Jacques Genin

The perfect breakfast in Paris: chocolate eclair, espresso, fruit pates at Jacques Genin. And chocolates to go.

Boulangerie Eric Kayser

The pastries at Boulangerie Kayser are my hands-down favorite. The chocolate-filled, sugar coated beignet didn't last long enough for a photo; the pan au chocolate had a rich dark chocolat and the right amount of flakiness.

Dominique Ansel Bakery

 The newly opened Dominique Ansel Bakery is dangerously close to my office - dangerous because the pastries and desserts are amazing and I want to go there every single day. There are beautiful slices of Torta de Santiago, a Spanish almond cake; glossy espresso tarts; lemon poundcakes; rich flourless chocolate cookies...the list goes on and on!

Grub Street Food Festival

The Grub Street Food Festival moved to spacious new digs this year, and hosted a ton of great vendors. I started with the doughnut holes drizzled with caramel sauce and powdered sugar from Wonder City Coffee & Doughnuts.

Moving on to a brief savory stop, Pies 'n' Thighs served a delicious buttered biscuit with a fried piece of chicken covered in hot sauce.

 

A great newcomer, HS Chocolate Co., made their debut with inventive candy bars like the figgy blue, with blue cheese, fig ganache and nougat in dark chocolate, and chocolate disks filled with peanut butter, maple syrup and roasted peanuts.

 

A perennial favorite, Stuffed Artisan Cannolis, had a seasonal pumpkin pie cannoli alongside regular flavors like choco loco.

Blue cheese seemed to be a theme, with Robicelli's Iona cupcake - an amazing pear olive oil cake topped with Roquefort buttercream frosting, almonds and a port reduction.

Fatty Cakes NY had a great selection of yummy looking cookies, like the smashing pumpkin and an old-fashioned made with whiskey, cherries and orange cream.

The fried apple pie from Melt Bakery was fantastic - gooey cinnamon apple filling in a crunchy shell coated with sugar...mmmm.

Babycakes biscuits

What better way to start the morning than with a doughy, vegan biscuit from Babycakes with a dollop of non-dairy cream and jam?

Hester Street Fair: season's close

Halloween was the last day of the Hester Street Fair for the season, and they ended on a high note with some great food vendors. We started with a fish-shaped taiyaki (Japanese pancake) stuffed with sausage and cheese from the Rook.

The smoked short rib and pork shoulder chili with hominy from Char No. 4 was great - I loved the soft, potato-like texture of the cooked hominy. They also had a great side of bourbon spiced peanuts that had a little kick.

On to the desserts: the fried pumpkin pie coated in sugar from Melt Bakery was heaven and I was thrilled to try one after they ran out at the Grubstreet Food Fest.

Wink & Flip made a great pumpkin cookie with icing that had the dense, moist texture of a scone.

They also had a tree of mini pumpkin cheesecakes.

Scratchbread had an interesting take on the sticky bun in their chai sticky roll.

They also made a decadent, cocoa-ey buttercream brownie.

Macaron Parlour has some really great flavors - Thai chili with peanuts and honey; candied bacon with maple cream cheese; s'mores; and pumpkin pie.

Cups of spiced apple cider and spicy hot chocolate (with a gorgeous square marshmallow) from La Newyorkina were a perfect ending.

Little Cupcake Bakeshop

I can't resist a chocolate cupcake topped with meringue, and the newly opened Little Cupcake Bakeshop has a great version - a light, fluffy chocolate cake with soft meringue frosting and chocolate sprinkles.

They also have so many other interesting flavors - blue velvet (blueberry/cream cheese), dreaming princess (almond cake with raspberry/vanilla buttercream and meringue), hummingbird (banana/pineapple) and peanut butter and jelly - that I'll be tasting my way through all winter.

Grub Street Food Festival @ Hester Street Fair

The Grub Street Food Festival took place last Saturday at the Hester Street Fair, and it had great food, worth wading my way through 13,000 people for. I was most excited about trying the Mexicue truck, for it's BBQ/Mexican combos. The barbecue beet was great, with beets in a strong barbecue sauce and topped with goat cheese. The chorizo taco was very spicy, with habanero aioli slaw and cilantro and feta cheese.


Their bbq brisket slider was also incredible - smoky, tender meat flavored with with spicy slaw and avocado.

Unfortunately, by the time we reached the front of the line at Pako Taco, the beef tacos had sold out, but this Korean chicken taco with spicy sauce, kimchi and cucumber was still really good.

Dessert from Melt Bakery was fantastic - thick molasses cookies with creamy pumpkin ice cream filling.

Francois Payard Bakery

I'm thrilled that the Francois Payard Bakery just opened downtown. It's not only a bakery, but also has savory options, like this incredible roast beef sandwich. The meat is like a porchetta of beef - juicy, tender and full of herb flavor. It's topped with fontina and pesto on their signature baguette.

The arugula and asparagus salad was fresh and crisp, topped with parmesan and a lemon dressing.

The broccoli quiche was cheesy and delicious.

On to the desserts...the lemon tart was creamy and citrusy in a crusty shell.

The strawberry tart was bursting with strawberry flavor on a bed of creamy custard and accented with a few pistachios.

Of course there had to be chocolate - perfection in the form of this raspberry and milk chocolate cake roll.

Torrisi @ San Gennaro

I have to be honest: I dread the San Gennaro festival. It means having to fight my way through crowds of Italian-sausage stuffing tourists on my doorstep just to get into my building and the smell of ten pound bags of raw onions being chopped at 10 in the morning. However, this year there is a ray of light: the Torrisi Italian Specialties booth. They're serving a juicy roast pork sandwich topped with spicy broccoli rabe and peppers, the most incredible mozzarella sticks from their hand-made cheese in a herbed, crusty batter, and a sweet cream puff to top it all off.

Bisous Ciao

Bisous Ciao is a sleek new macaron shop on the lower east side. The colors are bright and beautiful, and the confections are bursting with flavors like sour cherry, salted caramel, gianduja, and even vanilla. Macaron perfection.

Eat My Chocolate

Eat My Chocolate is a cute new sweet shop opened by a mother-daughter team in Nolita that creates creamy handmade chocolates, baked goods like strawberry cheesecake cupcakes, and giant macaroons. Yum!

Eataly

My advice for a visit to Eataly: go directly to a food station, order wine and when sufficiently relaxed, proceed to attempt to navigate the crowds and shop. The meat lasagna in the pizza/pasta station was a great place to start - the pasta thin and light with just the right balance of bechamel and sauce.

Dessert was a crunchy almond cookie and this delicate vanilla panna cotta with orange marmalade and salted crumble on top. Delicious!

The other desserts looked delectable and I want to try more on a future visit.

There are also golden roasted chickens available to go.

The cheese section is huge, and stocked.

There is also a tiny station with chocolates, like this praline caramel.