new york city : post 3

Cream Puffs in New York

Before heading to New York, I was curious about the current cream puff rage; so, I decided to investigate while I was there. With friends, I sought out cream puff purveyors in Manhattan and sampled their wares. If you want to do the cream puff taste test for yourself, the three shops I review are conveniently located in Greenwich Village and Chelsea.

Beard Papa’s

My Beard Papa’s cream puff was decent but nothing to rave about. I felt that their reputation has unfortunately surpassed their puff. The choux paste was crunchy and the pastry cream filling generic. On the positive side, the bakery décor was funky and the staff pleasant. I credit Beard Papa’s for starting the cream puff sensation.

Choux Factory

My cream puff at Choux Factory was slightly better than Beard Papa’s—better primarily because the vanilla cream filling had more flavour. Overall, the puff was simple in flavour and, I thought, a little too simple in presentation. The atmosphere was decent but the service rather poor.

Puff + Pao

The food at Puff and Pao, the newest cream puff purveyor in NYC, was hands down my favourite. With a light choux paste and freshly whipped vanilla cream, Puff and Pao does cream puff right. The interior of the bakery was comfortable and contemporary, and the service was friendly, diligent and incredibly knowledgeable. Puff and Pao also makes savoury paolitos, small Brazilian-style cheese breads, which were delicious.

These are my thoughts. Yet, if you are really fond of cream puffs, I encourage you to try making your own. They are not complicated to prepare, and the results will likely be at least as good if not better than what you can find in most shops. Follow instructions and use high-quality ingredients to get the best results.

Technorati Tags: Bakery, Beard Papa's, Choux Factory, Cream Puffs, New York, Puff and Pao

new york city : post 2

ChikaLicious

ChikaLicious, a well-known dessert bar in Manhattan, is run by husband and wife team Don and Chika Tillmans. It is an intimate place seating twenty. With a modest and efficient staff, ChikaLicious turns out an array of beautiful plated desserts. I found the dessert tasting, which is the specialty, to be delightful. At US$12, the tasting includes an amuse, a plated dessert and an assortment of petit fours. For $17, customers also receive a glass of wine paired for the dessert.

During our visit, the amuse was a mint ice cream sitting atop a light and soupy chocolate gelée. My companions and I ordered three desserts. One was a carrot and pineapple mille feuille that consisted of a carrot cream that was sandwiched between crunchy noodle-like pastry layers. The mille feuille was topped with pineapple sorbet and plated with a carrot sauce. This dessert was an interesting and tasty play on mille feuille. The flavours and textures worked wonderfully together.

The second dessert was a honey parfait in a blackberry soup topped with tuile. The parfait was cold, light and refreshing, while the berry soup and tuile complemented its subtle honey flavour.

Third, we had a coconut panna cotta that was served with basil sorbet, mango-pineapple salad and sweet basil seeds. Of all three desserts, this was my favourite. The soft and delicate panna cotta worked beautifully next to the juicy chunks of fresh mango. The dessert paired fresh fruit flavours that complimented each other perfectly.

The petit four plate included a toasted coconut marshmallow, which was light and ethereal, a classic dark truffle, which was high in cocoa, and a thin vanilla bean cookie. It was a great way to end this fantastic dessert tasting.

The creative desserts at ChikaLicious were constructed on flavours, colours and textures that clearly worked well together. I am not surprised that ChikaLicious is often full and sold out before closing. If you have a sweet tooth, don’t miss ChikaLicious!







Room 4 Dessert

Slick, trendy and hip is how I’d describe Room 4 Dessert. This dessert bar is a narrow, twenty-seat, space in lower Manhattan that has a beautiful, modern interior. It is a three-month old hotspot that is a must for dedicated foodies. I would suggest arriving early or making a reservation, as the bar can easily fill up. The dessert menu is engaging and deceptively simple. There are three categories: first, desserts in glasses, second, tastings with multiple components and, finally, dessert alternatives, which include cheese plates and assorted petit fours. They also feature creative cocktails and a large selection of wines and spirits.

The desserts by the glass are beautifully layered creations that mix soft and crunchy textures with bold and interesting flavours. The “ice ice café” that my dessert companion ordered was an exquisite blend of coffee gelée, coffee cream, sweet basil seeds and ground cocoa nibs served with a frozen passion fruit parfait. The flavours and textures made my taste buds go wild.

There were four dessert tastings on the menu, and I sampled three.

First, “something about chocolate” included a warm chocolate financier drizzled with olive oil, a light chocolate soup called “bubbles”, a chocolate sabayon topped with brown sugar and a smooth silky chocolate ice cream that sat on a bed of feuilletine. Second, “red” consisted of a hibiscus jelly, raspberry bread, a beet sorbet on caramelized cereal and a vanilla parfait with a red wine caramel. Third, “pique nique springtemps” had a small bun with a pomelo and tomato compote, a beer sorbet, a rhubarb panna cotta with crumble and a rhubarb pomelo compote.

All three desserts were of a high caliber—engaging, experimental and artistic. Pastry chef Will Goldfarb does a wonderful job of pushing the dessert envelope. He creates conceptual desserts that have customers think and rethink flavours and techniques. They are desserts that delight and intrigue, that call diners to sample the entire menu.

Technorati Tags: Chika Tillman, ChikaLicious, Dessert Bar, New York, New York Restaurants, Room 4 Dessert, Will Goldfarb

new york city : post 1

Over the coming days, I will be writing five posts about my dessert experiences during a five day get-away to New York City. Upfront, I would like to thank Gwenessa, Phillip, Matt and Michael, who indulged me in my sugar-induced adventure around New York.

Jean Georges

When I was planning my trip to New York, I decided that I wanted to try at least one high-end restaurant. There are many highly regarded chefs in New York; so the decision was difficult. After talking with friends and completing two weeks of research, I decided on Jean Georges, the premier restaurant of famed chef Jean-George Vongerichten. I made a reservation for lunch, because it's much cheaper than dinner and is easier to get space. Generally, reservations need to be made about a month ahead, especially for dinner.

For lunch, Jean Georges has a very reasonable prix fixe menu. For US$28, diners are able to choose two courses from an extensive and appealing list of about twenty items. The items are widely varied and include lobster, beef, lamb, scallops, and sea bass. Before one is served the two courses, an "amuse" or appetizer is offered. The amuse that I had included three items: a white asparagus soup with a raspberry infusion; a small toasted appetizer topped with crab and watercress; and a small spoon of fava bean compote. The quality was excellent—a perfect way to start lunch. The two courses that I ordered were pan-fried scallops (which were perfectly tender) with braised cauliflower and a Dijon mustard sauce and sea bass in a tasty light soup with baby vegetables. Both dishes were wonderful, and I found myself in happy bliss.

Of course, I had to order dessert, especially as the pastry chef is Johnny Iuzzini. Iuzzini, who is 29, has worked at some of the top restaurants in New York: Payard, Daniel and Jean Georges, to name a few. With such an impressive track record, my expectations were high. I wasn’t disappointed. All the desserts on the menu are tastings, and with my lunch companions, I had the pleasure of trying two. The first was a duo of an Alsatian rhubarb tart with elderflower gelée and an almond meringue with a rhubarb and lemon grass sorbet. The second was a quartet! It included: crème fraiche cheesecake with Meyer lemon jam; chartreuse ice cream; blood orange sorbet in a tarragon sauce; and finally a kumquat strudel (which escaped my photo). At US$8 each, they were surprisingly inexpensive. I thought about ordering the two other desserts on the menu but resisted. The flavours, colours and textures were well integrated, creating dessert tastings that were solid in technique, pairing, taste and presentation. In short, Iuzzini’s desserts were spectacular!

When I thought our meal was about to end, our server wheeled out a small cart. On it was a wonderful assortment of mignardises (which are included in the prix fixe). We were served miniature macaroons the size of dimes, a small plate of wonderfully flavoured chocolates (licorice, earl grey, and coconut) and a trio of flavoured marshmallows (vanilla bean, coffee, and grapefruit). Did we eat them all? You better believe it!

If the excellent food and beautiful décor wasn’t enough, the service at Jean Georges was impressive. The staff was knowledgeable, helpful and extremely professional. Our lunch was brilliant. The next time I am in New York I will definitely book again.

Technorati Tags: Jean Georges, Johnny Iuzzini, New York, New York Restaurants