All the little details of a French patisserie are there, like this ardoise/blackboard are present.
Handwriting/ecriture on the wall is tres correct.
Les porte-etiquettes/little pastry signs are plentiful.
I've read les bon reports on their viennoisserie.
As well as their namesake, the mille-feuille - this one loaded with vanilla beans. They sell the beans as well one by one.
They even have those little Frenchie stickers/auto-collant and pretty boxes.
It's always a delight to see the macarons in the case, freshly made, rather than boxed up and pre-packed. These sell for $1.90 each and come tres pres/very close to the Parisian version. For some reason New York altitude does not encourage the shiny meringue shells you find in Paris.
But the taste and range of flavors is excellent. Chef Olivier Dessyn earned his pastry bones at The Paris Ritz cooking school, The Meurice Hotel and Pierre Herme(!)
Triple Vanilla, Espresso, Pistachio, Rose, Raspberry,Chocolate Praline, Coconut, Chocolate, Passion fruit etc.
I prided myself on getting through last week almost pastry-free (except for les 2 croissants). Then I read about Mille-Feuille and ran out the door to tell you about it this morning. You can find Mille-Feuille in Greenwich Village at 552 LaGuardia Place (Bleecker Street). I suggest you run (literally) home and eat a HUGE salad like this.
BONJOUR MILLE-FEUILLE
Love the painting, the little sign next to the jar, the small plate with the two macarons, cheek to cheek. I wonder if that is a glass of water, alongside? Would it be very unfrench to have a Viennese Melange with it?
ReplyDeleteViennese Melange??
ReplyDeleteNo glass of water with spoon on top sadly :(
Vienna owns that one! :)
WOW Carol!
ReplyDeleteLove the painting. As so often with your art, something "Cezannesque"
about the strokes. Love all the colorful pics. And what a charming
and elegant young woman your niece is, and that simple salad looks yummy.
Gotta' try it today.
Mille-feuille owes you a debt of extreme gratitude!!! And I owe Mille-feuile a debt of gratitude for luring you back to les patisseries!!!! Too much restraint is NPT good for PB!!
ReplyDeleteLovely watercolor, comme toujours. I made a big salad very like this one today for lunch here at work, only I used brown rice. (Just joined weightwatchers, and I'm being very healthy and good.)
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious! I always thought that I would dislike macarons but I found a great place called Sandrine's in the Okanagan last year and I finally tried a few...and then a few more. My favourite so far is definitely any kind of berry flavour or chocolate which I suppose really covers almost all of them. They go great with a glass of champagne.
ReplyDeleteThe Wanderfull Traveler
hey those macarons look good! (so did the multi-colored ones in the last post!) but the mille-feuille would have to be made test case: my absolute fave pastry when living in france.
ReplyDeleteCarol, this is wonderful. I love how you've captured the charm of Paris in NYC. I can just hear the French saying "brrounee" from that blackboard. That mille feuille definitely looks perfect. Don't tell me you had to eat that macaron for the photo shoot? :-) Going to check out your niece's recipe. She rocks (no kidding, with the perfectly talented Auntie!)
ReplyDeleteWonderful post today! I also went to your niece's eHow site for the first time-- love her method of salad making! Merci beaucoup, Carol!
ReplyDeleteYour salad look delish, and I love the fact that any ingredients can be substituted for the grain, bean, and veggies. Love your jar of macarons.
ReplyDeleteAnd that your macarons match the colors in your salad :)
ReplyDeleteLOVE yr last pic of NYC in all it's multi-culti glory.
ReplyDeleteStill it's very nice to discover these little enclaves of Frenchness with all their loving attention to detail amidst New Yorkers tearing around.
Bonjour Carol,
ReplyDeleteI'm Nathalie and Olivier, the pastry chef is my husband.
Thank you so much for your post. Your paintings are beautiful!
See you soon at Mille-feuille
bien à vous
Nathalie
Your painting of the jar o' macarons looks 100x more appetizing than the real ones - and prettier, too.
ReplyDeleteBonsoir Carol, merci beaucoup pour votre visite à mon blog!!!
ReplyDeleteJ'aime et j'admire votre belle blog!!!!!
Bonne soirée
Fleurete
Je note...
ReplyDeleteAmicalement,
Manon
Ah, I read about this place in the NYTimes, I want to see how it compares to the pastry shops here in Paris!
ReplyDeleteGreat! It all looks so good and it is in NYC!
ReplyDeleteI hope to get there someday!
I had a big salad for dinner.
ReplyDeleteWhich would have been fine, except there were no macaroons served to me post lettuce. Even a madeline would have done. I would love to try their madelines. Did you have one?
xx
julie
Hmmmm, Carol. This place seems a bit too close to my place of employment.
ReplyDeleteMust be very close to Bruno's where I have treated myself to the first gelato of 2011.
xo
I hope they take euros & find someone w/that pretty French writing to mark prices. Thanks for the news item, Carole (& bear?)
ReplyDeleteOh Carol,
ReplyDeleteAny chance you can get me a job there? J' adore mille-feuilles. Both me, my mom and mil love them! (Promise I won't take abite while cooking!)