Sublime Sammiches

Last weekend, the BF & I went to an olive-oil tasting class at the Columbus Circle Williams-Sonoma. This was another event in our Finer Things Club, which was my 'gift' to him last Christmas (I plan these events that may or may not be fancy shmancy and we do them together).

After the class, the BF suggested lunch upstairs at Bouchon Bakery. I'd had their sweets before, but had never eaten there. We were immediately seated (shocking to me on a Sunday afternoon!) and our server came right over. She was friendly and nice and not at all snooty. She described the specials to us, and one of them jumped out to the BF. It was a sliced sausage with ricotta salata cheese on a baguette. We've been jonesing for some good baguettes since our trip to Montréal, too! I asked her to repeat the sausage name, because it sounded like she said Petit Jésu...but that can't be right.. can it?

Turns out, that's exactly what it's called...loose translation is 'little baby jesus' sausage. I don't know WHY it's called that, except maybe you do want to thank the good Lord for making something so delicious, but I am oh-so-glad my BF ordered this AND let me share a bit. It also had a light layer of tomato marmalade on it. YUUUUUUUUUM. My sandwich paled in comparison. It was Wagyu corned beef with watercress and a horseradish creme fraiche. Horseradish is one of my buzzwords--anything with horseradish, chipotle, raspberries, or wasabi is guaranteed to edge out other items on a menu. The horseradish wasn't that strong to me, though the BF tasted it and said it was very strong. Hmm..perhaps the awesomeness of his sandwich was overshadowing mine.

My sandwich came on a mustard-whole wheat baguette. While I enjoy mustard, I thought the bread overpowered everything else, and ended up taking the top half of the bread off the sandwich. I also don't care for watercress--it's too bitter for me, so I removed that as well. Then I could better appreciate the succulence of the Wagyu beef--it was buttery, almost melt-in-your-mouth soft, and just remarkable. What a exceptionally delicious cut of meat!

We were pretty full after our sandwiches, so instead of sweets, we opted for hot lattés. Sadly, my camera battery died before I could snap a shot. This is hands-down one of the best lattés I've ever had. I don't know what kind of bean they used, but it was smooth, not bitter at all, the foam was hefty and gorgeous, and the milk had a creaminess to it that made it taste like a dessert--no sugar needed!

Bouchon Bakery

My friend Kelli brought some sweet surprises up to my apartment today: a cream puff just for me, and a cookie to share. They were from Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery, housed on the third floor of the Time Warner Center in Manhattan. I have never made it past the 2nd floor (which houses Sephora and Borders). But I digress...back to the good stuff. I started with the cream puff. It wasn't until I sliced into the cream puff that we realized it had blueberries inside, too. Kelli's not a huge fan of blueberries, so she didn't split it with me. The cream puff was quite big.. I only ate half of it, and put the other half of it in the fridge for later. I make a pretty mean cream puff pastry, so I'm already tough to impress. Still, I thought the shell itself was just okay, but the blueberry filling was delicious: just like a slice of fresh, summery blueberry pie. The cream puff filling was light and not overly sweet, but not super flavorful, either. I would have liked maybe some stronger vanilla or almond flavoring in that part. I suspect it might have been a mild Chantilly cream.

THIS was the real winner, though. Kelli bought one of their peanut butter cookies with peanut butter filling. This was spot on. The cookie had a touch of salt, the creamy filling was perfect. It was light and fluffy, but not greasy, and oh-so-delicious. We kept picking off little pieces at a time, but in a matter of minutes, there was nothing left. YUM.

Summary: the cream puff is a looker, but if you want melt in your mouth yumminess, grab the peanut butter cookie. It's big enough to share without feeling like you're missing out on deliciousness.

PS: I just realized the OTHER half of my cream puff is still in the fridge, days later. I don't normally forget about leftover desserts! THAT'S how much better the peanut butter cookie is!!

Bouchon Bakery
Time Warner Center
10 Columbus Circle 3rd floor
New York, NY 10019