This weekend, Kele and I partook in back-to-back nights of gorging ourselves. It all started late last week when I discovered that just across the street from our new apartment, the third annual New Taste of the Upper West Side would take place over the weekend. Bringing together more than 40 of the UWS’s best chefs under one roof plus getting a chance to taste a little bit of EVERYTHING in our new ‘hood, how could we resist?
The first night, Divine Desserts, was dedicated to sweets and was hosted by well-known pastry chef Jacques Torres. As an NYC newbie Im still learning who is who in the food world, but the night’s other heavy hitters included: Vera Tong of Dovetail, Jerry Thornton of Compass, Pichet Ong of Spot Dessert Bar & Village Tart, Magnolia Bakery, and Alice’s Teacup.
I can easily say I haven’t eaten that much sugar in such a concentrated amount of time in a very, very long time (except for the occasional sour candy binge before my eating habit conversion). But the sugar coma and subsequent sugar hangover was well worth some of the delectable things we tasted. The vibe of the night was WAY too much of a party scene for my liking and the majority of desserts were really good but not mind blowing…but those that did leave a lasting impression were from:
-Telepan – a high end restaurant that focuses on seasonal menus and works with Wellness in the Schools, a grass roots organization dedicated to children’s environmental health, nutrition and fitness in the NYC public schools – served up an insanely delicious buttermilk panna cotta with rhubarb sorbet, rhubarb soup and sesame seed tuile. (It’s on their restaurant dessert menu at the moment, go try it while it’s still around!)
-Soutine Bakery, coined “a little slice of Paris in NYC”, treated us to cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate philo dough filled with silky smooth custard. If I had an espresso in my other hand to accompany the treat, I’d have been in heaven. This is one bakery I must visit as everything looks beyond delish (ie homemade croissants).
-At Grandaisy Bakery (formerly Sullivan St Bakery) I grabbed a rum soaked brioche bread pudding with caramel sauce, which was my last treat of the evening and made it worth all of the night’s calories combined. Plus, the bakery uses locally sourced ingredients and seasonal fruits, so it’s FandFP approved!
-And finally, while not seasonal (unless there is a magic banana tree nearby) or over-the-top innovative, we tasted a Banana Pudding from Buttercup Bake Shop that featured spot on texture and taste.
So there you have it. And that was just our favorites….you can only imagine how many sweet bites we tasted before I could narrow it down to these. All in the name of research.
Tune in on Thursday when I’ll give a rundown of my favorites from Saturday night’s event. (Sorry about the crappy photo, I didn’t bring my camera on the first night. Blame a bad phone camera!)
