Dominique Ansel Bakery

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: figure out how the hell he gets his madeleines so light

In Soho I usually try to walk as fast as I can to avoid the random tourist that just kind of stand there or sometimes in the middle of the street to take a picture and I hope that a cab hits them. What? I just said hit, not kill them, there is a difference. However I find myself slowly down to stop at Dominique Ansel Bakery. Dominique Ansel is not a cutiesy cupcake baker, rather one of those, trained in France and worked in Boulud kind of bakers. He ventured out on his own and started up this bakery, sometime last year. At Dominique Ansel bakery, they are making delicious sweets and pastries that would make a Frenchman think twice that there are no good croissants or pastries in America (though they would never tell you that). Like more bakeries that have croissants, I always go for one step further and get a chocolate croissant.

 Any reason to get more chocolate in my diet in the morning is always a good thing. The chocolate croissants are rich and airy and have a shattering flakiness. Of the flaky awesome butter pasties is the kouign amann or DKA for short or to skip butchering the name of this pastry. This is a pastry from Brittany that uses salted butter and has sugar laminated in resulting in a caramelized pastry.

The caneles here are some of the best I have had. There are few places in New York that have caneles, which is odd because when I visit Taiwan, almost all the bakeries there have them. However, the caneles here are the best I have had so far. The outside is rigid, but break through the caramelized exterior; you get a custard-like center. These are so good it makes me finding reasons to justify the purchase of canele molds. Canele molds, the no-shit ones, are made of copper and average about 20 a piece. So, who wants to be my Sugar Mama?

Madeleines are one of my favorite cookies and whenever a place has them, I always need to try them even if I know they are going to bad (like the ones in a Dakar gas station). Tangent, I do not know why they are considered to be cookies by the French, they are just mini cakes. Anyways, the madeleines here are baked to order so you need some patience on your part but you are rewarded with light little cake bites that are fresh from the oven.

The staff at Dominque Ansel is friend and you can see him there all the time either baking to running the register. He is committed to his place and the food and pastries here are the result of his hard work. I find myself now trying to be in area so I have an excuse to come by. 

Dominique\Ansel Bakery
189 Spring St
New York, NY 10012
http://dominiqueansel.com/

Bien Cuit

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Smearing Nutella on a pain au chocolat, what is that on a scale of 1 to awesome?

It took me a while, but I finally made my way out to Bien Cuit. Bien Cuit is a fairly new bakery, that opened last year and despite the current rage of cupcake bakeries opening, Bien Cuit is making delicious breads and pastries. Bien Cuit is Frog language for “well cooked” from the breads and pastries I have tried here, that is certainly the case. The inside of Bien Cuit has a rustic vibe going on with beige wood décor but gives a relaxed atmosphere and the feeling it has been here for years. The breads and pastries at Bien Cuit are of the French tradition, meaning that there will be a lot of butter and nothing covered in frosting.

The first thing I noticed about Bien Cuit is that their pastry case differs in which it is not completely filled and in fact, looks empty anytime of the day. However, do let it turn you off, thinking you are getting leftover pastries because they are constantly making and turning out fresh pastries. My usual go to Frenchie-like pastry is a pain au chocolat. Buttery laminated dough and chocolate? Yes. 

The pain au chocolat was the size of a fist and was a buttery and well folded, imparting chocolate with every bite. Despite its darkened shell, the pain au chocolat did not have a flaky, crunchy exterior that you would expect however it was still tasty. The Danishes here are not adored with dollops of jam and they put creative twists on them. One of them is their Apple Crumb Danish which is wonderfully crisp and plenty covered with crunchy streusel. 

The breads are not to be missed here as well and they give the majority of their breads, you can buy half a loaf rather than a whole, which I am always thankful for. Do you know how much space a boule takes up in a backpack? Answer: a lot. Though his Pan Pugliese is their best selling bread, I however, dig their rye sunflower bread. I also will openly admit I am going to attempt to recreate this at home. This health bread is a wonderful mixture of nutty slightly sweet sunflower seeds with the slight bitterness of the rye. This bread is versatile and can be made into a badass grilled cheese to a perfect vessel to eat with jam, speculoos, nutella or all combined (note* never tried this combo, if it is good, someone tell me). 

Bien Cuit is a welcomed edition to New York and a good addition to an already foodie centric neighborhood. I have only sampled a few things here but so far it has all been good. They also have sandwiches and pretty good coffee program, meaning I can order a cortado and not have to explain what it is. As a home bread maker, I avoid buying bread anywhere for the simple fact I feel I can make better bread at home so to want to buy bread here does give me a slight feel of defeat, but to eat their great breads it is a defeat I accept.

Bien Cuit

120 Smith Street

Brooklyn, NY

http://www.biencuit.com/

Jane's Sweet Buns (Insert Pun)

 Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Eating sticky buns in Thompson Park while getting accosted by Amish trying to convert you is just a hazard of good food

St. Marks Place is an eccentric street that is filled with food from all around and on the street, decked out in hot pink, is one of the newest additions, Jane’s Sweet Buns. Jane’s Sweet Buns makes well, buns specifically cinnamon buns. Opened by Jane Danger, which by the way, is such a badass name is a mixologist/really good bartender at Cienfuego is baking up some delicious buns and other cakes. The bakery is a quaint and has a few stools for eating at, but with Thompson Square Park within a few feet, her treats are perfect for eating outside in the park, just now by the crazy dude prediction the end of the world @FatherCamping. Sweets after the jump!

Lulu's Cake Boutique

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Eating stuff from a "Cake Boutique" makes me feel less fat stuffing my face with cupcakes and upgraded Hostess treats

In college there was a Mexican Bodega in New Brunswick that one of my friends lived near and every time I came to visit, I would usually stop there because they had these knock-off types of Twinkies that were covered in chocolate. Growing up in an anti-Hostess home, these were a guilty pleasure. Now in the “real” world with responsibilities, it is inevitable that you just need to upgrade, Velcro wallet to leather, Natty Ice to Artisan Beer and Hostess cakes to Lulu Cake Boutique. 

Lulu is a bakery that is located just a block away from Chelsea Market can be easily missed in the midst of traffic and cars heading to the tunnel. Stepping into Lulu’s you enter a chic and contrasting white space and makes you think that you mistakenly walked into a cosmetic store and made me do a double take, but the rows of sweets assured me I was right where I wanted to be. 

Lulu offers cakes, cookies, Intelligentsia coffee and of course cupcakes, but they also do an upgrade on nostalgic treats like Twinkies, Yodels and Snowballs. These are not just copies of Hostess treats; they are more like an improved overhaul of these lunchbox treats. They have a couple of Twinkies ranging from the chocolate, red velvet and the one that I picked up, the passion fruit white chocolate, called the passion fruit lulu, which I am assuming is called that due to trademark, but I can safely call it a Twinkie. The snack cake is dense and filled with a luscious tart passion fruit filling and covered in a white chocolate glaze and a sprinkle of coconut. I also tried the chocodiles, which was basically a Yodel or a mini chocolate roll cake. Mini is an understatement, and it is a sizeable confection and it is easily twice the size of a Hostess Yodel and of course tasted twice as good.  Cake Pornage after the Jump!

Molly's Cupcakes: Chi-Town Sweets in Nyc

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Do not judge me old lady for eating cupcakes at 11:30am when you are chowing down on a Faccio's Italian Hoagie (though I would not mind eating that either)

Anybody that says that the cupcakes trend is dying is a liar and eats a lot less sugar than I do. With the opening of Sprinkles a couple months ago and according to reports is doing great business from my sister’s frequents visits, it opened up the door for other cupcake operations to see if they go Sinatra and make it in New York. Enter Molly’s Cupcakes, which I found out later is no Molly, but there is a Johnny. 

Molly’s Cupcakes is from Chicago and just opened up recently on Bleeker Street. I can hear the groans from people, another cupcake place? Sigh. The amount of bakeries opening up, if there is ever a ban on sugar, the GDP of New York will drop like a rock within a day.

There are so many places that are established, Molly’s Cupcakes needs to bring their “A” game and if it is like AJ Burnett’s pitching, they are screwed, they need like, a Cliff Lee kind of a game to stand out and yes, I am purposely making sports references in order to pretend I know a good amount of sports and to make me seem manlier when talking about sugary and colorful confections. Cavity Induced Sweets after the Jump

Great box design, cubby holes for cupcake

Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: I cannot say “Sugar Sweet Sunshine” 10x fast

For a person that prefers cakes over an actual cupcake, I sure write and eat a lot of cupcakes but that is mainly because the reality is I do not have a discriminating palate and I will basically eat anything that tastes good…and sugary. I remember a few years ago, the first time I visited Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery in the Lower East was also the first time I went to Clinton Street Bakery, one I have never been back to and the other I stop by any chance I get and I think you can guess which one I am talking about. 

Pumpkin Cupcake

Before Sugar Sweet Sunshine, I had no faith that cupcakes could taste good because prior to that all I had sampled were ones from Magnolia and Crumbs were the definition of mediocrity and below average. They were like the Paris Hilton of cupcakes, wait, is she still relevant? Anyways, basically both these places are making cupcakes and bake goods that are not really anything special but due to a bit of fame (thankfully the cupcakes did not involve night vision) they gained popularity and a groupon-zombie horde following. More Cupcakes after the Jump!

Mille-Feuille NYC: Its a fun word to say

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: The French are Master Engineers of packaging...pastry packaging

Mille-feuille bakery is located on Laguardia Place by NYU and Washington Square and can easily be overlooked; the first time in search of this place, I actually walked by it, but the Subway nearby though was very noticeable. However to skip this place when you are having a sweet craving is a mistake. Mille-feuille bakery is a French pastry shop opened by Olivier Dessyn whose past experience has been at Pierre Hermé, pastry legend that would make the Pilsbury Dough Boy white with fear (well…whiter I guess). Pierre Hermé was making macarons before it was cool, giving him ultimate hipster street credibility. Dessyn’s former employment is reason enough for anyone in search of buttery French pastries. Sweets after the jump!

Sprinkles Cupcakes: West Coast Cupcakes in NYC

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: I am over Red Velvet anything; it’s a red Cocoa cake people!

Wow, so uhh sprinkles huh?

Recently Papaya Dog opened its first outpost all the way out in Los Angeles. Interesting enough, Sprinkles Cupcakes, a West coast establishment, opened their first New York outpost at the same time. Coincidence? Yes, but interesting. Sprinkles Cupcakes originate from San Francisco and have been slowly opening locations all over California, DC, Chicago, Dallas and has finally made its way here. To say that cupcakes are popular in New York is an understatement. I was in a bodega and they had cupcakes. I never had the combination of Modelo and cupcakes but I guess it could work. Besides a Crumbs bakery located every 5 blocks, there are numerous other cupcake shops all around the city. So for a newcomer to come in and start solely doing cupcakes, it is going to be a challenge.

Sprinkles is located in a somewhat odd location by the Bloomingdales on the Upper East Side. The food options in that area is bare and upon walking in, it seemed like their target clientele was those that shop at Bloomingdales. It was filled with adolescent teens with their parents credit cards dressed vicariously making me feel creepy, 30-something women that most likely had sugar daddies and weird trendy dressed people with thick black glasses. Sprinkle in (haha get it?) the cheery, colors and poppy music I felt very out of place.  

 The place is small and only seems bigger because it is high but cupcakes is pretty much a grab and go kind of deal so I guess it works out for them. I was suspicious of Sprinkles because the place looks too clean and sterile. Most of the cupcake places that I enjoy such as Sugar Sweet, Sweet Revenge, Babycakes there is a transparency in which there is evidence that baking does go on there. Not necessarily a pre-requisite for having good cupcakes, but I Sprinkles goes for the very sterile look here. It does not seem like a bakery, it feels more like I am at a Sharper Image or an Apple Store. The Cupcakes are lined up in neat uniform rows, each with its own little holder. Sprinkles has worked out an efficient system in which one of their overly happy counterperson take your order and your name and while they get it ready for you, announces your name and rings you up so by the time you are done paying, your cupcake order is good to go. Oh and just a for your information, nothing makes you look like a bigger tough guy than a person shouting, “Cupcakes for Joe!” 

They have seasonal cupcakes and rotate flavors throughout the week. I decided to go with four cupcakes; I went with the strawberry, the key lime, the black and white and just for giggles, red velvet. First thing I notice about the cupcakes in that they are insanely uniform and each have this weird, sugary, fondant token button on top. Here is a tip, do not eat it. It tastes like stale Grandma Candy left out to dry and taste like…well a button. The cupcakes look like play food, the plastic food that you give to ages 5 and up to play within their Playtime Kitchen. Cupcakes after the jump!

Black and White- thankfully no weird token on top

Aside appearance the cupcakes are good. The ratio of frosting to cake is perfect. The frosting is an American buttercream which is sweeter than and not as smooth as meringue or French buttercreams. Since the ratio between cake and frosting is perfect, the buttercream balanced and works well with the cake. The first one I tried was the black and white cupcake, which was thankfully lacking the colorful token looking thing. The cake was moist and springy and was the right amount of sweetness. The next ones were the fruity cupcakes, the key lime and the strawberry. Of the two, the key lime had a nice tartness to it and balanced the sweetness of the cupcake. 

Strawberry- sadly does not taste like Snozberry

Key Lime

The Strawberry was fine, but was heavy on that artificial strawberry flavor which is a bit of a turn off for me. Lastly, I had the red velvet cupcake, which I used as a guess a control, attempting to use it as an assessment and comparison to other cupcake shops. The cake was fine and they used a regular vanilla buttercream topping. Red velvet cake, at least I feel needs to come with a cream cheese frosting or it is just a stained Cocoa cake. Wait…that is what red velvet is actually. 

Red Velvet

Sprinkles sets itself apart in which that they are eerily consistent. The cakes are moist and the frosting is slathered on uniformly. The cupcakes in the shop are lined up and stacked neater than a Prussian Army. Regardless of the stamped out likeness of the cupcakes they are good cupcakes and worth stopping by and getting a cupcake that rivals other cupcake shops in New York…hell it is better than Crumbs. 

Sprinkles NYC
780 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10065
http://www.sprinkles.com/

Fried Dough Goodness: Sullivan St. and DessertTruck Works

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Pizza Bianca + Bombolini = Viva la Roma hangover breakfast?

My fried dough quest led me to places that you would not think to have doughnuts and if they do, they would probably taste bad. Thankfully this was not the case when I ventured out to Hell’s Kitchen to Sullivan Street Bakery. Sullivan Street Bakery is not on Sullivan Street, more like 97th. 

The bakery is owned by Jim Lahey, most notably known for his no-knead bread technique which truly does work and produces great bread. Sullivan Street bakery is a bread bakery, and does not go for the whole, cupcakes and brownies and the cavity inducing sweets, but one of the few sweet breads that is being made there are the bombolinis. They sit there innocently enough on the counter and are outcast to the side, away from the savory breads and pizzas. To not try this would be a mistake on your part. The bombolini do not have a variety of fillings, it is either jam or cream filling. Given I just ate one of the potato pizza slice, which is the ultimate hangover morning food I realized, I just went with the cream filled bombolini. 

 

Bombolini at Sullivan

 

The Bombolini is different from others that I have sampled in which it was noticeably a lot less greasy and did not leave a translucent grease stain on the paper. The bombolini is a lot doughier and lacks the crisp lightness that the ones at Falai had. However, this bombolini is delectable and I actually prefer this one. Though it lacks crispness, it has a doughy and pillow like texture to it and the vanilla cream is thick and on the heavy side, but works well with the bombolini. This is a good donut that is a hidden treat in a bread focused bakery.

 

Donuts at DessertTruck Works 

 

Butterlane Cupcake Shop

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Say what you want, Hostess has got it locked on the frosting and cupcake ratio

New York City is saturated with cupcakes. It is hard to avoid them and I secretly am not actually the biggest fan of cupcakes. If I had to choose between a cake and the cupcake, I will take the cake hands down. My biggest issue that I have with cupcakes is the ratio issue. I like a balance between frosting and cake however it has gotten to that point where their will be more frosting than cake itself. How the hell am I suppose to eat it? I refuse to eat cupcakes with a fork. It was not designed that way. It is like eating a slice of pizza at Joe’s with a fork and knife. That ain’t right. I will stand by my note to self, Hostess gets the ratio right in which they have a great ratio of cake to frosting, and with the injection of frosting in the middle, you actually eat the cupcake without a frosting facial. So when it comes to cupcakes, I am critical because it seems like any place can just churn out cupcakes and apparently get an IPO on the exchange now so in a way, you have too. Only a few cupcakes shops or vendors have so far made the cut in making a cupcake that is superior in inflated market of frosting heavy sweets. In my quest on just being hungry, I finally decided to give Butterlane Cupcake Shop a shot.

Pumping out Cupcakes

Butterlane is located in the East Village, across the way from Porchetta and after eating a whole bunch of pork, you need a bit of sweet to balance it out before you slip back to your apartment for an inevitable food coma. Upon arriving at Butterlane they had a cupcake class in session that was for kids happening next door. First thought that came to mind, “that’s cute” (with a supersized dose of sarcasm). But I will give them credit for cashing in as much as possible on people infatuation with cupcakes, and besides its good for kids to learn how to bake, rather than be on the streets pushing dope (it is never too young to be pushing dope, have you not seen The Wire?). The cupcake shop is quaint and has little space and really just has a counter and a bench to scarf down a cupcake. Many will complain about this, but it is a cupcake, eating it should not be a sit down affair, if you have to sit down and eat it with a fork then you are doing it wrong. 

Thats a lot of Frosting

Butterlane stands out a bit from the competition in which they have a daily offering of cake bases and frosting toppings. This allows one to mix and match as they please allowing a combination of…a lot. I failed statistics so do not ask me. For those that really like cupcakes because it is a vessel for frosting, you can just skip the cake part and get a “shot” of frosting, which I have to say in ingenious.The cakes that they had when I went there was banana, chocolate and vanilla. The frosting toppings…were quite a few. I decided to go with 2 cupcakes and went with a banana cake with peanut butter frosting and wanted a bit of chocolate so I went with the chocolate cake with the salted caramel chocolate frosting. You know, just a smidgen of chocolate. 

Cupcakes- one day they will find a transport device that will guard against cupcake frosting box shmear

The cupcakes were piped on fresh, which is always a good thing. The frosting is a straight buttercream, I mean with a place called Butterlane it better be. The buttercream is an American-style buttercream in which there is a heavier usage of confectioner sugar which gives it a stiffer appearance rather than a French buttercream that has a higher butter to confectioner sugar ratio that makes it richer, obviously buttery and a glossier finish. First up was the peanut butter frosting and banana cake. To start is the cake, it was a bit dry but the banana flavor came all the way through. The peanut butter frost was good; it was thick and creamy and did not have any of that chalky taste that you get from inferior butter cream. The peanut butter frosting had a good dose of salt and was similar to eating the dry roasted peanuts and the combination I picked, worked well.

Banana cake and peanut butter frosting

Chocolate cake and salted caramel chocolate frosting

 Next up was the chocolate cake with the salted caramel chocolate frosting. The frosting was heavier on the salt that was extinguished by the caramel. The salt and caramel almost overshadowed the chocolate, but the richness of the chocolate broke through, making the frosting a worthy topping on anything. The cake however, was a bit of a letdown; it was dry and lacked any moisture. Even the rich topping could not mask or salvage the dryness of the cake. Although Butterlane lived up to the expectations of having tasty frostings, the cake bases were not up to the level of the frostings.

Butterlane Cupcake Shop

123 East 7th Street

New York, NY 10009

www.butterlane.com/

First look (taste) of Donna Bell's Bake Shop

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Paula Deen = What I think everyone in the South is like

I needed my bread fix and decided to make the trek out to Hell’s Kitchen and get me some Pizza Bianca from Sullivan Street Bakery, that is no longer located on Sullivan Street and now one 47^th. Noshing on some fresh Pizza Bianca, I came across Donna Bell’s Bake Shop. Donna Bell’s Bake Shop opened up about a week ago and was very new. The place is small but loaded with lots of goodies and it is all about Southern baked goods. I sometimes secretly wish that I was from the South, well at least romanticized Southern. I imagine a childhood where I grew up eating homemade cobblers and pies from my Mom from recipes passed from generation to generation rather than sweet mung bean soup.

Big Cookies, everything is bigger in the South, or Texas...eh, close enough

Although this shop is new, walking in I was greeted warmly with a big, “Hey Y’All!” First off, awesome way to greet someone, I mean I do not think it is possible to not smile and not be cheerful when saying “Hey Y’all!” Hell, if Putin was working the counter and was all like, “Hey Y’All” I would be like, what a friendly, non-scary man. The shop is small and not much for sitting in and more from a grab and go and what they lack in space they make up for…stacking a heck of a lot of food on the counter. The counter is filled with biscuits, cookies and bars and a display case of cakes. For a small space, they most certainly fill it up. Although the bars and cookies and cupcakes (I mean, its New York, it’s a prerequisite nowadays that if you open a bakery, you need cupcakes) but I was in the savory mood so I got myself a Pimento, Cheddar Cheese and Chive Drop Biscuit and spotted some cornbread that they so happened to just put out and got that too.

Biscuit Mounds

 

            The biscuit is huge, like size of a fist huge. The first thing that came to mind was that it sure looks like a Red Lobster biscuit, but it was much better than that. The biscuit was tender and lacked dryness and the bits of pimento were a nice touch. It reminded me of eating Pimento cheese but refined and no Dukes Mayonnaise (what up Southern people, I know what Dukes is). 

Pimento, Cheddar and Chive Biscuit. Red Lobster biscuits orbit this biscuit

The cornbread I later found out is what they call Yankee (should we take offense to that?) Cornbread that is composed of whole wheat and jalapeno. I could not tell that there was whole wheat in it but I guess that makes you feel less guilty about eating a good hunk of cornbread. The cornbread had actual corn in it (a plus) and did not have any grit in it. The jalapeño was a welcomed addition that worked well with the subtle sweetness of the cornbread. The cornbread is very crumby which is a texture I look for personally in cornbread but it is probably best to eat this at a stationary position and not wearing black because you will get crumbs all over you and birds may or may not attack you like a Hitchcock movie. 

Yankee Cornbread, if this is Yankee cornbread why is it not white and blue pinstriped?

I only got a quick sample of the stuff they were offering but I was impressed and want to comeback to try more. Not only do they have the basic bake goods, they also have breakfast and lunch sandwiches as well as bread pudding one of them being a hummingbird cake bread pudding which I am looking forward to trying. They are also in the works of getting out some soups and now that I think about it, soup and cornbread would be a great lunch time fix. Those working around here are in for a new place to chow down at and with a drink menu that has Southern Sweet tea and Arnold Palmers, how do you not want to come here? Also, there is no Paula Deen-like lady working here, I know, I was totally disappointed.

Donna Bell’s Bake Shop

301 West 49^th Street

New York, NY 10019

www.donnabellsbakeshop.com 

Donut Quest: Italians can make donuts too!

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Apparently I have been getting double espressos all my life and have not realized it.

Bottega Falai Bread

My continuance on finding and tasting the best donuts that the city has to offer has led me to Café/Bottega Falai and to Balthazar bakery. Falai is Italian influenced to the core that and Balthazar is a Francophile’s New York oasis that is like a bouchon plopped in the middle of Soho. Donuts are an American claimed pastry, one that America has forcibly adopted as their own creation, like we tried to adopt Elian Gonzalez, I was curious to see how two great cuisines stacked up in making fried treats. 

First up was Bottega Falai. Bottega Falai is newly opened, like with the past week or so it has opened. It sits next to Café Falai and it is the retail and takeout store of the Falai ever growing empire. Bottega Falai is modeled after a Bodega, but compared to the Bodegas I have been in this was clearly the nicest one and there was no Negro Modelo being sold either. The inside of the store has the ever popular Euro chic meaning it is white, lofty looking and sterile. Although they boast having Italian products and odds and ends of groceries, it was few in selection, maybe about 4-5 shelves worth and about 3-4 baskets of produce. It is mainly a pick me up kind of place, where you can grab a sandwich or something prepared and be out the door. The second I walked in, I was instantly greeted and berated by an over enthusiastic barista/counter person. I walked up to the counter and he was already pressing on what I wanted, I felt like he was interrogating me and given the chance, probably would have taken a car battery and alligator clips and went to town. I already knew what I wanted but dude, give me a minute. I got an espresso, single shot and I picked up two doughnuts, or specifically bombolinis.

Chocolate Bombolini

 Bombolinis are not the round holed doughnuts that you get at a Dunkin Donuts; instead it is round and resembles a beignet. They are filled with crèmes or jams. Here at Falai, the choices were chocolate, coffee, wild berry and a vanilla. I could have easily eaten all of them but with restraint I got a chocolate one and a wild berry one. After being told on how I should be drinking my espresso, in a ceramic cup and not in a takeout container I was finally left alone to have my single shot espresso and donuts. Oh and by the way, I do not even put sugar in my espresso and I was intending to drink it in the damn espresso cup so there!

Jam Bombolini

 The bombolini were made that morning next door at Café Falai. The chocolate was rich and thick. I cannot confirm but I am pretty sure it was filled with a chocolate hazelnut filling, not Nutella, closer to Nocello, I have eaten way to much chocolate hazelnut spreads in my life time and have unfortunately developed a palate in noticing the subtle differences between hazelnut spreads. Not really a skill that I want but oh well. The bombolinis were yeast based donuts which made them light and airy. Compared to other yeast doughnuts that have a doughy and chewy characteristic, this had a crumb structure to it and lightness. It was like comparing a brioche to white bread. The wild berry jam was apparently homemade as well and had the right amount of sweetness to it. All bombolinis are sugar coated and shower eaters with sugar after each bite. Bottega Falai is a neat place that not only has fresh breads and pastries, but also had a chocolate and macaron counter which I will most certainly come back and explore and try…and have a double espresso. 

Chocolate and macarons at Bottega Falai

Next up and within the vicinity, was Balthazar. Balthazar is a classic and old spot were it was doing the whole French bistro style restaurant before it was cool. They are like what hipsters would be seeking out when it first opened, because it was like, “no one else was doing it” coolness when it opened. However, Balthazar is still a bustling place that is filled with tourist and regulars and is rarely ever empty. Next door to the restaurant is the bakery which is a counter that is filled with breads and pastries to a point it is like a fire hazard…but a tasty fire hazard. Here I got one of their donuts as recommended by via SeriousEats the banana walnut cake doughnut and a coffee. I was not told how I should have my coffee, which by the way, either black or a little bit of cream. The banana walnut cake doughnut after first bite is apparent why it is rated as one of the best doughnuts. It also goes to show on why Balthazar bakery/restaurant has people lined up at 9 in the morning because even though they are putting care and great effort into all their food and doing it with quality ingredients.  

The donut was like eating a cake. The only resemblance to a donut was that it was round and handheld. First bite was moist and full of banana goodness but had a delicate crumb structure. It was topped generously with nuts giving a great meaty crunch with every bite and I devoured this thing. I am impressed by both places in producing some good donuts as well as other pastries (I had a canele at Balthazar, you cannot resist those!) and I am optimistic about my donut quest. This part of the donut quest was successful and did not require an outer borough trip. This quest is far from over though and I am craving another bombolini. 

Banana Nut Donut from Balthazar...and my leg

Bottega Falai

267 Lafayette St

New York, NY 10012

Balthazar

80 Spring St
New York, NY 10012

Sweet Revenge Cupcakes

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Bathrooms that look like you stepped into someone's apartment kind of freak me out

Booze and Cupcakes together...as well as soup too according to the board.

I hate these credit card commercials because apparently, according to them no one carries cash. Seriously, start carrying some cash people! Chase has the small business card commercial and one featured the bar/bakery Sweet Revenge. Sure they have gained popularity for the “omgzyourontv” factor but that will only get you so far. Sweet Revenge, located in the West Village is a bit of everything. The core of Sweet Revenge is that is a bar that serves food but has a big sweets menu and mainly known for their cupcakes.

 The Bar at Sweet Revenge

One of the interesting things that Sweet Revenge does is that they are somewhat elevating there sweets by pairing them with drinks, which is a cool concept. If Jean Georges has a wine pairing for the molten chocolate cake, why can’t the strawberry cupcake get a booze pairing? Unfortunately, given that I already had a good amount of booze that morning I decided to forgo the booze pairings for another time and see how their sweets stacked up. I mean if your place is called Sweet Revenge, does not matter how well you pair your booze with cupcakes if your cupcakes are not up to par.

Donut Quest Part II: My Search for Nostalgia?

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Dude asking for a Metro Card swipe will take a donut instead, apparently a donut=metro card swipe

In my quest to find the best and unfortunately the worst (not actively trying to find the worst) donuts in New York City, I came upon two in the Outer Boroughs, Alpha Donuts in Queens and Peter Pan Bakery in Brooklyn. I know there are other doughnut places in Brooklyn especially such as Mike’s Donuts and the newly opened Dough, but these two fall into the New York counter doughnuts and I had to check them out.

Take 2 in the future?

First up was Alpha Donuts all the way up in Queens. I am a bit of a nostalgic person and I tend to romanticize places, especially places dealings with food. Sometimes the image in my head is in sync with reality, but unfortunately Alpha Donuts was not. Alpha Donuts is located right outside the no. 7 train stop and the counter was filled. Everything about it was picturesque: the huge coffee machine going, people at the counter reading the newspaper and eating breakfast. To give it an even more New York vibe, two guys were talking about the upcoming season and Andy Petite retiring (this is truly sad, one of the great Yankee Pitchers). I wanted to start talking with that stereotypical Queens accent and dropping “o” and calling it “New Yawk”.