Pretty Please

Beth Pilar and Ellen Sternau have parlayed their 18-month custom-order cake business into a full service neighborhood café on the Lower East Side. Darling and delicious are the words that come to mind.

The décor is pink and flowery—sort of like being on the inside of a sponge cake (yes, please). Petite and tidy, a cushy window seat overlooking Allen Street is the only place to sit in-house.

Of the 12 signature items, Beth gives highest praise to the linzer tart, chocolate caramel sea salt tart (loving that combo, and seeing it everywhere lately), filled cupcakes (like a devil's food cake cupcake filled with chocolate mousse), and a lemony cheese puff. She's just as excited about the proprietary blend of Counter Culture coffee they offer (along with Serendipity Teas and Ronnybrook Farm milk. Perfect.). There's a pretty mean sticky bun, too, and croissants are on the way.

How Sweet It Is
157 Allen Street
212.777.0418

A New Classic

Is the peanut butter cookie better than chocolate chip?

The City Bakery is a powerful force in New York. On myriad “Best Of” lists, it’s referenced and revered for its absurdly thick hot cocoa, juggernaut cookies, and even its luxe salad bar. You could spend an entire day sampling the goods, riding the waves of sugar high after sugar high. Which means it’s tough to put just one sweet on the throne. But, when forced to do such a ridiculous thing, I could easily point to the peanut butter cookie.

First off, they’re small. Well, not really, but by City Bakery’s King-Kong standards, they are. These, like a scoop of sorbet, are modest enough that you can indulge in a couple. Second, they’re magically moist. The downfall of many peanut butter cookies is their tendency towards brittleness, sending crumbs and chunks into your lap, snapping off in rude pieces. But City Bakery’s hold together almost as if you were taking a scoop of peanut butter straight from the jar, sticking to the roof of your mouth and everything. And then there’s the flavor. Sweet, just as any cookie should be. But the creamy, nutty, savory balance couldn’t be better. A king is born.

Oh, Almondine

Too much chocolate is never enough.

I already know the response to my criticism but here it goes: Almondine’s pain au chocolat is delicious. Superb, even. Light, flakey pastry, slightly browned and crunchy at the ends. Chewy and moist, it tastes like it was only moments ago pulled from the oven.

But it needs more chocolate.

If I’m going for the pain au chocolat instead of a plain croissant, I want chocolate, and lots of it. The demonstration of French restraint is commendable, but this pastry needs another dollop of chocolate goodness to really put it over the top where it belongs.

But there are plenty of other Almondine treats beckoning for a return visit: chocolate chip cookies, financiers, chocolate fondant, madeleines and a killer looking cupcake to name a few. It will be a happy autumn day when I go back under the bridge, settle into the wee bakery on the cobblestone street, and break out the chocolate barometer once again.

85 Water Street
718.797.5026

5 Best Plates of French Toast

• Extra Virgin: Banana French Toast
With caramelized banana and whipped mascarpone. Ridiculous.

• Café Cluny: Brioche French Toast
With raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. Perfect for one. Bonus points for Cluny’s adorable atmosphere.

• Jane: Vanilla Bean French Toast
Brioche bread, crème brulée batter, confectionary sugar. Big enough to share. Be prepared to wait for a table.

• Good Enough to Eat: Fruity French Toast
Cinnamon swirl bread and fresh fruit, like peaches. Ditto on the wait.

• Norma’s: Very Berry Brioche French Toast
Selected from an overwhelming variety of cakey options, an obscene portion of bread saturated in sugar and syrup, topped with fresh berries. Enough for a family of four.

Mad About P*ong

Give your palette a break from the usual vanilla.

Although there is nothing expected on the menu at Pichet Ong’s P*ong, you can expect each dessert to have a little something crunchy (crushed walnuts, cookie crumbs), a little something creamy (sherbet, mascarpone), and a little something exotic (wasabi, lemongrass). It’s these surprising combinations that set apart this West Village eatery.

Take the soufflé, for example—it’s a walnut-crusted stilton cheese soufflé served with basil-arugula ice cream. Perfect for someone who wants an alternative to a cheese flight for dessert. Likewise, the chevre cheesecake croquette is light, fluffy and savory, save for the sweet diced pineapple. The rosemary shortbread cake stacks roasted pluot with crisp shortbread in honey sabayon, and is paired with peach wedges and sherbet.

If you’re holding out for something more familiar, there’s the malted chocolate Bavarian tart. Creamy ganache filling hides within a chocolate crust beneath a layer of crunchy caramelized bananas and is served with Ovaltine ice cream. It’s decadent on every front.

150 West 10th Street near Waverly
212.929.0898

Hot in the City

Mister Softee's soft ice cream, still a hit.

Picture this (not too difficult this time of the year): it's hot, hazy and humid. You can see heat waves rippling from the asphalt, feel sweat trickling down your back. You're parched. Dying for something to revive you. And then you see him: Mister Softee.

Though the ubiquitous ice cream trucks can no longer play that nostalgic jingle (a citywide noise ordinance went into effect earlier this summer), the trucks, parked on corners in every neighborhood, and ice cream are much the same. For most New Yorkers, they are beacons of happiness and relief on sweltering summer days.

With not much more than chocolate or vanilla soft serve, you can choose from an impressive menu of cones, sundaes and shakes. "Everybody gets a chocolate dip," claims one Mister parked in Union Square, though other toppings include sprinkles, crunchies and peanuts.

While traditionalists are satisfied with strawberry shakes and butterscotch sundaes, many of the trucks show a little flair with their offerings. Try the Red Merlin, for example—a cone that's partly covered with rainbow sprinkles, partly with cherry dip. Or the Chocolate X-Mas with chocolate dip and whipped cream. It's no LA fro-yo or Italian gelato. But, yeah, that's sort of the point.

Grand Finale

This East Village dessertery sets the bar high.

The joint that kicked off the dessert bar trend in 2003, ChikaLicious is as good as watching a friend whip up magic in her kitchen while you get to prop yourself up at the counter with a glass of sherry or a cup of chamomile. As you sit back and relax, Chika prepares your meticulous treats in the open kitchen while her husband-partner-sommelier, Don, offers the perfect accompanying wine. Rounding out the chez-amis vibe are homey details like mismatched china, jazz music, and lots of small talk and genuine smiles.

For better or worse, however, the desserts are creations your friends probably wouldn't attempt at home. ChikaLicious' prix fixe menu starts with an amuse (watermelon sorbet) and ends with a sampling of petit fours (a sliver of chocolate cheesecake, a coconut-dusted marshmallow, and a mini butter pecan sandwich cookie). In between, you get your choosing of one of a half dozen dainty desserts. The menu changes daily but think: poached cherries with white corn ice cream and toasted-warm cornmeal poundcake, or fromage blanc island cheese cake served atop a mound of shaved ice. Precious perfection.

ChikaLicious
203 East 10th Street
212.995.9511

Summer Snack

Another irresistible treat from Mr. Chocolate.

When you’ve been a New Yorker for some time, chances are you’ve warmed up more than one cold winter moment with a cup of Jacques Torres’s wicked hot chocolate. So what to do in a summer of soaring temperatures? Dig into the polar opposite: an ice cream sandwich.

Made with homemade ice cream and chocolate chip cookies, these frozen sandwiches give credence to the expression of two great tastes tasting great together. The cookies: loaded with bricks of thick dark chocolate. The ice cream flavors, they vary according to what Torres is creating in his factory. Rotating options include everything from espresso and hazelnut, to raspberry and banana, to standard chocolate and vanilla. There’s even a Wicked sandwich, made with the same spicy chocolate as his cocoa, to remind you that the chilly days of winter won’t be too far behind.

Chocolate Haven
350 Hudson at King Street
212.414.2462