Sugar (& Sugar) & Plumm

New York just keeps giving. Candy. Chocolate. Pastries. Ice cream masterpieces. What do you want? What are you waiting for? Whatever it is, get yourself to Sugar & Plumm and dig in!

Pick up some baked goods (those cupcakes have pastry chef Pichet Ong’s signature all over them—yum!)…

… or take some divine desserts to go (have you ever seen such a seductive carrot cake?).

 Or you can opt for chocolates, from French chocolatier Thierry Atlan…

… and packaged bits and candy by the ounce (c’est dangeroux!).

The boutique-restaurant has a fun vibe. The David Rockwell interior is peppy and informal, and moms can walk around with wine while the rugrats annihilate gummies and sundaes.

It’s the kind of place you have to revisit again and again to sample all the delicious chocolaty, creamy, sugary offerings.

Sugar & Plumm 

377 Amsterdam Avenue 

 

“Bite me, vegans”

I didn’t say it. It was the headline for an ad for Life Thyme Market in the West Village.

In fact, I’m all for vegan baked goods lately. Between Cowgirl Bakery, Babycakes, Tu-Lu’s and now Life Thyme, I could easily do biscuits and baked goods without eggs and butter (wellll… maybe).

It’s tempting though. Just look at these chocolate chip blondies.

And cakes and cupcakes.



And cookies: peanut butter, oatmeal, ginger lemon and Life Thyme’s signature Tollbooth cookies.



Ever a sucker for the chocolate-raspberry combo, I took home a raspberry Tollbooth cookie. I was not disappointed.

Chewy. Sweet. And full of chocolaty and berry bits.


Bite me, indeed.

Baby brownies

Best brownie ever? I surely wouldn’t go that far. But when your hotel offers turndown service with a nice two-bite Fat Witch brownie, you can’t complain. At least I didn’t.

I was surprised and a little sad that, instead of going across the street to City Girl Café for their decadent Valrhona brownies, 60 Thompson scoops up these babies from across town at the Chelsea Market.

So in addition to testing out new chocolate chip cookies and indulging at Pichet Ong’s new dessert bar, Spot (more on those later), I plunked myself down for a few bites of baked goodness every day during my short but sweet stay at the hotel.

The brownie fared better than the blondie with a dense, undercooked middle (the way I like ’em).


The blondie had the chocolate chip bonus, but were a bit on the dry, crumbly side.


Next time I’m in town, I’ll have to give some of the other flavors—available only in full size—a shot.

It's only fair that I try the walnut, caramel and spicy brownies before denying Fat Witch the best brownie title.