Savoy Bakery Brings Beautiful Pastries To Spanish Harlem
courtesy of Savoy Bakery
It might be hard to believe at first glance, but the cappuccino in the picture above is actually delicious cappuccino mousse in a completely edible chocolate cup. Isn’t it the cutest thing ever? I buy them whenever I visit friends or want to impress someone. The first time my grandmother had one, she lifted the dessert by the handle not realizing the cup was made of chocolate because it looks so realistic. You kind of don’t even want to eat it because it starts to remind you of artwork. Savoy bakery is a bright spot in my Harlem neighborhood with its cute rolling pin door handles and tasty concoctions. While their best seller is their beautiful strawberry shortcake, don’t let that stop you from trying an amazing cheese cake or buttery dinner rolls. Savoy’s desserts aren’t sickeningly sweet, and are light, airy and have just the right amount of sugar. They also have a selection of sandwiches that you can ask about. My suggestion? Go to Savoy and grab lunch and some sweets to go and head over to munch on them in Central Park.
NYC Location
(212) 828-8896
170 East 110th Street
New York, NY 10029
7.5 out of 10
-Juice
But It Looked So Good…
courtesy of sarabeth.com
Popular locations don’t always mean they’re the best locations. Hype overcomes people at times, and takes over their good judgement. What makes it even worse is that you wait in line for something that ends up being mediocre. I could have been home sleeping still. Brunch is hard for me because of the timing. And because it’s football season, I was nicely asked if we could meet for brunch at noon, which is the early side for me on a Sunday considering I have to give myself time to shower, primp and travel there. But I dragged myself out of bed because I got myself excited all week to have my favorite brunch dish, salmon eggs benedict. Today, I’m going to have it at Sarabeth’s. So it’s a beautiful day and the wait isn’t bad at all for brunch in New York City, about twenty minutes. I start off with a picked bloody mary which tasted wonderful. I say that because I’m usually not a fan of them, but the horseradish and worcestershire sauce weren’t overpowering at all, and it wasn’t too thick, but rather felt like a normal drink. My date started with a lobster bisque with black truffle toast. It tasted decent, however, right off the bat, it looked like it needed more cream, with it did, and I didn’t see any lobster chunks in it at all. Visually it wasn’t appealing at all, the butter or fat, separating from the rest of the sauce. The black truffle toast barely had any truffle flavor in it. It made me yearn for one of the best lobster bisque I had, sadly, I won’t be getting that anytime soon, as it was in Hawaii. I moved on to their poppy seed toast, which was OK, and more a vehicle for my butter than anything else. (I’m a huge fan of butter.) My dish came and looked gorgeous. But just because something is sprinkled with pretty red bell peppers doesn’t make it a good dish. Because I get salmon eggs benedict at almost every brunch, after taking my first bite, I knew that this wouldn’t be a memorable one. The side salad was decent, but doesn’t that say something when my side salad is better than the main dish? The one savior to the dish is that, by itself, the homemade english muffin was delicious, it tasted like a buttery biscuit. My date’s chicken caesar salad? I have no desire to write anything about it. But, because the coffee was good and the bloody mary were good, we ordered another round of that. How the hell did my bloody mary taste different? The seasonings in it were very overpowering and I was debating pouring water into it, but felt that it might be rude. I was dying to try their porridge with wheatberries, cream, butter and brown sugar, but because of the wait, I missed the noon deadline for the porridge. Cry, cry. Sarabeth just doesn’t seem to know how to do savory, I think that IF I go back, I’ll only try their sweet dishes or baked goods.
Various locations, so please check out their website at sarabeth.com.
5.5 out of 10
-Juice
Perfection = Cannoli.
I am a sucker for good cannoli.
What is there not to like about this Italian dessert? Tube shaped shell of fried pastry dough. Sweet creamy filling made of either ricotta or marscapone. And if you are so inclined… a dash of pistachios and chocolate chips. Great thing to picture, no? Cannoli can come in different variations, so I thought it was fitting to discuss two places I found recently where it is, as the Italians say, “perfetto”.
The first is a place in the East Village that has been around since 1894 called Veniero’s Pasticcera & Caffe. Here, you can get the cannoli not just in its original form, but also in chocolate – 2 ways! The normal chocolate covered pastry shell with regular filling and the regular pastry shell with chocolate filling. If you are going to go there, my recommendation here is the chocolate filling. It is just the right amount of chocolate to not get carried away with that dash of pistachio to offset it. It’s available in mini and in regular size – so indulge! You are paying for the pastry per pound anyway.
Now for the traditionalist cannoli lovers out there nothing beats Rocco’s Pastry Shop & Expresso Cafe in the West Village. Talk about wanting to buy every single thing you see in the glass case! I dare you to not order more than one thing. Too many delectable decisions! The cannoli though is a must have, because here – it is made to order. Yes, you read that right. That shell for the cannoli is filled when you order. With chocolate chips, without, pistachios, whatever – it’s your choice. You can watch them fill that empty cannoli shell right in front of you at the counter, and then devour it in the next minute. Your cannoli is fresh with a capital F. The filling is creamy, sweet, and it’s light enough that you can’t stop at just one. So I say don’t. And if you are craving a chocolate filling here that the cannoli can’t fill in you, I recommend the Lulu, a light pastry shell filled with chocolate custard. It is as amazing as the cannoli, I promise.
-Jules
Veniero’s Pasticcera & Caffe – 7.5 out of 10 stars
342 East 11th Street & 1st Ave.
New York, NY 10003
Rocco’s Pastry Shop & Expresso Cafe – 9 out of 10 stars
243 Bleecker St.
New York, NY 10014
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Bakery for Breakfast.
I can’t pass up a bakery without going in. I don’t have enough will power to say no, and this morning just proves it. There I was walking down the street and minding my own business, when what should I pass? A. Bakery. And as predicted… walked right in. Never too early for a small bit of sugar I always say.
Cheeks Bakery (Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
This is a cute one. Small, cozy, and screams everything here is homemade! There’s just something about walking into that kind of bakery that makes me happy. If it’s not the all the baked goodies on display in glass casings or jars, it’s the smell of sugar and vanilla in the air. Fabulously, Cheeks in Williamsburg has that in abundance. And today, for me, despite the tempting offerings of cookies, brownies, tarts, and pies, I gravitated towards the fresh baked scones. It was probably the morning air that did it, but all I know is that I had one GREAT banana (yes, banana) scone. It wasn’t too dense. It wasn’t too sweet. It was light. It crumbled in all the right places. And unlike some of those triangular concoctions one might find in a Starbucks, this scone was moist, and didn’t taste like bread (aka that over compensating flour taste). LOVED it. I also ended up with a slice of their almond cake. There is no frosting here, just powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Simplicity in cake is the best sometimes. The pound cake consistency could have been a little less dry, otherwise I loved how this cake was sweet without all the extras.
My happy note – the fact they sold Chocolate Pecan Pie.
… gotta go back here.
-Jules
8 out of 10 stars.
CHEEKS BAKERY
378 METROPOLITAN AVENUE
BROOKLYN, NY 11211
(718) 599-3583
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