I'm just going to say it, this bakery is very good and definitely worth a visit. No, I wasn't paid to say this. I identified the place from the number of positive comments online, and it was quite close to where I stayed in New York anyway, so thought I'd give it a go. The bakery was quite small and there weren't a huge range of goods there, but still, the things on display were decent.
The place just seemed clean and simple, nothing extravagant, but had a nice french cafe feel to it. The girl at the counter was very smiley, which is always good to see. Cafes and patisseries are meant to be filled with happy people. I sat down with my food there for about 30 minutes, during that time they got a few customers through and they sounded like they go there quite often. A little girl popped in with dad and got some macarons too and the whole atmosphere was just so sweet and homely.
One slight thing is that although they have ovens on site, all of their baked goods are made in a kitchen in Brooklyn. When you go in, you don't get the attractive fresh bread and buttery smell that you sometimes get in bakeries.
Moving onto their baked goods. It's called the mille-feuille, so I just had to try the mille-feuille. It was a simple one, with vanilla cream and dusting of icing sugar. The pastry had good flake and good caramelisation, each layer within the pastry was clear and well defined. The pastry cream was light and complimented the pastry very well. However, one down side is that the puff pastry did feel a bit over baked and slightly burnt in areas and tasted a little bitter. Though, it wasn't such a big problem, it could be overlooked quite easily.
The chocolate fondant was very moist and the sponge was light and just very chocolatey. Was kind of expecting a gush of melted chocolate to seep out when I cut into it, well, that didn't happen, which was a bit disappoint. Nonetheless, as a chocolate sponge, it was good.
I tried the macarons too, there were many flavours. My favourite one has to be blackcurrant, passion fruit and salted caramel. So, quite simple flavours, but they tasted SO good! It was just the right size, delicate and the middle is not overly chewy. I really smiled after having just one, and it has been a LONG time since I smiled after trying something at a bakery. It's amongst the best macarons I've tasted and I've tried them from quite a few places. Shame that some of them had crached tops, but these are not cracks from the baking, more like they were so delicate that the shell on the surface broke during transport and ruined the appearance slightly.
Last but not least, the raspberry financier. I felt it could do with a little bit more raspberries, but overall, it was too bad. The almond flavour came out quite strong and it was lovely. However, the colour and taste suggest to me that the butter has not been heated for quite long enough to give the financiers the distinctive caramelised flavour. It didn't feel like a financier, just an almond cake.
I would definitely visit this little place in lower Manhattan again if I get the chance. The price is relatively reasonable and the standards of goods there are definitely above your regular bakery and cafe.
Over impression: 8/10
Macarons: 9/10
Chocolate fondant: 6.5/10
Mille feuille: 8/10
financier: 6/10
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