French breakfast club at Lafayette

This is a sign that I like to see:

Because, inside, French pastries abound.

Almond croissants...

Pain au chocolat...

Plain croissants...

Frangiopane tart...

All these pastries are pitch-perfect, grace à pastry chef Jen Yee.

Ben and I met there for Breakfast Club and strategically selected our petite dejeuner pour deux.

We even let a slice of savoriness slide by. (The garden quiche. It was delicious.)

And added a butterscotch coffee éclair. For breakfast. It was insanely delicious.

But maybe my favorite thing was the pistachio pound cake.

 I swear, it was the taste that transported me back to Paris.

À la prochaine, Lafayette!

Oh, Stohrer

I miss you.

You and your gorgeous, historic interior.

And chocolaty, flaky eclairs and tarts.

Your fruity works of art.

And gateaux individuels, which are just...

... better than anything I could ever dream up.

Stohrer. Beautiful history.

Choux à la crème

It’s been nearly a year since Popelini opened in the Marais. And, thanks to my girl Lindsey, I finally got to sample them last week. Now I do love a good éclair. But I usually go in for vienoisserie or cookies or crepes or chocolate or something else before I opt for choux à la crème. Being around Popelini could change that.

Never mind how pretty and dainty they are (channeling Marie Antoinette!). The flavors are superb, and the size is just right. Lindsey treated me to a delicate and delicious raspberry rose choux…

… and a more decadent chocolate choux.

Soft but crunchy, custardy and sweet but mindfully so, with other flavors like praliné, chocolate passion fruit, salted caramel and a rotating flavor of the day, I could see these refined treats being very habit-forming.

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.

My top 10 all-time favorite sweets in Paris

Though, I think you’d agree, this is an unfair list. An impossible task. There is no limit to the to-die-for deliciousness on every block in Paris. To try to select only 10 is a cruel challenge. But if I had to choose… 10 sweets I wouldn’t want anyone to miss… I would start with:

• A good, ole piping-hot oozing Nutella and banana street crepe.

• La Folie at La Patisserie des Reves: The heft and texture are pure magic. The doughy, whipped brioche is piped full of vanilla pastry cream that has a hint of rum raisin. Topped with praliné crumble and a touch of confectioner’s sugar. Unbelievable.

• The obscenely addictive Praluline from Pralus. Buttery, chewy, crunchy, sweet but a titch savory, caramelized—what doesn’t this beauty have?

• The sweet little strawberry Coeur from Coquelicot. Relatively modest in size—just 4-5 bites—it’s also sweet and fruity and has a pitch-perfect texture that’s both spongy and moist.

• A chocolate éclair from Stohrer. The crisp pastry shell envelopes an uber generous chocolaty custard filling and is slapped with a sweet chocolate glacage. It’s a serious sugar rush in the best way.

• Angelina’s stick-to-your-ribs chocolat chaud. It’s like sipping melted truffles. In a tearoom that Coco Chanel used to frequent.

• Speaking of truffles, Jean-Paul Hevin’s truffles are le mieux. And his mendiants. And his cakes. Hevin = heaven.

• The rice pudding at Chez l’Ami Jean. I never would have thought I’d care a lick about rice pudding. Last year’s dinner at Café Constant made me reconsider. And a later dinner at Chez l’Ami Jean changed everything. Served in a massive bowl with sides of candied granola and salted caramel cream, this is an unforgettable dessert.

• The Plenitude Individuel from Pierre Hermé. While his macarons are, oui, divine, this little cake is transporting. Fluffy chocolate mousse under a dark chocolate shell. Kissed by salted caramel. Adorned with tiles of more chocolate. It’s gorgeous, exquisite and delicious.

• The almond croissant from Boulangerie Julian. When Bennie and I split this, we were giggling in the middle of rue Saint-Honoré. Fresh and flaky, slightly chewy and caramelized at the edges, heavy with almond paste and lightly dusted with powdered sugar and slivered almond. I mean, how can something taste so good??

Parisian douceurs, New York style

The grass is always greener and the sweets, sweeter, when you’re away from your home territory. Here are five sweet spots in New York where I’m indulging in Parisian douceurs.

Michel Cluizel
The master is back in NYC after closing shop in ABC last year. Now you can sink your teeth into a cup of cocoa or a grand cru chocolate bar at his new boutique at Fifth and 47th.

Kee’s
Or scoop up some artisinal chocolates instead. Kee Ling Tong puts the same meticulous care into her insanely delicious bonbons as she does her homemade macarons. You just can’t go wrong.

Ceci Cela
Anyone who’s ever had a croissant from this Nolita darling—be in butter, almond or pain au chocolat—knows they’re the real deal.

Butterfield Market
Payard, lost and found! While the patisserie sadly closed earlier this year, you can still get Francois’ exquisite French éclairs—or go whole hog with the buche de Noel—at this Upper East Side market.

Thé Adoré
I love this little spot on 13th that always goes under the radar. Once you step inside the narrow salon de thé and get a gander at the pretty fruit tarts, you might as well be in Paris.

Encore, Jacques Genin

I must return to Jacques Genin soon, very soon.

When I go back, should it be for a caramel eclair?



Or the sublime chocolates?

Royal Tastes

My high regard for the chocolate éclair.

Springtime in New York. It may not be Paris in April, but with the lilac blossoms and endless twilights, who’s complaining? Besides, we have un peu de Paris on the Upper East Side with Payard pastries.

Though Francois Payard’s lovely Lexington Avenue patisserie features a dining room with top-notch lunch, dinner and high tea menus, the bustling upfront café is more suitable for the quick sugar fix. A half dozen tables are nestled between curved glass display cases of French chocolates and desserts. So stake your territory amongst the European tourists and neighborhood families, and quit counting calories already.

Some pretty confectionary creations that evoke the Right Bank include The Opera, a rectangular three-layer almond cake with coffee buttercream and chocolate ganache, and the St. Honore, a vanilla cream puff topped with whipped cream and caramel. But what of the chocolate éclair? You’ll find Payard's is divine (but, of course!)—if you get one before they sell out.

The éclairs are chilled in the display cases, but they’re better at room temperature (an excuse to indulge in another dessert first?). The crispy pastry shell envelops a stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth, chocolaty cream center, and is topped with dark chocolate icing. Go against your American tendencies of eating the éclair with your fingers, and use a fork and knife. Otherwise, along with self-respect, you risk losing some of the to-die-for pastry filling in your lap.

1032 Lexington Avenue
212.717.5252