa bittersweet can only be visually differentiated by the fact that the ‘traditional’ slightly shinier and maybe a bit lighter in color [They both looked identical to me. I bet if we distracted the servers and switched the cakes like the drinking contest episode of Gilligan's Island they wouldn't be able to tell the difference.]
Both cakes are nice looking and inviting; chocolate ganache overflowing and dripping over layers of flaky meringue. In between the layers of meringue is a mousse that is darker and soft.- I was salivating at the sight of them. Maybe this thing has potential after all?
The flourless vegan coconut macaroon
Yesterday I wrote about my two favorite sweets from the Vegan Divas line, the brownie and the chocolate frosted cupcake. However, there were more creations to try – all with no milk, dairy or eggs.
The cookies were fine but were not in the class of the brownie, mousse or roll
The item that got the most raves during the sample give-away at Butterfield Market was definitely the rich chocolate mousse. This is a mousse with the texture of chocolate pudding. It’s made with copious amounts of dark chocolate and contains raw cocoa beans. It was so silky smooth it reminded me of a panna cotta.
If I served this at a party I wouldn’t even need to tell my guests that it was vegan because they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Again, as with the brownie and the cupcake, this dessert is competitive not just against other vegan desserts but with full dairy desserts as well.
Rich chocolate mousse (made with raw cocoa beans) $4.49
Raspberry coconut roll
The raspberry coconut roll was one item that the Dessertbuzz team spilt on. I thought this was a very solid dessert item worthy of recommendation. The other half of the dessertbuzz team on this day, a highly experienced baker, thought the “roll” was superb and worthy of a DessertBuzz “rave”. (more…)