Bathazar for Breakfast

There's no better sight, walking into the office, than seeing a stack of pastry boxes from Balthazar.

What lies inside? Pain au chocolat.

 Plain croissants.

And, le mieux, almond croissants.

Admittedly not my favorites in the city. But a little taste of Paris goes a long way.

80 Spring St, NYC
212.965.1413

One Girl Cookies

My crush on Brooklyn deepens. My awe and envy of girls who have made their sweet dreams reality make me nearly weep. It happened a couple months ago at Sugar Shop, the bright, poppy, delicious candy shop just off Court Street opened by Jen Bischoff and Sara Houchins. And it happened this weekend at One Girl Cookies.

Just look at this place. Opened a couple years ago by Dawn Casale and Dave Crofton, it’s the essence of a neighborhood gem.

Adorably decorated…

…with café seating with a view of the tree-lined street. Sigh.

And simple, beautiful homemade baked goods.

Trays and trays of cookies, many named after special people in Dawn’s life.

Dangerously spiked cupcakes.

A rotating roster of moist coffee and layer cakes.

And… whoopie pies.

Old-fashioned yet modern. Comfortable, authentic, original, heartfelt. This girl wants her own One Girl Cookies!

More Franglais baked goods surface in Paris

Rose, Merce, Merci… there’s a new kid in town. Another cute, clean, contemporary café that serves upscale, Anglocentric bits and bobs.

Meet Claus. He quietly opened on rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau back in August.

Behold, poundcakes and carrot cake!


Scones, madeleines and muffins—er, financiers!



And cookies looking oh-so-American (and delicious).

Breads and viennoiserie come from Eric Kayser.

But the sit-down menu, including everything from scrambled eggs and muesli to tomato mozzarella salad and club sandwiches, is deliciously housemade.

A French patisserie in the heart of New York

Have you noticed? New Yorkers are being seduced by the French (bien sur—it happens!).

Financier Patisserie is everywhere (just ask Carol). Macarons are everywhere. And the latest Franco-bakery: Olivier Dessyn’s Mille-Feuille on Laguardia Street.


I had the good fortune of meeting fellow Sweet Freak Kathy YL Chan there for an afternoon gouter. She had already sampled many of the patisserie’s French classics—crème brulée, vienoisserie, madeleines and more—so she chose the fromage blanc with raspberry jam. Feeling both piggish and greedy, I selected a sampling of two macarons—pistachio and vanilla—and a financier.





Dessyn, who worked with Pierre Hermé in Paris, definitely has the meringue to ganache ratio down on his macarons. And their size is just right. These two essential ingredients make for a more satisfying macaron than most anywhere in Manhattan.

And I like that you can buy vanilla pods…

…but I like that you can taste them in the sweets even better.

The financier, about the size of a playing card, probably had a half a stick of butter in it, judging by the wonderfully chewy-gritty texture.

Throw in a couple of bits of chocolate and call it a day.

The patisserie devotes most of its space to the open kitchen, which is cool to see, leaving a modest amount of counter space for noshing. But the space is welcoming and the sweets are the real deal.


Next time: the signature millefeuille, which comes in vanilla, pistachio or praliné, and the praliné stuffed brownie—the perfect merging of Franco-Anglo heaven if I ever saw one.

Look out, Nolita!

The Brooklyn-spawned Little Cupcake Bakeshop has landed squarely at the intersection of Mott and Prince, and it promises to be for Nolita exactly what Magnolia is for the Willage—a blessing or a curse, depending how you see it.


The uber girly space and especially outrageous menu is guaranteed to make both fans and enemies.

For example, Fruity Pebble Treat, anyone?

How about jelly and peanut butter three-layer cake, Nutella swirl cheesecake or oatmeal whoopie pies?




If only I hadn’t already been on a sugar rampage before I visited.

I think I could have had fun sampling the smorgasbord of cupcakes that are maybe a bit much, but probably delicious.

Strawberry, lemon, devil’s food...

French toast, blue velvet, coconut…

with frostings as varied as mocha buttercream, cream cheese and meringue.

Before you get too huffy and puffy that New York needs another cupcake shop as much as you need another accidentally-expensive shopping spree in Duane Reade’s beauty aisles, take note of their good points:
• Little Cupcake Bakeshop is carbon neutral and all their equipment and (biodegradable) products come from certified green companies.
• It’s LEED-certified and runs on wind turbine and hydroelectric power—you should be able to see its carbon scorecard in the window s of its two stores.
• It regularly donates to the Carbon Fund, a non-profit organization that plants trees that soak up carbon to balance carbon emissions released by the bakery.
• The Little Cupcake Initiative is their community outreach program that has created educational campaigns and volunteer activities to advance education, sustainability and green establishments.