Trés French on the Upper East Side

Monsieur Francois Payard has many tentacles in the city now. One being across the street from Eric Kayser.

It's a bona fide French ghetto up there.

So if you want ice cream sandwiches with some serious panache...

... or exquisite bonbons, filled with sesame almond praline, raspberry purée or fresh ginger...

And don't forget the vachon, a delectable little number of mixed berry sorbet, sandwiched between two fine licorice-flavored meringues with just a little bit of whipped cream...

well, you know where to go.

Francois Payard Patisserie
1293 Third Avenue at 74th Street

Breakfast Club at Bakeri

Heaven. We were in heaven.

Ben suggested Bakeri, in Williamsburg, for our latest Breakfast Club. I couldn't have been happier to oblige.
Opened and run by Nina Brondmo since 2009, the place is just adorable.

 

(Does that mural look familiar?)

More important, it's beyond delicious. Everything is baked from scratch in the morning, and there's an incredible selection of breads and pastries, inspired from America (strawberry pie!), France (chocolate brioche!) and Nina's home country, Norway (Skolebrød!). It was tough to decide, but we made exemplary choices.

The chocolate hazelnut tort that Ben insisted upon was perhaps the highlight.

Chocolaty and nutty, still a titch warm from the oven, it was sweet but savory and a totally decadent, but right, breakfast choice.

The strawberry lemon cake with lavender crumble wasn't so bad either. Heavy with moistness, it was equal parts tart and sweet.

The bread pudding was of the savory sort, this one filled with spinach and feta and tomatoes, and every bit as eggy and lovely as one would expect from bread pudding.

But still, we weren't sated. So we went ahead and ordered that ridiculous-looking chocolate raspberry scone.

It was a favorite Breakfast Club destination.

(That's me, genuflecting before the sign.)

150 Wythe Avenue
Williamsburg, BK

Ever so CuRious!

I have always had a crush on Cynthia Rowley. One of the most spirited and fun, one of the sharpest and cleverest fashion designers there ever was, I simply love her (even more after chatting her up in Paris).

So when I heard she was opening a candy story on the Upper East Side, I was over the moon. Cynthia Rowley + sweets = the ultimate inspiration. I mean, check this shit out!

But in the couple months since the townhouse opened uptown, I haven't managed to get there. So I was floored while strolling on Bleecker Street to discover that she opened another Curious Candy Store there.

 

With drawers of gummies and jellies.

A wall of choco delights.

Plus adorable playthings and packaging, befitting such a style queen. 

Get yee there, for a dash of style and some servings of sweets!

396 Bleecker Street
West Village

It was salty pimp time

Have you been to Big Gay Ice Cream Shop yet? It took me about a year of wanting to go before I actually managed to get there.

I was happy to share the experience with a partner in crime: Kasia.

It took us a solid 10 minutes of debating the finer points of the menu: dulce de leche versus Nutella, apple versus pumpkin, cone versus sundae.

But finally, amidst the rainbows and unicorns, we had our order.

The American Globs Sundae pour elle.

A salty pimp pour moi.

That’s vanilla soft serve with dulce de leche and sea salt, dipped in chocolate.

It's every bit as ridiculous and delicious as you'd expect, and if you haven’t been to Big Gay Ice Cream Shop yet, do not wait a year for this creamy satisfaction.

Bathazar tartlettes

I'm not sure there's anything better than the warm chocolate cake at my all-time favorite restaurant, Balthazar...

Except maybe the strawberry rhubarb tartlette: the jammiest, sweetest, warmest tart, served with creme fraiche ice cream. It's served only as a special, so get it while you can.