I don’t know what exactly drove me to eat this much sugar, butter and flour in one morning…as I’m writing this, I getting worried that I’m going to get diabetes and suffer a heart attack eating that many pastries in one day. This is not a good sign. This morning, I went to Georgia’s Bake Shop just because I wanted to scope out the potential macarons that Robyn and I are planning to do for our macaron hunt on April Fool’s Day (that’s Sunday, April 1; anyone who can and will be in NYC, is welcome to join!).
The strange thing is that I passed this place several times whenever I walk from Silver Moon Bakery (trying to burn off a couple of calories) down to my campus (on 58th Street) and I never realized that this was a bakery. Hmmm… Strange.
Anyways, this bakery is quite small but their pastries, cakes, and breads look gorgeous! Take a look…
Oooh…pretty
I’ll get them next time…
That’s just a few things they sell. Too bad the macarons were not available yet. Just to note, this is 8 AM so it is within reason that the macarons aren’t ready, even though I wanted one. Since the macarons aren’t there, I opted for their pan au chocolat (chocolate croissant; $2) and a chocolate cupcake ($2.50). Yeah, I know…strange breakfast.
Bitten
The croissant was actually pretty good. It’s golden brown, flaky, deceptively light, buttery, and not greasy. The chocolate is still in the gooey, melted stage so it’s a good indication that the croissant is fresh. It would’ve been better if it had that shatter that I always wanted. If I rated it like I’m writing my “best croissants” post again (I hope not or I’ll die from clogged arteries = heart attack), I would give it a 3.2. It’s not flaky and crisp enough to be a 3.5. But it’s worth eating.
Innards!
The cupcake was fine. Not mind blowing greatness but it was okay. The cupcake was moist with a hint of chocolate flavor in the cake, topped with chocolate ganache and a pink buttercream flower. My issues are that it’s too one-dimensional in flavor that it tastes a bit boring and it’s not sweet enough.
After I finished eating, I got up and took more photos of the place and waddled myself down to campus. For some reason, I just wanted to go to Bouchon Bakery and get more pastries. I think I’m suffering some kind of psychological disorder that makes me want to eat a lot of sugar and fat today… I ended up ordering a Sticky Bun ($2.75), a Chocolate Bouchon ($1.75) and a small coffee ($1.80; I needed the caffeine).
Bitten
The Chocolate Bouchon was delicious! (Bouchon in French means cork, hence the name of this cork-shaped pastry). To describe this bouchon correctly, think of it as a super dense, just moist, brownie. It’s not too sweet and it’s rich in (tasting Valhrona?) chocolate. I want need their recipe so I could make some myself!
The Sticky bun…
Cross Section view of Sticky Bun
I don’t know why I haven’t eaten this before?! What the hell was I thinking of not liking this gooey, sticky, nutty bun of love? Well, actually I had a couple of bad ones in previous experiences (not from Bouchon though)…but this wipes out all the bad! The bun is made of a rich brioche dough, swirled in with brown sugar and cinnamon, topped with a lot of pecans that could actually make a personal size pecan tart. Yup, this is one rich, gooey, filling, delicious bun… Don’t believe me? Just look at another view of this bun after I cut it.
See the gooey stains on the napkin?
I went into a sugar/butter coma for a while that I had to sit back on my chair and slowly sip my coffee to let it settle. As I came back to reality, it’s about 20 minutes before classes are starting; I got up, grabbed my stuff and walked out in a sloth-like pace to my building. I kept thinking to myself, “What the heck was I thinking of eating all of that crap?!” And even when I’m typing this out for you to read, I still don’t know yet…but what I do know is that if I keep up with this rate of eating from Bouchon, I probably eat at least every single baked good produced by them and maybe half of their savory foods (that’s if I ever wanted to) before my semester’s over. Tasty but not good for me.
Addresses:
Georgia’s Bake Shop
2418 Broadway
New York, NY
Bouchon Bakery
10 Columbus Circle, 3rd Floor
New York, NY
March 6, 2007 at 2:03 am
OOOH I’ve been to Georgia’s before! It was about a year ago when I was wandering around that area with a friend. I remembered the pastries looked great, but I totally forgot the name. Ooooaah…now i’m more excited to go.
No reason not to try everything at Bouchon Bakery! :D That’s what I tried to do with a friend. On our first visit we split 8 items. Hehe. Hehehehe. It’s much easier with friends. :] The sticky bun is awesome! I really liked their muffins and scones. Muuffffiiinnsmmmmmrahrah…
March 6, 2007 at 2:12 am
So you do know this place…(Georgia’s) Oh, well at least we’re anticipating the greatness of their maccies. I hope.
I’m living off of Bouchon Bakery whenever I’m too lazy to get out of the vicinity of my campus to get FOOD. So, I’m slowly eating my way through their menu… In ways, it’s good that I’m progressively getting through EVERYTHING but at the same time I feel bad eating that much stuff.
March 6, 2007 at 2:41 am
That sticky bun looks great.
Everything I’ve had from Bouchon has been great. Except the buche de Noel. But you can’t really expect that to be good.
BTW: Did you redesign your blog? It looks different — really good.
March 6, 2007 at 3:07 am
That sticky bun was awesome!
I did redesign my blog. Thanks for noticing and the compliment. :)
I had issues with Blogger (or Blogspot) so I left them and now I’m currently at WordPress.
March 6, 2007 at 3:42 am
Robyn gave me a bouchon when I gave her some of my macaroons. They are delicious! Ed Levine posted the recipe on his site. After confirming with Thomas Keller himself though, he found that it should have 1 1/2 cups of sugar.
March 6, 2007 at 7:33 am
so many varieties of brioche at Georgia’s - I would have fallen head over heels over the pastry case just drooling at them all!
Bouchon’s sticky bun is the best in the city…you make me miss it so much! and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with eating your way through Bouchon - not the most healthy, but at least you’ll be eating high quality food! ;))
March 6, 2007 at 10:55 am
Jessica: Ooh…Thanks for the link to the recipe! (and Ed Levine for publishing it.)
Kathy: I do concur that Bouchon has the damn best sticky bun in the city. Hahaha…I know it’s not the healthiest food option but it’s tastier than Whole Foods’ buffet.
March 7, 2007 at 2:44 am
you’ve inspired me to try the chocolate bouchon
March 7, 2007 at 2:52 am
LOL! I think I inspired a lot of people or…disgusted them. But I truly urge you to try it!
March 8, 2007 at 12:40 am
those little cakes are calling out to me ~
comeherecomeherecomeherrrrrrrrrrrrre…..
March 8, 2007 at 1:18 am
Hahaha…! Thank goodness it was the morning, so I wasn’t too tempted as you are to eat those cakes.
March 9, 2007 at 12:58 am
ohhhh that looks good, I should make a trip later. You always find such great places, and the Chocolate Bouchon is deff something I need to try!
ToT Im still so sad about last time. But your such a great person ^.^
March 9, 2007 at 11:25 am
Giulia, you don’t have to feel so bad about that! It’s over and done with already…
Anyways, you got to try the chocolate bouchon. It’s really good.
March 11, 2007 at 2:08 pm
wow. such beautiful array of sweet eats…I love stopping by patiserrie just looking at these whenever possible.
July 16, 2008 at 2:13 pm
I’ve never had a sticky bun! Now I want to try one!!!