Bouchon Bakery

[chefboy24]

best macaroons in the city, hands down, and i am a macaroon fanatic! but financier's macaroons are almost as good and half the price! ($1.50 vs $3 or something crazy like that)

Edited December 18, 2007 by chefboy24 (log)

[kathryn]

Macaroon like "french macaron" or macaroon like the coconut-y kind?

[chefboy24]

french.

[tupac17616]

best macaroons in the city, hands down, and i am a macaroon fanatic!  but financier's macaroons are almost as good and half the price! ($1.50 vs $3 or something crazy like that)

chefboy, if you've not yet tried the macarons at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, I think you've still yet to try to the best in the city. They are impeccably fresh, delicate, and delicious. Like you, I'm a macaron fanatic, and I've tried every place I could possibly find: Bouchon Bakery, La Maison du Chocolat, Fauchon, Financier, Georgia's Bake Shop, Almondine, Ceci Cela, Tisserie, etc, etc.

Bouchon's flavors are interesting, and they are quite tasty, but they are far too dense/chewy for my tastes.

[ahr]

Bouchon's flavors are interesting, and they are quite tasty, but they are far too dense/chewy for my tastes.

←

I'm with you, though I might have said "leathery." Have you tried Madeleine, on W. 23rd Street? Macarons seem to be their specialty, though they're displayed in a refrigerated case.

Edited to correct typo.

Edited December 19, 2007 by ahr (log)

[tupac17616]

Bouchon's flavors are interesting, and they are quite tasty, but they are far too dense/chewy for my tastes.

I'm with you, though I might have said "leathery." Have you tried Madeleine, on W. 23rd Street? Macarons seem to be their specialty, though they're displayed in a refrigerated case.

I've not had a chance just yet, but would like to sometime soon. Although the refrigerated case is perhaps not the best sign

[kathryn]

Madeline has great flavors, but their macarons are too moist due to the case. I like to let them dry out overnight and come to room temperature.

My friends Tina and Robyn are insane with their macaron love; they haven't made it to a lot of the restaurants that serve them for dessert, but they did a tour of the retail macaron landscape in NYC in April:

http://www.roboppy.net/food/2007/04/the_gr...nt_of_2007.html

[dougw]

I'm really shocked at the quality of the coffee they serve here. It reminded me of reading Ruhlman's account of his French Laundry meal. He commented on everything but the espresso. I've eaten at a few top level dining rooms and have yet to have an espresso that rivals someplace like Espresso Vivace in Seattle, or Stumptown in Portland, or Intelligentsia in Chicago.

It isn't hard to make great espresso, and I'm just shocked that so many foodies are missing out on what it can be.

[ulterior epicure]

I know that at this point, no one cares about the macarons or pastries at Bouchon Bakery. But, for those who do, I had a rather disappointing run through four of their flavors recently. Actually, the flavors were the least disappointing part. I actually liked the Bananas Foster and the Peaches and Cream. But, the macarons were shockingly gummy and chewy. Only one of the four was decent.

Also, what is up with the large macarons only. I noticed the smaller ones in the pre-packaged boxes, but they were dipped in chocolate. Why would they do that?

We also tried a Turtle Tart, which was rich and cloyingly sweet. It was very dense.

The Doughnut (simply sugar-dusted) had a different texture than we expected. It was less like a traditional, fluffy yeast dough, and it wasn't the denser, crumbly cake dough. It was like brioche. And it was dry. I don't like brioche to begin with, and dry brioche is the kiss of death.

A more detailed review can be found at the ulterior epicure.

Edited May 16, 2008 by ulterior epicure (log)