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

Breakfast Club at Buvette

In case there was any doubt, I absolutely love Buvette. Love, love it. 

Breakfast is usually a good time to go. No crowds. Inspiration everywhere you look. 

And the food...

Amazingly delicious and decadent scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on country grilled bread, oozing butter. (And look at the size of that caper!)

Et voila... Nutella crepes for breakfast.

Pourquoi pas??

Brioche french toast at Cafe Cluny

Thick, sponge-like slices of brioche. Patriotic blueberries and strawberries. Just the right amount of maple syrup to hold it all together. A divine breakfast at long-time favorite, Cafe Cluny.

Last minute but rich and delicious

Vite, vite! Looking for a killer Valentine’s gift today in Manhattan? Here are decadent pick-me-ups from all over town.

• Warm pain au chocolate at Patisserie Claude (there’s still time to serve it in bed!)
• Petit fours from Three Tarts (Chelsea)
• Champagne chocolate chip cookies from Ruby et Violette (Hell’s Kitchen)
• Chocolate skulls from Bond Street Chocolate (East Village)
• Love potion hot chocolate at City Bakery (Flatiron)
• Passion fruit macarons from Bosie Tea Parlor (West Village)
• Red velvet bundt cakes at Make My Cake (Harlem) and cupcakes at Amy’s Bread (Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, West Village)
• A giant box of assorted bonbons from Kee’s (Soho)

A little piece of Paris

Macarons, macarons…



Does the beautiful, speckled passion fruit specimen look familiar?

It should. Bosie Tea Parlor’s pastry chef, Damien Herrgott, worked at Pierre Hermé for four years. And you can sample his masterful baking skills in our fair city.

While Herrgott has been in New York for seven years, Bosie’s only been open for about eight months. A peek inside their pastry display, and you’d swear you were back in Paris.

Éclairs and the mighty Ispahan…


Darjeeling tartes and citron tartes…

Pear walnut tartes and, voila, the Paris Brest.


I finally got a taste of Bosie when I had lunch and sweets with one of my favorite pastry chefs, Pichet Ong.

Pichet let me pick, so of course I got two of the richest desserts available.

The eclipse: a heavenly mix of chocolate sabayon, chocolate ganache and salted white chocolate atop a dark chocolate cookie with fleur de sel.


And the Paris Brest: choux pastry piped full of thick, rich hazelnut cream.


Some days are just more heavenly than others.

Super tarte tatin

Because I really do love Buvette so, so much, I thought it worth double-blogging about it. Especially the tarte tatin.

It's a feat, really. So dense, a titch gooey, and yet seemingly healthy.

Balanced between sweet and savory just so.

Created on the lighted bed of pastry dough. And topped with a dollop of fresh crème anglaise.

I mean, really, what's not to love??

Breakfast club at Morandi

It had been awhile since Bennie and I Breakfast Clubbed. We hopped back in action, with full appetite and a real winner in Morandi.

I hadn’t eaten there in years. And I’d never been for breakfast. But I think I could have eaten everything on the menu (except a breakfast pizza with pancetta).

Bennie is such a good partner in crime. Whenever there is a bread basket, we split it.

Morandi’s was beyond. First, you get a nice little display of the goodies when you enter the restaurant.




And the basket is the perfect size for two.

Sugary-sweet bombolini and bitter chocolate brioche…



A delightful sour cherry muffin…

… a tender cinnamon raisin pastry, and sweet but savory pistachio bread…


…and what was perhaps my favorite: the moist and eggy ricotta fritter.


Only the Italian croissant escaped our appetites.

Apparently six (half) pastries was our limit.