Bakery Bliss - Beyond the Cronut

Frozen S'More: Breakfast of Champions (?)

I had some friends visiting in town this weekend, and despite racking my brain for the best and most interesting things to do, they are the ones who suggested visiting Dominique Ansel's famous bakery. Of course! How could I forget such a brilliant, tasty idea?

The infamous cronut line!

Yes, this is the birthplace of the Cronut, but my friends actually weren't that interested in the cronut after all.

I already had a taste of two so far, and that was good enough for me. I'd much rather get my hands on another DKA than stand in line on a glorious Sunday morning! 

 

It's a tight squeeze in the bakery, as the lines for regular pastries and for the Cronuts are in two separate places. You only have a few minutes to compose your sugary thoughts, and I came loaded for bear. Or at least a lot of carbs. I picked up a DKA for me, one for ABF, a canele, a magic soufflé, and why not a frozen Smore as well? Sugar overload, anyone? 

 
A piping hot café au lait was the final touch, and the 3 of us gals picked a table in the back garden, a lovely seating area with tables (there's also indoor seating in the back as well).

 started with the Frozen S'More. The marshmallow is a thing of beauty, gorgeous texture, velvety vanilla flavor.. but the frozen middle wasn't my favorite thing. I could have eaten ten of these marshmallows, but one is a good start. 

The DKA, or Dominique's Kouign Amman (a Breton specialty), was sublime as always. I honestly could walk away with just a DKA and a steaming cup of coffee and be in tastebud heaven.

 My two friends also agreed that this was tasty, though I'm not sure if they loved it as much as I did.

I tried a bite of the canele, one of the very first DA treats I've ever had. This was good, but a little too well-done on the outside. Back to another bite of the DKA!

Next up, I sliced into the magic soufflé. The outside tastes exactly like the orange-cardomom bread my mother used to make. Exactly. It was jarring to taste something so familiar. The texture of the bread wasn't what I expected, so I wasn't that big a fan of the two flavors/textures at first. The chocolate innards were rich and delicious, but I couldn't reconcile it with the outside coating. While the standard line at DA is to eat the magic soufflé immediately, I saved most of it for the next day, and I liked it even more.

Yes, the cronut is quite tasty (see my previous thoughts here), but there is so much more to this spot than that tasty, tasty trend. Pop on in for a bite or two and let me know what you think!!

Dominique Ansel Bakery
189 Spring St
New York, NY 10012
(212) 219-2773

Food Truck Friday: Gorilla Cheese

Now that it's truly starting to feel like Fall (yay!), what could be better than a delicious grilled cheese?

The Gorilla Cheese truck was parked outside my office recently, and I decided to try one of their gooey delicious sandwiches.

I chose the number seven: smoked turkey, cheddar, tomatoes on multigrain bread, with a chipotle aïoli for good measure!

For a few extra dollars, I could make it a combo, with a drink and a side of their tater tots. Yes please! 

The sandwich was done perfectly: crunchy but buttery bread, warm gooey inside, and the smoked turkey went so well with everything inside that sandwich.

The tater tots were outrageously good – crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and very salty, but I liked it that way. And yes, I do like to individually put ketchup each tot on its own! 

They have several sandwich options of different kinds of cheese, fillings, and bread. They even have sweet sandwiches, including a Smore's melt. I'll be back for that one!

To find out where the gorilla cheese truck will be, follow them on Twitter @gcnyc1!

 Follow @Lkpnyc

Food Truck Friday: Valducci's Pizza

Another end of the week, another Food Truck Fridays post! This week I tried out the pizza from Valducci's Pizza truck.

They have many options, and they don't cost a lot of cash. I settled on the Sicilian slice, aka the Big Boy, for a whopping four dollars. Cheap Eats!

This was a gigantic slice, a rectangular bounty of carbs that dangled dangerously over the edge of the paper plate. I shared some with a coworker and still had plenty left for me.

My slice--minus the bit I sliced off for M!

The crust, thicker than regular slices, and my favorite part of the Sicilian, had just enough bite and chew to it without being TOO chewy. The sauce was garlicky and oh-so-scrumptious.
For one truck, Valducci's carries an impressive amount of options. I'll be sure to try something else the next time, but the Big Boy gets two saucy thumbs up from me!

You can usually find the truck on 50th street between 5th and 6th, or somewhere nearby, thought they might also be in the Meatpacking District on certain dates. The best way to track them is via Twitter: @Valduccis-- they often have deals JUST for their Twitter followers, so get on it!
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Murray's Cheese Bar

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you already know that That Sara's birthday is two days before mine. We usually have a birthday dinner a month or so later to exchange presents and catch up on life. This year might have been our quickest one ever-- it was less than 2 weeks after our birthdays!
We were both very eager to try out Murray's Cheese Bar, the fairly-new outpost run by the infamous (and incredibly amazing) cheese shop in NYC's West Village.

I started with a bracing cup of Stumptown Roasters' iced coffee. Wow, was this strong. Like, jitters kicking in about halfway through the glass strong-- just what I needed to wake me up on a breezy Sunday morning.

We each ordered the mini mimosa flight-- 3 small servings, a few ounces each, of (L-R) regular OJ, lychee, and blood orange flavors. These were all nice, but nothing amazing. It was more for the cuteness and the novelty of it. Fun, not too boozy, and just adorable.

Who goes to Murray and DOESN'T order a cheese plate? Silly people, that's who. So we picked the Weekender ($10), a selection of 3 cheeses: housemade ricotta drizzled with clover honey, a rich, oozy brie with a cherry glaze on the side, and a New York cheddar with fresh apple slices.

Of course, every cheese was a winner, every pairing just perfect, but holy moly that ricotta was sublime. It was nothing like the storebought version-- it was light, fluffy-yet-creamy, and so fabulously flavorful.
We shared the entrée-- Alpine Eggs ($14)-- to have room for dessert (or more cheese!) later. The Alpine Eggs were two poached eggs served on English muffins over ham and mushrooms, with a three-cheese fondue served on the side. YES. Who needs Hollandaise when you can have melty, creamy cheese over your eggs? The eggs were so so so perfectly cooked, the muffins were crunchy and not soggy, and I could have licked the bowl clean of that fondue. The home fries were also soft, expertly seasoned, and better than I expected.

*Sigh* I do so love a perfectly-poached egg....

Hello, beautiful....

Sharing was smart-- we saved room for dessert: peanut butter/cheddar cheese ice cream! Our server assured us that while it might sound awful, it was actually awesome... and she was right. Somehow, the bits of cheddar cheese went so well with the peanut butter base. The drizzle of honey on top made it like the best sandwich ever turned into a sweet treat. It was pretty incredible. I'm considering try to make a grilled cheese with peanut butter and honey now.. Hmmmm...

This was a wonderful, enjoyable, nommable brunch. The service was helpful, it wasn't too loud, and Murray's knows cheese, baby. They know CHEESE. Yum. I highly recommend this spot-- and then you can walk a few doors down and buy the cheeses you just ate! I need to stock up on that ricotta ASAP!


Also-- check out Sara's take on it here! 

Murray's Cheese Bar
254 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 243-3289

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Food Truck Friday: Mtblls!

Welcome, new visitors, to Stuff I Ate! I'd love for you to like my Facebook page (click HERE!) and share the fun!

No, I didn't skip any letters-- that's how the Mtblls truck spells its name! You won't care about spelling though when you get a taste of their product--what's not to love about meatballs?

You can choose from beef, chicken, or veggie meatballs, and get them on baguettes, slider rolls, or with focaccia bread. The sauces are tomato, francese (lemon), or romesco (tomatoes/red peppers). Nothing is more than 10 bucks at this truck, so file this baby under Cheap Eats!

I ordered the 'pair of balls' (You're welcome, Mom) for $7-- two beef meatballs with tomatoc sauce, ricotta and parmagiana reggiano cheese, normally paired with focaccia bread. It comes in a nice, leakproof box, and was still warm by the time I got back up to my desk.
They were out of focaccia, so they gave me a slider roll instead. I was disappointed at first, but that slider bread is FAB! Soft, chewy, so good! I ate every last bit of it, and used it to sop up the deliciousy zingy sauce, which had a wonderful heat in the background but was not overly hot.

I thought the meatballs were great-- chewy but not tough, well-seasoned, and just enough to tide me over before going out to a fancypants dinner later that night. Follow them on Twitter- @mtblls to find out where they'll be each day.

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Le Cronut: Part Deux

You know.. I find myself loving my job even more these days-- could it be linked to the appearance of yet another cronut? Yes, the infamous doughnut/croissant hybrid is still generating buzz in NYC-- especially in our office!
The same listener who brought us the Croconut last month brought the September flavor (Fig  & Mascarpone cheese) today!

The filling is a light fig preserve and mascarpone cheese (sort of a cross between sour cream and ricotta, or similar to a crème fraîche but not quite as tangy), topped with a honey glaze and dried black mission figs. It's a nice combo, but milder than I expected.

Again, this was chewy, light, and not at all greasy. However, the fig & mascarpone cheese combo was not as good as last month's Croconut. Good, just not stupendous, and definitely not worth waiting in line just yet. (I'm waiting to hear what October's flavor will be-- might be time to venture out there myself!)

The best part of the morning? This was not the end of our delicious dessert experience-- the listener also got us some DKAs, the pastry which first put Dominique Ansel on the map!

Le DKA!

DKA, according to the store's website, is short for “Dominique’s Kouign Amann," and it is a smaller version of the traditional Breton pastry, which is similar to a caramelized croissant.

 The outside is crunchy, the inside is a bit chewy, buttery, and to me, cheesy (almost danish-like), and downright heavenly.

It might LOOK like an ordinary, plain roll or some other mundane munchie, but this DKA was phenomenal, and everyone there agreed that this far surpasses the Cronut in deliciousness. 

That's it.. time for me to head back to Dominique Ansel's shop to indulge my carb cravings. Who's with me???

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Guest Post: Carpe Donut (VA)

Today's guest post comes from my lovely coworker, CJ. She's the one who first told me about Carpe Donut and their NYC cider donuts truck. She graciously volunteered to visit the VA outpost, near where her BF lives. She's a team player, that CJ!

Hi there, LKP's co-worker CJ here. As you read a few posts back, LKP and I had a delicious experience at the Carpe Donut truck in NYC. So when I next went to Charlottesville, VA, where Carpe Donut originated, I had to do a taste comparison.

My BF & I decided to get some cider donuts as our brunch before heading to a day of lunching & polo at King's Family Vineyard. We packed up a nice lunch for ourselves and set off to Carpe Donut. It was a small storefront, but easily fit the half-a-dozen customers looking for a yummy treat for breakfast.

We placed our order for a half-dozen and two iced ciders, then watched as the magic happened. We got to see our donuts roll off the line and fall into the cinnamon sugar deliciousness where the donut maker tossed them a bit more before putting them piping hot into the bag. He grabbed a jug of the homemade iced cider from the mini-fridge and poured what promised to be a delicious glass of cider.

Our plan was to eat them when we first arrived at the vineyard, but we certainly couldn't wait that long! So we shared one in the car (spilling a lot of cinnamon sugar in the process), but it was so worth it! As with the NY truck, the donuts were chewy and not dense like many other cider donuts. The cinnamon sugar is the perfect touch to create that apple cider taste.

Our iced ciders were cool, refreshing and delicious. We drank them down quickly as we made our way to the vineyard. Once at King Family Vineyard, we bought ourselves a bottle of Viognier and set up our table to enjoy more donuts. I found that the Viognier paired well with the cider donuts, it may be my new favorite brunch find!

Even after cooling down, the donuts were just as delicious. They had a well done quality that added to the taste instead of detracting from it and were still just as light & tasty as when freshly pulled from the sugar.

Polo, Anyone?

If you're in Charlottesville, I definitely recommend trying Carpe Donut and visiting King Family Vineyard for the polo game. And although we really had no idea what was happening in the polo match (all of my knowledge of polo comes from Pretty Woman), it was certainly fun to say we were there while sipping our wine & enjoying our cider donuts.

Carpe Donut

1715 Allied Street

Charlottesville, VA 22903

(434) 806-6202

http://carpedonut.org/ 

http://www.kingfamilyvineyards.com/ 

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Food Truck Friday: Carl's Steaks

Welcome to a new segment on Stuff I Ate: Food Truck Fridays! Every Friday I'll bring a new food experience from one of NYC's many delicious mobile meal options!

Carl's Steaks used to be a last-stop on many an evening out-- it was located on 2nd ave near many bars and dance spots, so we often went there for a late night snack to soak up some of our celebrating.

Well, the brick & mortar location might be closed, but Carl's is still serving up their cheesy, delicious sandwiches-- on the move! (And at Yankees stadium, but as a lifelong Mets fan I won't expound too much on that....)

Even a Mets fan has to eat! 

A 6-inch cheesesteak runs 6.50-- an excellent bargain, if you ask me. I'm a fan of the Cheez Wiz (this is the ONLY time I eat Cheez Wiz) and onions version, but you can also get peppers, hot peppers, and other toppings. There is also a 10-inch for not that much more, but the smaller sandwich is always enough for me.

I've had the same sandwich twice now-- the bread is fresh but with a decent crust (not crispy per se, but not soggy either) the meat has been tender, and they don't skimp on the Cheez Wiz! My sandwich yesterday could have used more onions, but that didn't stop me from devouring the whole thing.

 I'll be swinging by next time to pick up a sandwich AND some bacon cheese fries. Yeah, you heard me. Several of my coworkers have already volunteered to help me finish them-- they're team players like that!

The best way to find out where the Carl's Steaks truck is each day--- Twitter, of course! Follow them there @carlsteaks.

I'm not a board-certified cheesesteak expert, but I know good meat, good cheese, and good bread, and Carl's Steaks has all three! Track 'em down and tell me what you think!

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