Le Petit Boulanger

This is a little bakery in the Abbeville Village area of Clapham, in south London. It is a really cute place with a lovely selection of French pastries and bread. We tried all three croissants--plain, almond, and chocolate. The almond was a little bit too sweet for my taste, but the other two were delicious!

The photo on the top right shows their cookies, which look a little large--I tend to not want a giant cookie, I'll eat the whole thing, but a small one would satisfy me just as well--and perhaps a little dry looking--but I like chewy cookies rather than crumbly ones, so again that's just me.

The photo on the bottom left shows their delectable looking bread selection. I'll never get over the fact that in England they barely ever use cases or at least partitions to prevent people from touching or sneezing on the food--I think it's a little yucky, but I'm also a bit germophobic. Regardless, that's not really Le Petit Boulanger's problem and it does look lovely and works with the French countryside look of the very small cafe.

The best part is not the food or the decor, but the people. I happened to meet the chef/owner just after Le Petit Boulanger opened a few years ago. He was very nice, helpful (I was visiting and looking for cream of tartar or a substitute for it), and actually guided me to apply to the FCI--I have to that him for that. When I went back recently he wasn't there, but the staff was polite and professional. Overall a really nice experience--perhaps I should go more than once every 3 years.

Popbar

Look at all those Popsicles!

This restaurant, in the West Village, is so cute. All they sell is artisanal gelato and sorbet Popsicles! For a small additional fee you can get unlimited "dippings" and "poppings." The dippings are dark, milk, and white chocolate. The poppings are chopped nuts, coconut, and sprinkles. The basic procedure is: pick a pop, add dippings and poppings, and eat. Ice cream on a stick--what's not to like?! I love the idea of upgraded childhood favorites. Who didn't love licking a Popsicle or ice cream bar pop when they were little? At a certain point you felt as though you have gotten to old to eat them, right? Well with these you are never too old. Their gelato and sorbet are high quality and all made on site. And poppings like pistachio can't possibly be too childish. The staff is friendly and don't make you feel like a vacillating, indecisive idiot when you can't decide what to have. After all there are so many choices; what flavor pop--and all 15 or so flavors look too delicious not to eat--what dipping(s) and what toppings. Think of all the combinations!

Now for the important part: what I ate. I decided to try one sorbet pop and one gelato pop. For the sorbet I had a strawberry pop--you can't go wrong with strawberry--dipped in white chocolate and coated with shredded unsweetened coconut on one side and chopped pistachios on the other. Everything about it was good! The sorbet was intensely strawberry flavored, the white chocolate wasn't too waxy, and the coconut and pistachios went wonderfully with it. The texture of the pop was on the icy side, but it's sorbet so that was to be expected.

Look at the color of that peanut butter gelato, perfection.

The gelato pop was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. Okay, probably not ever but at least it's the best gelato I've had in a while. I went for peanut butter gelato. The gelato was creamy and pungently peanut buttery. Not peanutty, peanut buttery--yes there is a difference. It was like eating frozen peanut butter on a stick, dipped in dark chocolate and covered with chocolate sprinkles. Yum! I'm not sure I'll be back anytime though, because it is a schlepp from where I live. But I did have my eye on the kiwi sorbet pop, so I might have to schlepp for that.

Epicerie Boulud, update

I am standing at Epicerie Boulud with my new iPad (I'm very happy!) and am sorely disappointed by their croissants. I've never bothered to get their pastries, since they are tiny and expensive. But they look delicious and I've heard excellent things about their croissants. I was in the mood for a pain au chocolat, so I caved in and bought one. It did satisfy my craving, but for the price and the fact that it was from one of Daniel Boulud's restaurant it wasn't great.

It looked large and puffy, but in reality the size was from giant air pockets, rather than a network of small/medium ones. This shows that the dough was either not folded/shaped properly or over proofed. Also the chocolate batons did not run the full length of the croissant and were far sweeter than I'm used to--I think it must have been milk or very light semi-sweet chocolate.

Had I found this at a little local bakery I'd have been happy with it, but given the big name behind Epicerie Boulud, meh. Not to toot my own horn, but mine are better. (Possibly because the recipe and technique I learned were from Jacques Torres, who makes the best pains au chocolats I've ever had.)

On a positive note, I had the pulled pork sandwich, which was delicious. The roll, the coleslaw, and the pork (with its sweet and sticky sauce) were all excellent. Obviously it was not traditional Carolina pulled pork, but that's okay, I wasn't expecting southern barbecue at a French restaurant.

Regardless, the mediocre croissant will not stop me from going back, but I certainly won't be bothering with any more of their baked goods. If I want sweet when I'm there I'll stick to their delicious gelato and sorbet.

Shake Shack (at 77th and Columbus)

Two Double Shack Burgers:
one for me and one for my mom

Danny Meyer does it again! I haven't eaten anything here that I haven't liked. I always get a double shack burger with everything on it--everything being cheese, tomato, lettuce, onion, pickles, and sauce. The sauce is somewhat akin to the sauce on a big mac, but better.

Everything they make is done with high quality, fresh ingredients, which greatly improves the flavor of the food. Nothing tastes like fast food, not even the burger patties which are more flavorful and much leaner than most. The flavor is enhanced by the cooking technique; they sear the patties so that it is sweetly caramelized and almost crisp.

Shroom Burger

For vegetarians, there are shroom burgers. Basically, it's a portabella mushroom that's stuffed with cheese and breaded. I've never eaten it, but I've been with people who have--they both said it was delicious.

Cheesy Fries!

Of course you have to have fries with that. There's a choice between plain old crinkle cut fries--made with Idaho potatoes and nothing else (except the frying oil, obviously)--and cheesy fries. The cheesy fries are their normal fries with copious amounts of melted cheese (American, I believe). Gosh they are good.

They have milkshakes made with their frozen custard. These are very good, but not the best milkshakes I've ever had. The frozen custard plain is delicious. It's basically very rich soft serve ice cream. They have special flavors every day as well as the classic chocolate and vanilla. Both the regular flavors are excellent, especially when swirled with toppings and sauces to make a "concrete". The special flavors, a different one for each day of the week and changed monthly, have always been delicious. My favorite was coffee and donuts; coffee frozen custard with chunks of plain, sweet, cakey donut. Could it get any better?!

There are only three bad things I have to say about Shake Shack and none of them are all that bad. First, the service can be hit or miss, but it's counter service so that's not the end of the world. Second, the prices are steep for counter service. Then again, the food is high quality and it costs less than burgers at sit down restaurants. Third, it's impossible to find seating and the line is almost always out the door; and kI suppose that's a good thing if you look at it from the restaurant's point of view!

Francois Payard Bakery

I've met Chef Francois Payard, but I'd never been to his bakery. I decided that was silly and headed over to the shop he recently opened near me. I had heard excellent things about the roulades, so my friend who I was with and I split a piece of coffee roulade. It was delicious! The cake was tender and flavorful. The cream, which I believe was an enriched pastry cream, was incredible and had a perfect, rich, creamy texture. The glaze was on the sticky side and, like everything else, pungently coffee flavored. The macarons were a bit chewy and damp, but they were stuck to the outside of a cake and it was the end of the day.

By the way, the staff was very kind and professional. In addition, we were there at closing so they gave us each a baguette. Obviously they couldn't sell day old baguettes but no point in tossing them, so we got delicious baguettes for free! Very good customer service. I shall have to go back. Plus I want to try the chocolate raspberry roulade, it looked delicious and that is one of my favorite flavor combos.