Bouchon, La Bergamotte, Kyotofu, Shake Shack, Buttercup Bake Shop

As has been the case with myriad previous visits to Manhattan, breakfasts and snacks throughout the journey once again saw me visit a number of bakeries and sweet shops along the way – sometimes out of necessity to get to the meeting on time and sometimes out of gluttony because something simply sounded delicious and there was room in my supposedly limitless stomach. With the conference taking up substantial time during this trip and my meals otherwise largely scheduled to fill in breaks in the conference my ancillary eats would be limited to five stops on this particular trip to Gotham – the requisite visit to Bouchon being the first.

With my fondness for Thomas Keller now well documented and the location on the third floor of the Time Warner Center opening at 8:00am on a day when lectures initiated at 8:30 Bouchon would once again prove a perfect breakfast stop and this time all the more so with the further expansion of the Salvador Dali exhibit from my previous visit. Arriving before the doors opened and waiting patiently as a small line formed behind me it was interesting watching the team meeting before opening as the hot items were brought out from the kitchen and arranged nicely on the shelves.

With the doors opened at precisely 8:30am and the line moving swiftly to the door it excited me immediately to see a number of new (or new to me) items on filling the cases and knowing that the conference was to be long that particular day I decided to stock up with a medium coffee along with five choices to go – or at least five choices that had the potential of possibly making it from the Time Warner Center to The Hilton. With service pleasant as always and the bill paid I thanked my server and after sitting down for a moment to look out on to the Streets of New York and take some pictures I made my way to the conference eating as I walked.

Beginning first with the standard order at Bouchon I started my morning with a Caramel Macaron – large and as tasty as ever with flecks of fleur de sel visible on the buttery caramel and the cookie itself the best I’ve ever had at Bouchon thus making a strong argument for early morning visits on all future occasions.

Having promised myself to try the Sugar Brioche this time as I’d heard great things from a friend I was admittedly torn at first when I saw them also selling Hot Cross Buns for the upcoming Easter Holiday but after a momentary debate I decided “both” was the best course of action and with each selection still warm I am most certainly glad I made the choice I did because while the duo was quite similar in their golden exterior giving way to warm and wispy insides the flavors and textures could not have been more different as crunchy crystals of sugar and notes of vanilla lofted from the first while the unmistakable flavors of butter, cinnamon, and currants punctuated the eggy Cross Bun.

Saving the other selections for later my next bites of team Keller’s wares would be a few hours later during a mid-morning break in the conference and picking up where I left off both selections were exacting an delicious, beginning first with a lovely Paris Brest with a crackling choux shell giving way to creamy hazelnut crème that was thick enough to be tasty without being so heavy as to overwhelm the sugar dusted pastry – it was as good as all but one during my subsequent trip to Paris; that version served as dessert in Michelin 3-Star Le Pre-Catelan.

For my final taste of Bouchon I opted to save what was surely the most decadent for last and on biting into “Pain Aux Trois Chocolat” my assumption was confirmed instantly – this was most certainly not a breakfast pastry, but rather the sort of item you eat with milk, coffee, or both while relaxing at a café. Beginning first with chocolate number one – the cocoa powder imbued croissant dough was light, buttery, and crisp. For chocolate number two – a core of dense Valrhona running from end to end and drizzled atop. And finally number three – dark chocolate pastry cream, slightly sweeter than expected acting as the mortar holding together the three separate layers and completing a pastry that may be the best thing I’ve had at any of the three Bouchon Bakeries to date.

Moving from the good to not so good another stop on my trip would be Kyotofu – a visit prompted by their previously being named “New York’s Best Cupcake” by New York Magazine – a distinction I found hard to believe considering they ship these cupcakes all over the country as well as to Dean & Deluca, and a distinction I guess I’ll never be able to judge considering that when I got there they were completely sold of their cupcakes and no longer making more (despite it being only 5pm) due to “a large order for a private function” thus relegating me to two muffins – one a dry and grassy “Matcha Blueberry” and the other a slightly better but rather dull and chewy “Apple Cinnamon” – both of which I can only assume had been baked that morning because to assume otherwise and think they were fresh is…well…unthinkable.

Moving on to bigger and better, a third stop on this trip would bring me to Buttercup Bake Shop, a bakery I’d heard of before as it is well regarded and owned by one of the co-founders of Magnolia but a placed I’d yet to visit largely due to its location on 2nd Avenue – a location that however inconvenient on previous trips became an impromptu destination this time due to a detour based on my hotel location (The Beekman) and the POTUS arrival at the United Nations for a $5000/plate fundraiser dinner.

Making a long story short and saving you the details of me carrying a poster tube down 2nd Avenue as I was approached by Secret Service inquiring as to the nature of my package (a poster, not a sniper rifle as it turned out) I was told it would be about ten minutes before pedestrians would be allowed to progress to the hotel and taking this as a sign I made my way to Buttercup where I was greeted by a trio of young women busy baking, frosting, cooking, and chatting plus the intoxicating smell of butter, vanilla, and…well…butter. With bars, puddings, cookies, and cakes lining each case I was told to “take my time” in choosing and additionally offered a bite of the banana pudding – thick, rich, and delicious with slightly crisp vanilla wafers adding contrast – while I made my decisions; a pair of cupcakes for the road as I still had dinner plans to reckon with and a cup of coffee to wash them down as I waited for the hubbub outside to subside.

At $2.25 and $2.50 respectively my choices would include the standard Red Velvet plus one of my favorites, the Hummingbird – both quite good with sweet and tangy cream cheese icing atop a moist and toothsome cake with the velvet surprisingly not-too-sweet yet dense with cocoa and the hummingbird chockablock full of walnuts, pineapples, and bananas – both first-rate examples and save for the unnecessary red sugar crystals atop the Red Velvet some of the best in the city.

With the conference beginning bright and early for a third consecutive day another breakfast boulangerie targeted for my visit was La Bergamote on 52nd Street and with a long morning run from the UES down to the LES and back plus the trek from my hotel on 2nd all the way to the bakery I was admittedly quite hungry when I arrived – enough so that the already impressive collection of French style pastries looked that much better and the aromatic notes of vanilla, cinnamon, and coffee smelled all the more seductive. With the doors open at 7:00am and my arrival shortly thereafter my entry to the shop was met first by the sights and smells, then by a young woman asking me if I was there for breakfast or just for pastries to go and while I’ll admit the thought crossed my mind to skip the first lecture and try a croque madame I decided to behave and instead order five choices to go – all which were boxed up nicely and placed in a bag while I was offered a sample of the lemon tart and a delicious raspberry thumbprint cookie.

With the bill paid – a bargain compared to the prices at Bouchon Bakery (or especially when compared to prices in Paris) – and taking my order to the street I first stopped for pictures and then decided to eat the more portable items as I walked while saving the others for later at the conference. Beginning first with a recommendation made by my server (and apparently one of the store’s most famous items dating back to the original Chelsea location founded in 1998) I started with a warm slice of almond brioche – intensely buttery with a golden exterior and dense eggy crumb coated in caramelized sugar and sliced almonds; it was the kind of thing that made me want to stop in my tracks, turn around, and order a loaf or an order of the French Toast made with that very bread.

Moving next to my French pastry standard and continuing the almond theme La Bergamote’s Almond Croissant would prove to be a good example despite spending a bit too long in the oven as the crisp exterior crackled on my bite giving way to a fragrant interior with wisps of pastry slightly moistened by a layer of frangipane but holding up nicely and loaded with smooth buttery notes.

With my next three options far more messy (and one requiring a spoon) I was glad to see free coffee at the Hilton when I arrived and taking a seat towards the back I surely made the surrounding diabetologists cringe as I moved on to sweeter things beginning first with my second Paris Brest of the trip – a similar version to Keller’s but unfortunately suffering from a bit too much sweetness in the cream and (again) a bit too much time in the oven as the crunchy choux shell was simply lacking any character alongside the dense filling.

Next up on the hit list was a pastry I’d only seen once before and a selection I knew I had to order the moment I entered La Bergamote – La Religeuse – and with options ranging from coffee to vanilla cream to chocolate the only real decision was witch to order…a decision easily made when my server told me the coffee one was her favorite item in the store “if you like coffee.” Served less ornately than most yet with the choux in this case light, crisp, and perfectly baked before being topped with a coffee glaze and filled with caramel tinted coffee cream this dish proved the highlight of the breakfast and more importantly served as the influence to many breakfasts during my subsequent trip to Paris.

With the progression of flavors from mild and buttery to more creamy and dense my last bite of the morning would be by far the most potent and lacking means for cutting it up without making a mess I decided to take the “Baby Baba” in a way befitting its flavor – as a shot – a yeasty, buttery sponge of a shot topped with sweet cream and so loaded with rum that it made me a bit weary to talk with any of my colleagues until I’d drank some more coffee, but a baba so good that it would trump any I’d had at a bakery prior.

Closing out my bakeries and snacks tour of New York was another unplanned stop, but one that I simply couldn’t pass up due to the novelty of there being no line; Shake Shack. For those who don’t know the history of Danny Meyer and USHG suffice it to say the man is a giant and his restaurant group is the brain trust behind Michelin Starred locations like The Modern, Gramercy Tavern, and Eleven Madison plus half a dozen other locations around New York City, but of all of his locations perhaps none seemed as shocking to me as Shake Shack – a stand where always-on-the-run-New-Yorkers will willing wait in line for over an hour for a burger, fries, and a shake…or more appropriately a “concrete,” the object of my desire on this particular day.

With the line non-existent I made my way up to the window where I was greeted by a pleasant young man who asked me what I’d like and having not realized how many choices there were I told him to give me a moment while I stepped back to weigh the options (and my capacity) before electing for the $6 daily special “Hopscotch Concrete” described as containing Vanilla Custard, Salty Caramel, Valrhona Chocolate Chunks, and Chocolate Toffee and after paying the admittedly steep price I stepped to the receiving window where the decadence would appear shortly thereafter.

Making my way to a bench (like the line, empty, confusing me greatly) after grabbing a spoon and preceding to dig in two thoughts came to mind – the first being that if Batali can get away with $6 for a small cup of gelato at Eataly across the street then Mr. Meyer should raise his prices, and the second that I’m very glad most other ice cream parlors opt to make their shakes, blizzards, and flurries with inferior ingredients because if they were all this jammed packed with outstanding ingredients and such a mélange of sweet, salty, smooth, and crunchy my health and waistline would be in jeopardy and seeing now that the chain has expanded significantly I can only hope the quality remains the same and that New Yorkers can show some restraint – or at least spend that extra time they’re saving by not waiting in line walking off the delicious ice cream.

Clinton Street Baking Company and Bouchon Bakery, New York NY

Thursday morning started early with me in the LES and a need to be in midtown by 9:30am. Having twice attempted to go to Clinton Street Baking Company on previous visits to New York only to be thwarted by waits greater than one hour for a single person this time I made no mistakes – I arrived at 7:45 and was there when Neil Kleinberg arrived – and when a young man delivering fresh fruits and vegetables arrived on bike. By 8:00am when the doors opened there were nine people behind me in line and by the time I was leaving at 8:45 there was a 20-30 minute wait for a table – sure it was National Pancake Month and Clinton Street reportedly makes the best in the city, but it was also a Thursday morning.

Seated promptly at a small two-top along the wall I was handed a menu and told they had four styles of pancake on the menu that day – the famous blueberry version, a chocolate chunk, a banana walnut version, and Almond Frangipane with Fresh Raspberries, Toasted Almonds, Raspberry Sauce, and Almond syrup. Ordering a coffee that would remain topped off by my server, Shelby, and her team I additionally ordered up a muffin while my pancakes were made to order.

Sitting back and listening to the whimsical 80’s soundtrack overhead and the unintentionally overhearing the previous night’s escapades from my hipster neighbors it would only be moments before the Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffin would arrive along with the mildly acidic and not particularly impressive coffee. Streusel topped and buttery, the muffin itself was still warm from the oven and as such rather messy given the substantial load of dark chocolate within. Served with fresh raspberry jam and butter the muffin was a fork and knife affair and quite excellent – as a matter of fact, all the baked goods at Clinton Street Bakery looked excellent.

With seemingly every table around me opting for either pancakes or the buttermilk biscuit sandwich (and a particularly hung over fellow to my right getting a maple butter pecan ice shake and burger for breakfast) mine would be the first to arrive and I have to admit I instantly understood the hype. Light and fluffy, stacked three high, and absolutely loaded with raspberries and toasted almonds plus a sidecar of buttery almond syrup these pancakes are the prototype for what a buttermilk pancake should look like and feel like in the mouth. Rather understated despite the bold ingredients each flavor complimented the other nicely and despite the large portion size everything was quite light – very much unlike other pancakes which can sit in the belly like a lead weight. At $15 the price is a tad higher than one would expect, but the ingredients are clearly top notch and while not the best pancakes I’ve ever had, they are certainly the best I’ve had in New York.

While there was a line forming outside, I was told to take my time with the check and even received a last refill of my coffee at that time – asking for the coffee to go (no sense in letting it go to waste) I was given a paper cup and upon settling the modest tab and making my way to the streets I had plenty of time to walk uptown and arrive at my destination almost 5 minutes early. Having tried to visit in the past I can say now that had I waited more than an hour I’d probably not have been as enthused about my visit to Clinton Street Baking Company, but if you are motivated enough to beat the crowd then Clinton Street is definitely worth the visit – though in retrospect I wish I’d have gotten a shake instead of the coffee.

With my daily obligations filled by 11:00 and no lunch reservations until 12:30 the next stop on my culinary tour would be a personal favorite that always finds its way onto my New York (or Vegas, or Yountville, or now Los Angeles) agenda – Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery. Fully admitting to be a fan of Chef Keller and equally so of his ever changing rotation of baked goods I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at Time Warner Center to find not only some new options, but also myriad large metal works celebrating my favorite artist – Salvador Dali – on display. Browsing for a while before making my way upstairs to place my order I fully admit it took longer than usual to decide as there were at least ten new options I’d not tried.

With decisions made, purchased, and bagged I made my way through the rest of the Dali exhibit while enjoying my selections – the first a raspberry almond croissant – what can I say, after breakfast it seemed like the only logical choice. Having always found Bouchon croissants to be amply crunchy and plenty butter but lacking the airy pockets inherent to most French Croissants this one was no different – it was rather flat but absolutely loaded with fresh fruit and pockets of butter mixed with sweet spots – almost a half-scone/half-croissant pastry.

For my other half of the order – how can one turn down those fist sized macarons – especially when the flavors are Peanut Butter and Jelly and Orange Vanilla Bean – IE, Creamsicle. With that perfect crackle giving way to Keller’s slightly less than airy style sandwich cookie each were again stunning examples that purists may call too “gummy” but for me pretty much summarize why I keep coming back again and again – the flavor. While I still believe La Maison du Chocolate to make a slightly superior Chocolate and Pistachio than Bouchon, the variety of flavors and sheer size of Keller’s collection will invariably keep me coming back each and every time I’m in a city where they are available – and in the case of New York, I’ll look forward to visiting the second location at Rockefeller center just as soon as it opens.

Bouchon Bakery [3], Las Vegas NV

…I’m no stranger to Bouchon or its sister Bakery – I’ve been to each of them at least once and to the Vegas location multiple times on each previous trip. Like my previous stays in Vegas this vacation would be no different – except this time the offerings featured a holiday appropriate theme. Visiting the bakery four times during out five days in Vegas many repeats were ordered and all remained as excellent as prior – the Carrot Cake cookie, the Nutter Butter, the Red Velvet Cupcake, the Pistachio Macaron, and the Pain au Chocolate to name a few. Focusing my own ordering on new items and holiday themed selections I managed to sample six new items during the various visits.

Beginning first with the croissant of the month, December featured Dutch Apple. While I personally feel that “croissant” is a bit of a misnomer for such a dense pastry, the dough was unmistakably the same – the difference was the presentation. Essentially a hemi-sected butter croissant topped with cinnamon roasted apples and buttery strudel topping the flavor was that of apple crisp in a warm and portable form.

Moving on to the holiday items, my first would be the Christmas Tree TKO. For those unfamiliar with Keller’s famous take on the Oreo, the recipe is out there and the cookie is divine. This time cut into the shape of a Christmas tree and filled with a mint chocolate cream I personally fancy the original more so as I find mint to be overpowering. On the contrary, however, my mother loved this cookie and ended up with two in her luggage in addition to the two she ate while in Vegas.

Another holiday special featured a frosted shortbread snowflake. At a cost of $4.50 the palm-sized cookie likely weighed in at nearly 8 ounces and if I had to guess the cost was almost entirely based on the full stick of butter included. Dense and crisp, the cookie quite literally melted in the mouth leaving behind a sweet buttery memory. Not for the faint of heart (or high in cholesterol) a single cookie was almost “too much,” but thankfully there was a group of four to split the pair we ordered.

The gingerbread man (and accompanying woman) were a bit of a letdown in my personal opinion. Lightly frosted and quite thin the cookies were hefty in cinnamon and sweetness, but rather lacking in the characteristic gingerbread flavor.

A fan of all things mint and equally of macarons, the Peppermint Macaron was a no-brainer for my mother. For those unfamiliar with Bouchon’s style of Macaron, they are approximately the size of an adult male palm and when fresh they are every bit on par with the best I’ve tasted in the United States. A shining example, the peppermint variation featured the characteristic crackling shell which gave way to the soft and supple cookie within. Filled with a cocoa accented peppermint ganache I know some folks contest that Bouchon’s macarons are too sweet and while I’ll fully admit this was the sweetest I’ve tasted, the flavor was akin to a York Peppermint Patty in cookie form – it was delicious.

The final selection of our visits to Bouchon Bakery would be the Chocolate Bouche de Noel. Served as a 1.5 inch thick slice of the “log” and garnished with meringue mushrooms and cocoa covered almond stones, the chocolate Génoise was rolled and frosted with chocolate buttercream and lightly dusted with confectioner’s sugar snow. Dense and filling I was glad I ordered coffee with the cake while my companions contested this was the sort of dish best enjoyed with milk.

Rarely one to revisit the same spot multiple times at all let alone on the same visit I will continue to frequent Bouchon and Bouchon Bakery whenever I have the chance – like when I visited the Beverly Hills location on December 22nd and the Vegas location for Christmas brunch.

Maialino and Bouchon Bakery, New York NY

12/31/09 - the day after my meal at Per Se I tried to sleep in – I swear I did – I even stayed up until 1:30am talking to my friends the day before, but coming off so many consecutive days of work I woke at the crack of dawn and figured there was no sense wasting vacation time. Showered, shaved, dressed I made my way on foot to the train station and found myself at Penn Station just after 7:45am. Having not planned for breakfast I figured I’d make my way up to Bouchon or Petrossian but instead decided a long walk and pancakes sounded better and made my way south to the Gramercy/Flatiron area to experience Danny Meyer’s latestet enterprise – Maialino.

Having experienced exceptional meals at EMP, Gramercy Tavern, and The Modern in past years I guess I went entered Maialino with a certain expectation – great food, better service, and a comfortable setting – perhaps I should have thought differently when I arrived to a broken front door to the restaurant causing me to be filed through the hotel lobby where a snooty doorman asked me if I was “lost.” Informing him that I actually knew precisely where I was going and that there was a sign on Maialino’s door pointing me to the lobby I received an “oh, sorry” and a finger pointing me in the direction of the clearly marked restaurant.

Entering the doors to a restaurant less than 1/4 full I told the hostess I’d like a table for one to which she stated – well, we can seat you in the bar, we serve the full menu there. Taking my coat and bag and handing me a check ticket I was led to the bar area without even being offered a seat in the main room – seats which remained empty throughout my 35 minute “experience.” Browsing the room I have to admit I liked the feel of the room, though the overhead Coldplay certainly didn’t require quite as much volume. Watching the young (and largely unprofessional) female serving the tables to my right flirt with some younger guys without even acknowledging my table I sat unattended for approximately 5 minutes before my server finally came and offered me water and coffee – highly touted as being from San Francisco.

Offered in a 2-serving press-pot or a single 8oz glass ($5.50 and $3.25 respectively) the coffee was good but certainly not on par with Blue Bottle or Intelligentsia (in San Francisco and Chicago respectively) or even Illy. No refills, sorry – I drank water for the rest of my meal.

Browsing the menu I noted a couple items that sounded good and asked my server his opinion between the pork Panini and the pancakes – obviously he said everything on the menu was good but he preferred the pancakes. Taking his advice I ordered the pancakes and the Bombolini and sat back to watching the crowd around me receive their food – food that looked quite meager, honestly – many items a portion-size that would be appropriate for a 20+course tasting at Alinea or Per Se (and nowhere near the quality.) I laughed inside quite heartily when a neighboring couple of 50+ years received the pork Panini and a muffin – the muffin about the size of a grade-A large egg and the Panini (no lie) about the size of a piece of bunny bread cut diagonally to make a sandwich approximately 1.5 inches thick – the man himself chuckled at it and called the $14 price tag “ridiculous” as he finished it in three bites.

When my dishes arrived they weren’t much more impressive – two pieces of “toast” that essentially tasted like the communion host at a Catholic Church – no butter or jam, I took a bite and left the rest.

With regard to the pancakes – they were decent, albeit again quite meager for the price. With water glass sitting empty on my table at this point I poured pure maple syrup (a nice touch, it was warmed) over the thin pancake and ricotta (note, GOOD ricotta pancakes incorporate the cheese into the batter) and took a bite – a little crisp with a fluffy center, mild hints of lemon, nothing to write home about.

Finishing with the Bombolini donuts (and requesting my water refill) they were again alright–each about the size of a Dunkin Donut hole – and filled with a smooth vanilla cream. At $5 for the two small donuts I can’t say I’d recommend them – especially when Bouchon, A Voce, and others serve much better versions.

Receiving my bill and adding a modest tip the total cost of my trip to Maialino was nearly $30 and I left feeling as though I’d eaten nothing, been sat in a bar, and gotten poor service – pretty much the exact opposite of everything I’d previously experienced at a Danny Meyer establishment. Perhaps the empire is growing too fast or perhaps the breakfast service is just too new – I don’t know, but I certainly wouldn’t go back or recommend anyone go check it out.

Leaving the restaurant and nowhere near my caffeine limit I made my way over to Dunkin for a $2 coffee that was only slightly less nuanced (and 12oz larger) than the cup at Maialino and as it had started snowing I decided to make my way on foot up through the already busy Times Square, through Macy’s, and to Central Park where I watched people build snowmen, throw snowballs, and enjoy the last day of the year. Having read that Bouchon would be closed from January 1st until the 11^th I also made my way back to TWC to see if they had any holiday items and was surprised to see they were still offering the Gingerbread Cupcake I’d heard so much about.

Ordering the cupcake ($3.75 and as big as at least 5 Bombolini) I made my way to the café to eat and actually ran into someone I’d known from Medical school in Toledo in the process. After a short chat I sat down to enjoy the cupcake and was, as usual, very impressed by the texture of the cakes served at Bouchon – dense and springy but light and fluffy – somewhere between pound cake and angels food cake but this time a bit more coarse than the red velvet or chocolate in the past. Topped and filled with the same beautiful marshmallow/cream cheese cream and topped with candied ginger that provided a nice contrast and compliment to the ginger, cinnamon, molasses flavor of the cupcake – it was better than anything at Maialino and gram for gram probably more substantial than the $30 meal.