Demel, Plaza Hotel

Demel Hot Schokolade, watercolor on Etsy, 9 x11

This has been a week of afternoon teas or rather hot chocolates.

Yesterday I finally hit DEMEL'S at the Plaza Hotel, New York.Demel petit fours, watercolor on Etsy, 5" x 7"

A plethora of goodies await you.

Demel's corner on the mezzanine... It's really quite small, cosy and intimate. There were Europeans on either side of me...

There's a nice bar too - casual and convivial...

Loads of DEMEL goodies to buy too... Like these divinely wrapped candied violets...Langues de chat - Chocolate shaped as cats tongues.
"Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons."Ruth Ann SchabackerCertainly plenty of chocolate bars... And chocolate gateaux!! Chocolate bundts...

I got this mini Sacher Tort petit four..mitt schlag (whipped creme) of course ~ luscious. And pink whatsits too - I want to paint these... Photo by Merisi... I'll be returning to DEMEL/NYC but

For much more on DEMEL/Vienna please visit Merisi

~

Bonne Week-End!

Dousoeur de Paris

French Macaron Tree, watercolor on Etsy, sold 5" x 7"

On Monday Judy Tillinger of magpiesbeads sent me lovely photos of a brand new French pastry shop in New York...

Called, Dousoeur de Paris at 652 10th Avenue near 46th Street...

French Tea Tray, watercolor on Etsy, 5" x 7"

Dousoeur can mean sweetness or two sisters and in this case it's owned by two Parisian twin sisters, Corine Fina and Diane Cepeda.

Photo by Judy Tillinger
I dragged myself out in the rain yesterday for a looksee...

And wouldn't you know the New York Times beat me to it and wrote about them yesterday!

HUMPH

Dousoeur de Paris Photo by Judy Tillinger
Very Frenchie indeed....

They even have King Cake, but you have to buy the whole thing...
And they have macarons too, but you have to order ahead.

No singles yet...And they have Buche de Noel!
That you can buy a single slice of - see the far left.

Religiouses too...

And other goodies...

I had my old favorite,a tiny tarte citron. I can never pass it up for anything... And a hot chocolate. Fun and very Frenchie.

~
BONNE JOURNEE!!!

For the birds...

Baroque bluebird, watercolor , 5" x 7"

Since I've started blogging almost 3 years ago all sorts of new obsessions have developed.

birds,

One of them is since they're so much fun to draw...

Au Chat Bleu Paris

This is one of those occasions when you're running from one Metro stop to another.

And you just happen to spot an adorable chocolate shop...
 

You have no time to run inside, so you snap a bunch of pictures.

Hoping to come back and sample the goodies at a later date.

Of course you promptly forget about it until you get home

and peruse your Paris photos at leisure and wish you had.

Au Bleu Chat Chocolatier is quite a traditional French bonbon shop, around since 1912, with no aspirations to high-end percentage % chocolate, just plain good fun.

This is where you can be a kid again and drool over the windows. Faire du lèche-vitrine

And study the lengthy detailed descriptions of each bonbon.YUM!

Of course being a French chocolate shop, they must have jam(confiture). Probably tea too is sold.

 

Just as a reminder.

Shall we all meet here next time?

Au Chat Bleu 85, bd Haussmann 75008 Paris

A la prochaine
And is there such a thing as a blue cat?

Of course there is. A Russian blue

He is residing in a New York shop window at the moment.

BONNE JOURNEE!

La Galette des Rois

La Galette des Rois ,watercolor on Etsy,5.5" x 7.5

Just when you thought the plethora of excessive eating was over.

La Galette des Rois ,watercolor on Etsy, 5.5" x 7.5

Along come the King Cake or La Galette des Rois for Epiphany

Somehow the paper crown always looks a bit askew to me. The general idea is that since the Middle Ages, Epiphany is celebrated on the 12th night after Christmas (January 6th) with a special 12th night cake- this is when the three kings finally show up bearing gifts. So the cake hides a "gift" too, or a favor or feves. It used to be a bean, symbolizing fertility, but things have moved on and now we have porcelaine charms. A PB reader wrote me and asked if I knew where she could get some Epifany charms. The only place I know is via AirFrance's ticket office. Unless you live in Japan. Of course Pierre Herme does a magnificent Galette des Rois, though I've never tasted any of these.

His much coveted charm this year is a little heart.

The idea is some lucky eater at the table gets the little charm in their slice of galette. Then they get to wear the paper crown for the evening, so you really can't taste King Cake alone.

Gerard Mulot has this splendid gateaux on offer...

Patisseriere Sadaharu Aoki takes a different twist on the traditional shape of the French gateaux, making his squarish and filled with green tea paste not the usual almond flavor.

You can vicariously see them all here, unless you live in Paris.... BONNE EPIPHANIE!