Paradis Lost

My company's office moved down to the Union Square area back in October. While Union Square is great for commuting purposes, in terms of snacks, there's really not much in the immediate area.  There's things way in the west village, and way in the east village, and in Chelsea, but really not much aside from Max Brenner (not a favorite of mine).

When the office was in the process of getting set up, Justin came all the way from California to both get the place up and running, as well as cross some cookie spots off his must-try list.  Justin stumbled upon Paradis, 2 blocks from the office, which had a sign on the door that said NYC's best cookie.  He picked it up and said it was pretty good, and worth checking out.  So of course, a good 6 weeks later, I finally made it down there!

I tried the brownie the first time. At first bite, it tasted a little bit like Jell-O pudding.  I didn't think I was going to like it, and was kind of disappointed.  But then I tried it again a few hours later, and it tasted much better.  It was light and chewy, and had a layer of powdered sugar on top.  I don't think I would get it again, but it was okay for the moment.  The food there was actually REALLY good.  I had a quinoa salad with kale, fennel and butternut squash. Every time I've gone there I've had great lunches, so I'm definitely a fan of the food.
The story of Paradis is super cute too.  This American girl named Kim was studying French cooking in Paris, and met this French butcher, Mickael Paradis.  They fell in love, got married and opened up Paradis-To-Go.  Now they operate the cafe, serving French/American food with a rotating daily menu and delicious baked goods.

I had to go back to try the cookie, and luckily the next time I went they were giving out samples!  The cookie was amazing - super doughy and chocolatey, and crumbled in my hands.  I went back with Danielle a few days later to split one, and we absolutely loved it.  Luckily, since Paradis is right near the office and within eyesight of our gym, we can pop in there every day to be healthy and get a salad, or be unhealthy and split one of their amazing cookies.  Definitely add this place to your must try cookie list!


Paradis (http://paradistogo.com/about.html)
114 Fourth Avenue (off E 12th Street, diagonal from Crunch gym)
Open Monday-Friday, 7-7; Saturday 9-6

14th Annual Chocolate Show!

November 13th, the Cjaps and guest blogger of the day Sangita attended the 14th Annual Chocolate Show at the Metropolitan Pavilion.  This was the 2nd year Caryn and I attended the show.  Last year was amazing, and we were excited for weeks leading up to this year's event!  Now we learned two lessons from last year - one, to survey the whole room before getting too full to try all of the different exhibitors.  And two, if you fall in love with some of the chocolate, buy it then and there, because most of the places are not New York, or even United States-based, and it's either difficult, expensive or impossible to order it online.

The winner of the day was Comptoir du Cacao. They are a French artisan chocolate, with a factory located just outside of Paris.  They were sampling all of their offerings, and every single thing I tasted was out of this world.  They had brought 200 sampler boxes, and had only 5 left by the time we got there.  Caryn and I both bought them, and I'm going to save it for a special occasion.  They had milk and dark chocolate candies with prailine inside, that reminded me of a gourmet Kit Kat.  There were chocolate squares with ginger, coffee, Sichuan pepper, curry and rose powder.  "Croustines", which were chocolate crystal pieces with salted-butter caramel, candied orange zest & white chocolate with grated coconut.  They use chocolates from around the world (primarily countries in South America and Africa where the best cacao beans come from).
They do sell their products sometimes in Zabar's, however the super nice man that worked there told me it always sells out really fast, so if you do happen to be on the UWS and see them there, grab it.  Otherwise you can order it from their website, www.comptoicacao.fr


Neuchatel Chocolates is a Swiss chocolatier that we discovered at last year's show, and Caryn remembers best for their milk chocolate covered potato chips.  They also sell truffles and chocolates, but these potato chips are fantastic and we all were compelled to buy them.  For $8 a jar it's a little on the pricey side, but mine are going to my parents for Thanksgiving, and I'm sure they'll be much appreciated in the Kessler household and gone before the turkey makes it out of the oven.
www.neuchatelchocolates.com

West End Confection Co
This place was like Dylan's candy bar miniaturized. They had candy covered everything - pretzels, marshmallows, rice krispie treats - and the presentation was fantastic. Based in Morganville, NJ, West End makes amazing tasting treats ready to be given as gifts. I bought chocolates cellophane wrapped and ribboned in martini glasses. One was melted chocolates with pretzel bits, resembling a chocolate martini adorned with a Twizzler straw. There were also Chinese food take-out boxes filled with chocolate candy-covered pretzel rods. I walked away from here poorer and with more bags to carry, but the bags were pastel pink and I made a few people very happy with their gifts!
www.westendconfectionco.com/
New runner for top cookie - Salt of the Earth Bakery. Just as Sangita was commenting that she needed something salty to offset all the sweet, in came Salt.  The employees were the pits - they were rude about everything from providing samples to asking where their cookies were sold. But the cookies were filled with chocolate chunks, a bit of salt to give a nice flavorful combo, and I liked them better than Jacques (who was also here again, but charging for his life-sized cookies).  Salt of the Earth sells their cookies, made with sea salt from the Kona district of Hawaii, in a few stores - the most I was able to get out of them was Garden of Eden and 'some store in Brooklyn' - thanks for the specifics - but if you come across them again, I highly recommend giving them a try!!

http://saltoftheearthbakery.com/

Sweet Factory charms had a unique candy to sell - jewelry pretty enough to eat! There were cupcake and donut earrings, and bracelets where you could select your charms from every sweet imaginable. I wouldn't actually wear any of it, but for a child this would have been adorable, and a fun party idea for a grade schooler.


The Ecuador Trade office was there, featuring all of the best chocolates from the worst country I visited on my South America adventure.  Pacari was my favorite, the one I kept trying to bring back for people but it melted and I was forced to keep eating it.  They make really awesome chocolate covered bananas, and their bars range from chocolate blueberry and lavender to lemongrass and sea salt.  They were the nicest people, unlike the sketchsters in Quito who tried to kill me everywhere.  These people gave us a million samples, and told us where we could buy their bars.  You can find them in Whole Foods, among other places.  They're definitely more expensive here than in Ecuador, where it was about $4 a bar (here it's $6-8!), but it's so good.  

Co Co Sala, from Washington, DC, had a pumpkin seed brittle bark that made it to the must-have list.  It was dark chocolate, pumpkin seeds on top and a layer of brittle in between.  That was one of our favorites too, and it lasted not even 24 hours in my house :)  Can't wait to go to DC to go to their restaurant and get more!
http://www.cocosala.com/



For our international fans, The Chocolate Show will be in a ton of other cities internationally from 2011-2012: Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Madrid, Zurich, Bahia, Cairo, Moscow, Shanghai, Tokyo and 6 cities in Japan.




Thank you guest blogger of the day, Sangita, for participating in this fun day!!!

The Lodge, not just for brunch anymore!

Caryn and I usually have a list of places to check out on hand, but sometimes new desserts literally present themselves to you by showing up on my phone when I check in on FourSquare - places I hadn't even heard of or knew of their existence!
Last week, I went to Williamsburg to go to brunch with my brother and some friends.  We went to The Lodge, one of Lil Kess' favorite brunch spots.  As we raced to be the first to check in and win the eternal war to be at the top of the FourSquare leaderboard, a note popped up telling me not to miss the place nextdoor, where I could find a Oreo and marshmallow chocolate chip cookie.  Well, what do you know!  It's like they knew I spend my days scouring the dessert blogs to find new places to review.

After brunch, we headed next door and found said cookie.  It looked so beautiful, all of my favorite things combined into cookie form. Chocolate chips for the chocolate. Marshmallows for the fluffy center. Oreos for the cookie and creme. All wrapped together in cookie dough. I was beyond excited (and also beyond full from brunch, which I also recommend by the way.)  But I had to try!

I asked the man at the counter what was in the other desserts, and what they were known for.  I actually hated the guy working - he pretty much stared at me blankly as he didn't answer my question, and didn't seem to want to give me the cookie I had come in for either.  I asked if they had a card so I could write the place up and he gave me a postcard for the Lodge, but since I can't find this General Store outpost on the website, I feel like there was probably a different name.  So when you go here, just go to the Lodge and walk next door to the right of the restaurant.  They had cookie bars that also looked amazing, but FourSquare told me to come for the cookie so that's what I did.

It was awesome!  The marshmallow made the inside soft and chewy, and the Oreo made it super sweet.  A little too sweet for most, but not for me of course.  Our friend Natalie tried it and loved it so much she ran back in to get another one.

There were a few other desserts there, like these cookie chocolate peanut butter bars and smores bars and a ton of other amazing looking bar/cakes, which I will definitely be back to try!

So next time you finish brunch at Lodge, or if you're passing by and in the mood for a cookie or chocolate bar, definitely check this place out!

Lodge is located at 318 Grand Street.  I don't know Williamsburg too well, but I do know it's also near my favorite bar, Barcade, that has Pac Man and Tetris, so make sure to stop by there too!!

Rink Dinks & Twinks, brought to you by Betty from Brooklyn

Betty Bakery, on Atlantic Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, had been on my list of places to go for a while now, after reading about their own version of Hostess cakes such as the Rinky Dink & Twink (Betty’s special Ring Dings and Twinkies).  When my new roommate and I were apartment shopping in the area, I decided to walk past it and finally get to give it a try.  Sure enough, the day I made it down there, it was Monday and it turns out that they aren’t open on Mondays.  So the next time Stacey and I met up to celebrate getting out apartment at the Addison, we went back to Betty’s to finally try it.


I of course opted for the Rinky Dink, since that was the dessert I had read about and  Ring Dings are one of my guilty non-bakery related desserts.  It was definitely better than the pre-packaged hostess treats.  The layer of chocolate was thicker, the cake was soft and it had just the right amount of cream inside.  Sad to say we only tried the one dessert because I had just come from brunch and wasn’t even hungry, but now that Betty’s is just a few blocks away I’m sure I’ll be back.  The Rinky Dink did cost $3.50, which in comparison with a whole box of Hostess Rings Dings for $2.50 this is a little bit hard to justify, but I chalked it up to the fact that these are freshly made and include local, high-quality ingredients.

Other menu items of note are Twinks (obviously based on Hostess Twinkies), caramel tarts, cupcakes, and lots of different puddings – triple chocolate, coconut tapioca, and bread pudding.  They also had little Marzipan figures, but at $6.50 for a small piece, definitely not worth it.
They also carry bread from Balthazar, for those of you that can’t get to Prince Street to buy it fresh.  They had a wide selection of coffees as well, including cappuccinos and espressos.  I had a great ice coffee, and since there is limited seating we sat and enjoyed our Rinky Dink and ice coffees on the bench in front.

Betty’s has been opened since 2006.  The owners used to work somewhere called Bijoux Doux Specialty Cakes, before they relocated to Boerum Hill and opened Betty’s.  Neither of the owners are named Betty.  The premise of Betty’s is to create baked goods that resemble the treats that came out of grandma’s kitchen, but updated to today’s standards.  For you gluten-sensitive readers, the chocolate-almond cake is wheat-free.  For the animal-friendly, the eggless chocolate cake is vegan.  Betty’s also accepts cake orders and can cater for weddings and other parties.

Betty Bakery is located at 448 Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn between Bond and Nevins Streets.  For those of you scared of crossing the bridge into Brooklyn, it is easily accessible from Atlantic Terminal, or the A/C/G to the Hoyt/Schermerhorn stop.  And while you’re there, call me and you can come visit my new apartment  J  But don’t come on Mondays, because they and I won’t be there.

www.bettybakery.com
718-237-2271

The Cjaps vote for #1 cookie in NY - Levain!

I realized recently that when I created this blog, I had already tried many of my favorite places, which meant that I never had the chance to blog about them. I also realized that I love contributing to this blog and educating people on the all the amazing desserts this city has to offer. So what does that mean? That I am probably going to have to revisit some of my favorites, and also that I have to get back to blogging once a week.
With that being said, let’s start at the beginning. What is the absolute best cookie in NYC. The leader of the cookie pack, that has people lining up to get a fresh out of the oven chocolate chip-laden doughy mound?

Hands down, I have to say Levain. Caryn gets credit as being the first one to have heard about Levain. One day, on a trip to the Upper West Side, Caryn wanted to go to this particular bakery to try a cookie made by triatheletes. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I never argue with getting to try a cookie. So off we went to W 74th street, and as we descended the stairs to the tiny shop there was a line of people waiting their turn for a piece of this giant mound of dough. The bakery itself is simple. There is a small counter, and the kitchen with their trays upon trays of cookies cooling down clearly visible. Levain opened in 2005, by Connie McDonald and Pam Weekes. The two women were training for an Iron Man in 1994, and needed to get their calories in, so instead of filling up on Gu Gels or Powerade, they decided to create a 6 ounce cookie with the finest ingredients.
My personal favorite is the dark chocolate chip cookie, but even with my sweet tooth I find it hard to finish this monstrosity of a dessert. The cookies always have a soft chocolate-filled center that makes you want to keep eating even though you were full 3 bites ago. They’re made with extra dark French cocoa and semisweet chocolate chips, and all I can say is that I’m glad they’re not obligated to post the calories on the menu because I wouldn’t want anything to take away from the experience of eating a cookie from Levain.
I also tried the dark chocolate peanut butter cookie, and even though I typically don’t like peanut butter unless it’s in the form of Reese’s Pieces, this was pretty damn amazing too. Levain has been written up for their sourdough brioche roll stuffed with Valerhona chocolate, but these tend to sell out early in the day and I’ve never been fortunate enough to have the chance to try one. If you’ve tried it, post your review here so I can be encouraged to get up there early enough to have my share!
Levain is located at 167 W 74th Street near Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side. They have 2 additional locations, one in Harlem on Frederick Douglass Boulevard and another in the Hamptons.

http://www.levainbakery.com/

Chocolate Show in NY - get your tickets now!

Hey everyone,

The 14th Annual Chocolate Show will be returning to NY November 10th - 13th at the Metropolitan Pavilion, located on W 18th street between 6th & 7th Avenues in Manhattan.

We'll be attending that Sunday, with our special guest of the day Sangita! Tickets are $30 for Thurs, Fri & Sun, and $35 on Saturday.

Last year we had the pleasure of tasting some of Jacque Torres' wicked hot chocolate, and smores from a fondue fountain.  This year's participants are still TBD but I'm sure they'll be worth the trip!

http://www.chocolateshow.com/salon_intro.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Make your own froyo finally catching on!

I was only gone for 4 months, but somehow a million new froyo places have popped up everywhere!
I knew that 16 Handles was planning on opening up a ton of new locations, including the Upper West Side, West Village, and even one in Brooklyn in the Midwood area!  I'm happy to say that they wisened up and added the toppings they brought to the Upper East Side location, down to the East Village.  These are coming soon, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, I stumbled across four new make-your-own places in the last month.  Let's give you the run-down, followed by a quick list of the existing places we already knew about.

First we have Flavaboom, on 6th Ave between 17th & 18th street.  They have fewer flavors than 16 Handles, but some different toppings. They had mint chocolate chips, and caramel drops.  They also had a ton of baked goods, such as cookies and brownies, and vegan cupcakes in interesting flavors like bubble gum!

There's a new location of Roast Town Coffee on W 34th street between 7th and 8th Avenue.  This used to be my go-to because the original location is on 6th Avenue in the high 20s (I think 27th street), and it was the only make-your-own froyo place in midtown.  The yogurt isn't anything special and the toppings are standard, but it's convenient enough.  There's also a location in the East Village near St Mark's, but the one on 34th street had barely any flavors and even fewer toppings. I was majorly disappointed.

Outside the city, these places are catching on too!  When driving through Staten Island, I spotted Orange Leaf frozen yogurt. Since I was in my least favorite borough, I decided to make a pit stop and check it out to try to give SI some credit. They had only been open a month and were out of original flavor, losing many points in my book. But if you're going to be stuck out on SI, at least you have somewhere good to go for dessert now!  Oddly enough, Orange Leaf is a chain with 98 stores across the US, but the only NY location is in Staten Island. Arkansas, Minnesota, Indiana and Kansas seemed to have a lot of locations, which made me realize that the fro-yo trend isn't concentrated to New York and California. On a trip to Chicago in 2008, I was apalled that the only ice cream-type treat available was a Dairy Queen 30 minutes outside the city center.  Orange Leaf has a location in Illinois, but not Chicago. Very surprising. Isn't Chicago supposed to be a major city?  For all you Staten Islanders, Orange Leaf is located at 65 Page Avenue. Enjoy!


Last, there was a Tutti Frutti in Long Beach, right across the street from the LIRR en route to the beach. I suppose this information is useless, with it being September and summer being over, but unfortunately Labor Day was my first beach trip all summer, and the discovery came quite late in the season. I have to credit Alana Leviton for not only teaching me about this place, but convincing me it was so good that it was worth the trip out to Long Beach. I have to agree, Tutti Frutti had some of the best yogurt I've tried. Their Dulce Leche flavor was amazing and reminded me of Argentina (that's a good thing), although a little on the sweet side and would have been hard to load up on Kit Kat and Twix toppings - too much sugar!  The Cake Batter and Coconut flavors were delicious too. They had a wider variety of toppings than even 16 Handles, include toasted coconut, Ghiradelli chocolate syrup, and candied walnuts.  Next summer, make sure to stop in here before getting on your train back to Manhattan!

Now for the round-up, since people are always asking me where the nearest froyo spots are. I will provide only the make-your-owns, because there are too many Pinkberry/Tasti Delites for even me to know about!

Financial District:
Red Mango self-serve, 111 Fulton Street

East Village:
16 Handles, 2nd Avenue @ E 10th Street
Roast Town Coffee, St Parks & 3rd Ave
There's a 3rd place on St. Marks on the block between 3rd & Astor, I forget the name but it's not nearly as good as 16 Handles and worth walking up the block.

West Village:
Phileo Yogurt, 267 Bleecker Street between 5th & 6th Ave

Chelsea:
Flavaboom, 6th Avenue & 17th Street

Midtown:
Roast Town Coffee, 6th Avenue and W 27th Street
Roast Town Coffee, W 34th Street between 7th & 8th Avenue

Red Mango, W 32nd Street between 5th & 6th Avenues

Upper East Side:
16 Handles, 2nd Ave & E 82nd Street

Upper West Side:
16 Handles, Amsterdam Avenue & W 76th Street

If I am missing any, please let me know so I can keep up to date! I am sure new things have opened while I was away that are necessary to try.