Patisserie St. Michel, Teaneck

[AlwaysCravingThai]

Just went today to see what I could order for the weekend. I basicallly ordered one of each. The lady at the counter (Michel's wife?) was wonderful and had me taste everything! I told her I found out about it on eGullet and she told me about the photos you took, Jason.

I have to say, though, that I was disappointed that I didn't like the flourless chocolate torte. I guess I just don't like the flavor of the pistachio flour. I'll let everyone know how it all tastes on Monday!

[Rachel Perlow]

Oh my god, I don't know if we got the same thing that AlwaysCravingThai is talking about, but the chocolate truffle cake we had last night was amazing. It was definitely the big hit of the evening. It basically tasted like a big cake of ganache -- I couldn't detect any nut flour. I should have had a container of hot water and my non serated slicing knife to cut it, but wasn't at my house, it stuck to the blade of the serated knife I was using, but I still managed to give all takers a not too horribly mangled slice. My very picky nephew had two pieces!!!

This is not to dismiss the fruit tart, which was also highly praised. In fact, after the huge "festive meal" I preferred that and the orange sponge (brought by another guest) to the rich, fudgy truffle cake (I couldn't finish my small slice, shared it with mom). Anyway, if you need to bring a dessert to impress for the second sedar, try to stop buy and pick one up (or the fruit tart, but that's dairy so be careful bringing that to a sedar).

[Rachel Perlow]

Andre wanted me to let you all know about their Special Mother's Day Cake. It is a light almond sponge with orange syrup, champagne mousse and orange coulis. He's using real champagne and it is expensive because of it, $38 for an 8 inch cake. Call ahead to reserve yours. I'll have to stop by and sample it.

[Jason Perlow]

The special Mother's Day cake:

You could really taste the champagne in this one.

[menton1]

After patronizing both Balthazar Bakery in Englewood and St Michel for a while, I must reluctantly admit that Balthazar has him beat. In every way, quality, appearance, taste, and price!

I am reluctant because I do like to support small local merchants. But Balthazar is just fabulous, and mostly cheaper than Andre. I don't think Balthazar has quiche, though...

I think Balthazar has excellent breads, with tremendous variety, and certainly they make amazing croissant (although I find them a tad bit greasy). However I would not characterize them as an exceptional pastry maker. Balthazar is a huge factory production and Andre is a small, one man shop. You can't even compare the two. To say that Andre is anything but at the absolute pinnacle of his craft is really quite erroneous. And while his wares are not cheap, they definitely are not out of the ballpark for what he does.

←

I wanted to post this photo taken from a recent trip to France; it is the window of a small, typical "one person bakery" on an anonymous street in Toulouse. The cakes and pastries resemble Balthazar in their perfection much, much more than they resemble Andre, as his stuff tends to be a bit sloppy and assymetrical most of the time. To say that his work is imperfect because he is small is not a good excuse, IMHO. Just look at the things in this window!

[Jason Perlow]

Yeah, well, we're talking Teaneck, not Toulouse.

I am far less concerned with the perfect aesthetics than what the pastries taste like.

Personally, I will be very, very upset when this place eventually closes. Andre has had to be away from the shop a lot more frequently of late, because his wife has been battling cancer for a number of years. So I'm inclined to give the guy a bit of slack if one of his cakes isn't perfectly symettrical.

[Rachel Perlow]

We spoke with Anne yesterday, here is a list of Patisserie St. Michel's Thanksgiving Specials:

• Pumpkin Creme Brulee
  Mango Creme Brulee
  Cranberry & Walnut Tart (Pate Brisee crust)
  Apple & Caramel Galette
  Pecan & Caramel Galette (Andre's less-sweet take on Pecan Pie)
  Plum Frangiapan Tart
  

These are offered in addition to their regular items. If you call today, you should still be able to order for pick-up between 10:30 AM - 1 PM tomorrow.

[zhelder]

Deciding to go on an adventure today, I went to both Balthazar and Patisserie St. Michel today. It was my first time at Balthazar, and I got some chocolate croissants and brownies. I then went to Patisserie St. Michel and got some pastries and chocolate croissants. I thought it would be fun to compare the two chocolate croissants with my brother, who is a chocolate croissant freak.

Well, I was routing for Andre, but we both agreed Balthazar won in the croissant category. They were both delicious, but Balthazar's croissants had a more intense butter flavor.

However, I don't think Andre has anything to worry about in the pastry department. The brownie from Balthazar was excellent, but it couldn't hold a candle to Andre's treats. This man makes perhaps the best pastries in the country, definitely the best I've had.

As far as pricing and selection, Balthazar has a wider selection of breads, but Patisserie St. Michel seems to have a wider variety of pastries. As far as price, both places are expensive. (Pastries at both places seem to be in the $3 - $4 range for individual servings, most full cakes and pies seem to be in the $25-$30 range.) But the quality is so worth it (and this is coming from a usually frugal no-frills guy who's used to buying $7 cakes).

I highly recommend a trip to both places, but especially Patisserie St. Michel. I got to meet Andre for the first time today, and he's definitely from France! Andre and Anne are so nice and they'll give you lots of samples of things to try. Andre gave me a free chocolate croissant because I waited patiently while two other women placed some rather lengthy orders. A nice gesture! I don't go to "fancy" places like this often (although the shop itself definitely isn't fancy looking, the pastries sure are!) , but it's worth the trip to go here. If you decide to go here, you'll be in for a real treat.

[Jason Perlow]

Balthazaar makes very good croissants -- but they are more buttery tasting simply because they use OBSCENE amounts of it. There's certainly nothing wrong with Andre's croissants, and I actually think they are pretty good. But his talents are in his pastry, there's no question about that.