Breads Bakery - a nice post-Passover leavened treat

Union Square is probably one of the smallest neighborhoods in NYC.  Go too far above 18th street you're in Flatiron. Venture to the left an extra couple of steps you're in Chelsea. Over to the west? Gramercy. And right below, the East Village. Each neighborhood has it's own identity, and their own share of bakeries and chocolate shops to get you coming back for more.  But Union Square proper really hasn't had much of a claim to stake in the bakery category, until Breads came onto the scene in February.

All of the breads and pastries are made with fresh, natural ingredients.  For someone like me, with a sensitivity to most of the ingredients found in baked goods and processed foods, this means that I can eat it without getting sick, always a plus!

There is a wide assortment of bread loafs, from Rye to Walnut to cereal bread.  The counter held quiches made of goat cheese and artichoke.  There were sandwiches and coffees and ample seating to escape the chaos of Union Square (or take a breather after a trip to Lululemon).

I had a hard time deciding here, but opted for the chocolate roll and two pieces of the chocolate rugelach.  The owner/baker Uri Scheft is originally from Israel (he's the man behind the 11-year old Lehamim bakery in Tel Aviv), so you'll find a lot of Jewish desserts, including the rugelach and a chocolate babka loaf.  Even though I'm Jewish, I've never been a fan of Jewish desserts.  Most don't include chocolate, and the ones that do are usually hard and stale-tasting and not worth the calories.  But this rugelach was phenomenal.  Each piece was bite-sized and warm, fresh out of the oven.  Looking like mini chocolate croissants, it was oozing with chocolate and flaky crust, and all I could think was that I wished I had brought home other things from Breads to try.

Bread Bakery, now open at 18 East 16th street, right off of Union Square East.
Open Monday - Friday, 7-7. Weekends 8-7.  Every train goes to Union Square, so no excuses why you can't check this one out!
www.breadsbakery.com

Crepes and Waffles - Colombia edition

On a recent trip to Colombia, I was excited to get up close and personal with the best Colombian chocolate, similar to what Caryn and I find on the shelves at Whole Foods.  When I got to Colombia, however, I learned that, much like Ecuador, all of the best chocolate is exported elsewhere, and I have a better chance of getting Colombian chocolate at my local grocery store.

Colombia is known for their Arequipe, which is caramel/dulce de leche, which is quite good but there was no way for me to survive 10 days without chocolate!
Thankfully, my friends discovered an ice cream chain which saved my chocolate cravings, and the trip!

Crepes and Waffles opened in 1980 in Bogota, styled after a French creperie.  Colombians love to eat traditional food and you won't come across as many foreign chains or cuisines as you will in other Latin countries.  Bogota is also located at a high altitude (2,625 metres - 8,612 feet above sea level), and as the third highest-altitude capital city in South America after La Paz and Quito, it is quite cold.  A French ice cream shop was definitely a gamble, since Bogota folks don't even wear shorts in their summer (learned this the hard way), however this chain became a sweet spot (literally) for Colombians,

Chocolate brownie ice cream, photo compliments of Grace Lee

turned out to be a tremendous success, and now there are 62 locations throughout Colombia alone, as well as stores across Ecuador, Panama, Mexico, Peru, Spain, Brazil, Venezuela and Chile.  I was actually quite surprised when I made this discovery, since I spent time in most of those places, ice cream-less.  I don't recall even eating in Ecuador aside from corn from a street cart, because the food was godawful. Knowledge for next time!

Some of the shops today are still heladerias (ice cream shops), however many also have grown to include restaurants with an extensive brunch menu.

You can order a plain, amazingly rich ice cream flavor in a cupo or a cono, or you can choose from their list of specialty desserts, which include cheesecake, fondue, ice creams with faces (picture below) and a lot of other desserts that are all detailed in Spanish that it's too early in the morning for me to attempt to translate. (Full list of desserts)

I really wanted to get the happy face dessert shown on the right, but there was a problem with the freezers at the location in Cartagena Julia and I went to on our last night, and the ice creams were half melting, and my poor cara de sonreir helado was not going to happen. Also, I think they're meant for 5 year olds and that's secretly why the lady wouldn't do it.  So instead I opted for chocolate and brownie, and I died and went to heaven right there outside the shop on Carrera 2.  There were full brownie chunks mixed into the ice cream.  My two scoops were so decadent, and you could taste the fresh chocolate that was probably picked in the nearby cacao plantation in each and every bite. I'm shockingly not a big ice cream fan typically, but I fell in love with Crepes and Waffles.  Julia and I were mildly depressed after that we hadn't made it here sooner, and crossed our fingers we'd find one at the airport so we could have it one more time (it wasn't.) We'll have to make a trip to another Latin country to get to experience this again!

Full list of locations throughout Central and South America:
http://crepesywaffles.com.co/puntos-de-venta

What's your favorite dessert you've discovered abroad?

Crumbs 10 Year Anniversary

Close your eyes for a minute.
Think back to New York City at the beginning of the millennium.
What do you remember?
I recall Y2K, running around a party holding 4 flashlights and a package of beef jerky (the power didn't go out, and the Slim Jim was eaten long before midnight).
I remember when there was no B train to bring you to South Brooklyn but the Q and Q diamond, because the MTA seemed to temporarily run out of letters of the alphabet and moved along to differentiation by shapes.
I remember friends letting each other know their whereabouts via AOL instant messenger away messages.
What I don't remember, is cupcakes.
And since I've been a chocoholic since birth, you can bet I'd remember having cupcakes that didn't come from a Duncan Hines box.
But the reason I don't remember (and I'm sure you don't either), is because they didn't exist!
There were a couple out there - Magnolia (overrated) was around in the mid-90s, but cupcakes just weren't a thing...until there was Crumbs.

Working at an ad agency right out of college, I clearly remember Crumbs.  It was the next big thing back in 2004.  Reps would bring them in for meetings, and the second they were placed on the snack table the hoards of starving media planners would pounce from the woodworks to get a glimpse of these amazing giant calorie-ridden baked miracles of god.  Having never been a fan of any sort of chain establishment (Chipotle is exempt from this statement), it's rare to hear me say that I so much as like a chain, let alone call it my favorite.  But Crumbs has done a phenomenal job of making cupcakes a necessity - a sugar, sprinkle-covered treat that comes in every imaginable flavor, size and seasonal theme.

Crumbs originated in 2003 on the Upper West Side (originally a little mom & pop bakery managed by Mia and Jason Bauer).  They gradually opened up additional locations and spread like wildfire - today there are a total of 62 stores throughout the state of New York, as well as Chicago, DC, Boston, Viriginia and LA.

One of the things I love about Crumbs is their ability to change with the times.  When their abundance of locations forced them to post calories, and the world was able to see that there were over 1,000 calories in some varieties, they worked around it by creating additional sizes (most cupcakes are now available in a "Classic" (regular), "Signature" (original, large, double-the normal size of  a cupcake size), and mini "Taste".  If you're bringing cupcakes for a group you can get a 12 pack of an assortment of the "tastes".  If you're going to a birthday party you can get a giant Colossal cupcake and 6-8 people can share.

They have holiday themes (Red Velvet Hearts, Hugs and Kisses) for Valentine's Day.  They just had football cupcakes for the superbowl; some that had green frosting and footballs on top and others that had chocolate covered potato chips and pretzels.  They have every flavor imaginable, from your basics like vanilla frosting with sprinkles, to red velvet, to peanut butter cup and cookie dough.  Every location carries different flavors as well; and some are named based upon their location (there's a Bryant Park cupcake at the 42nd street location only for example).  I like to stop in sometimes just to see what new flavors there are.

As I mentioned they change with the times - well, they know there's a lot of competition out there.  With Baked by Melissa's mini bite-size cupcakes, Magnolia's boring but somehow widely loved Carrie Bradshaw cupcakes, and places like Butter Lane, Billy's, and Sugar Sweet Sunshine - Crumbs has to keep up to maintain their popularity.  While at Roosevelt Field mall last week, I was amazed to walk into a Crumbs to find a make-your-own cupcake station!  Those Crumbs folks know that us New Yorkers are all about customization, so they're now allowing you to design your own cupcake, selecting your base flavor, filling, frosting flavor and toppings.

That was what caught my attention while passing by.  But once we entered, we were amazed at all the other new novelties I hadn't seen at my usual Crumbs near Grand Central.  They had cake pushpops.  Candy bars in Crumbs flavors (Cookies and Cream, Red Velvet, etc).  They carry their usual brownies and cookies, but there was also chocolate cookie pizza!  With a cookie crust for dough, chocolate layer for sauce, MMs, marshmallow, Reese's PB cups for topping and caramel sprinkled across for cheese - it's almost as good as getting a slice at Spumoni Gardens!!  It was of course amazing, and Caryn and I splitting it still were only able to finish half.  I'm sure I don't have to tell you where your nearest Crumbs is (you should really know that!) but if you don't: http://www.crumbs.com/locations
Comment below to let me know your favorite flavor of Crumbs!

Willy Wonka & Jacques Torres coming to Brooklyn!

Super exciting news - Jaques Torres, who many already refer to as the Willy Wonka of the real world, will be making that dream statement more of a reality.  Jacques will be opening a giant chocolate factory in the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park. 

The new space will include a 70-foot tunnel, a chocolate powder room, an ice-cream room, and a five-ton chocolate melter.  In October of 2011 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Willy Wonka, Jacques had Oompa Loompas at his store giving out Golden Tickets.  Let's all cross our fingers and hope all of the employees at this new factory will be the Oompa Loompas from the picture below!

Two Red Hens with way more than two cupcakes

While on my way to visit a friend on the Upper East Side last week, I decided it would be nice to bring a little something over, and also to have a something to use for my monthly blog entry.  Unfortunately the last few weeks I've been living on Starbucks cake pops and while I absolutely love them, I can't blog about anything that comes from a Seattle-based chain restaurant!  There are a few places that have opened up on the UES in the past few months that have made it to 'the list' - including Pips the gluten free bakery and the place that has all the candy from London.  But I had heard about the cupcakes at Two Little Red Hens and decided this was the way to go.

Now I'm usually a little bit anti-buying things that say Brooklyn when they're not from Brooklyn (I will never, ever shop at any Brooklyn Industries if it's across the Brooklyn Bridge).  But the most popular cupcake at TLRH is the Brooklyn Blackout, so I had to make an exception just this once.  There is a limited but good variety of cupcakes available, and most come in both mini and large versions.  The regular cupcake flavors include red velvet, carrots, banana, ginger, pumpkin spice and marble.  Then you have the specialty filled cupcakes - peanut butter fudge swirl, boston cream, key lime, coconut creme, and the Brooklyn Blackout, our flavor of the day.

The Brooklyn Blackout consists of a dark chocolate cake with chocolate pudding filling, topped with chocolate icing.  I got the miniature version to try and it was perfection, but I think the large version would probably be a little overwhelming.  All of the small versions cost $1.75, and the larger versions are $3 for the regular and $4 for the filled; on par with NYC cupcake prices.  There was only one mini Bk Blackout when I got there, so I'm glad I made it in time!  The marble and red velvet were just okay, to be honest.  I wasn't a fan of the cream cheese frosting on the red velvet and the marble was a little bit boring.  They wrapped my three mini cupcakes in a heart shape which was super cute.  I listened in on what others were ordering and it seems like cheesecake and the red velvet cupcake are high on the list.  Maybe I was having an off day with the red velvet, but I would recommend trying the Brooklyn Blackout if you make it uptown and can find the shop behind the scaffolding (will the 2nd Avenue subway line ever be finished?!)

Two Little Red Hens is located at 1652 2nd Avenue between East 85th and 86th streets.  Hours of operation are Monday-Friday 7:30am-9pm, Saturday 8am-9pm and Sunday 8am-7pm.

http://www.twolittleredhens.com/

From Soho to Japan - the best chocolate across the globe!

After learning about my chocolate obsession, a friend from work told me the most amazing news ever - his wife works in marketing for the beloved MarieBelle (www.mariebelle.com)!  If you're not familiar, MarieBelle is a chocolatiere with a shop in Soho, over on Broome Street.  To celebrate her opening of a store in Kyoto, she partnered with a Japanese kimono designer named named Nobuaki Tomita, and he used her chocolate to make the first ever chocolate kimono!  Unfortunately I ruined my 15 seconds of fame with MarieBelle & Tomita by making weird faces at Craig's camera, but I had to post the pic anyway since I was so excited to meet her!

Craig, Cjap and I went to the event over at the Lowell hotel, where up on the second floor MarieBelle and Tomita were waiting to showcase his array of stunning kimonos, as well as demonstrate how he created the chocolate kimono.  At the end of the show, where we saw up close and personal how to dress like a geisha, they handed out MarieBelle's hot chocolate and a gift bag with a sampling of her luxury chocolates in an adorable case.

Why do we love MarieBelle?  Her chocolates are not only delicious and made from the finest and most diverse (and natural) ingredients, but each and every piece is a work of art.

Her chocolates are bite size, and while there are standard combinations like hazelnut, mint and caramel, there are also flavors such as earl gray, cilantro, lavender, mojito, dulce de leche, and caipirinha (leading me to believe she is inspired by flavors around the world, predominantly South America!).

There are regular chocolates and chocolate bark as well, but since we tasted the hot chocolate tonight that's what I'll focus on.  This takes the lead, replacing City Bakery as my favorite hot chocolate.  It was thin enough to drink, but thick where you felt like it was more of a luscious dessert than a beverage.  Caryn and I were so filled up on a glass that we didn't even eat dinner (okay, the hors d'eurves and wine may have had something to do with that too).  While I've shied away from purchasing too much MarieBelle in the past because I'd need a second job to cover the cost, it makes a lovely gift for any occasion.  Actually everyone, Christmas is just around the corner so if you want to send some as a holiday/housewarming gift...just saying :)


The shop and cafe are located at 484 Broome Street, and while you can purchase her chocolate at retail locations like Whole Foods, the store is definitely worth a visit.  Both the shop and cafe are beautifully decorated - it has the feel that you're stepping into a victorian living room at tea time.  Or if you're visiting Japan, check out the Kyoto location!

To order online and receive your own blue box in the mail:
http://www.mariebelle.com/store

Schmackery's - a cookie haven in Hell's Kitchen

Most New Yorkers avoid Times Square like the plague.  There's really not much reason to go, save for the occasional Broadway show or a trip to Carmine's for a special occasion.  So that will explain my reason for being in Times Square last week, a visit to good old 42nd street to see Bring It On the Musical.  While wandering around amongst the tourists before the show, we stumbled across a cookie shop I hadn't seen or heard of before - Schmackary's.

Zachary Schmahl, the founder, wanted to add a level of sophistication to cookies, and show the world the potential beyond plain old chocolate chip.  He opened up shop in May 2012, after spending years hand delivering his "Lip Schmackin' Good" home-baked cookies to his friends.  The name Schmackary's is a combination of Zach's name.  I thought it was kosher for some reason, but nope - the name was just a nickname of the baker.

The standard menu includes some of our favorites, but with a unique assortment of ingredients within.  For example, the chocolate chip cookie includes coconut and sea salt.  The menu changes daily with about 12 cookies on hand at all times.  Some of the other options include cookies and cream, maple bacon, oatmeal scotch, sch'mores, peanut butter banana crunch, peanut butter cup, red velvet, and white chocolate cherry.  There are two gluten-free options; lemon poppy and sweet corn.

There are seasonal flavors along with their traditional favorites; for Fall our options were caramel apple crisp, candied yam, blueberry cobbler, carrot cake and pumpkin spice.  The cookies come in 3 sizes - Schmall (a bite-sized option), Old-Fashioned (traditional style) & Schmack Snack (dee-dish).  There were also brownies, macaroons and bars that looked equally awesome, but we stuck with the Sch'mores cookie since that's their signature item and the guy at the counter said that's one of his faves.

The cookie base was graham cracker, and it had a layer of chocolate topped with toasted marshmallow.  The cookie portion tasted a bit dry, and the chocolate was underwhelming.  I felt that $2.75 was kind of overpriced for what it was.  But, it IS Times Square, and everything is double what it should be.  I would go back to try a different cookie and give it a second chance, since we did wait hours to actually try it and the marshmallow had solidified, but based on my original experience, I wouldn't put this high on my priority list of places to try.

Schmackery's is open Sunday-Tuesday 8am-11pm; Wednesday-Saturday 8am-midnight.

362 W 45th Street off of 9th Ave

www.schmackarys.com
646-801-YUMM