A Hunt for Macarons
If you read this blog semi-regularly, you’ll know that I go through food phases. In February, it was DessertTruck Works. In May and June, it was lobster rolls. Come July, it’s macarons.
I had my first macaron on the top of the Eiffel Tower a few years ago, and assumed it was one of those things you can only get in France. Oh, how wrong I was. After discovering macarons at Financier in the Financial District and then again at La Maison du Chocolat, I began to stumble upon them everywhere. Walking from Chelsea Piers back to actual civilization? Check. Madeleine Patisserie on 23rd Street is la maison du macaron (or so they say), with over 50 different flavors. I tried the caramel fleur de sel and fell in love with it. I may dislike regular caramel, but I have a new passion for the salty sweet goodness of fleur de sel caramels.
Macaron Parlor at the Hester Street Fair first caught Keith’s eye when he saw candied bacon macarons, and we visited at least once a weekend for the maple cream cheese and deliciously sweet bacon (apparently salt + sweet is a winning combo when it comes to macs).
They reignited my craving for macarons, and so on Saturday, I dragged Keith to Dessert Club Chikalicious in the East Village. I’ve heard so much about Chikalicious (a dessert-only resto, my kind of place) and its more casual outpost, the Dessert Club, and wanted to try out the cupcakes (with the lightest frosting I’ve had on an NYC cupcake) and of course, the macs. We got a blueberry and salted caramel. They were full of flavor, but lacked the balance between crispy shell and soft interior that I’ve come to associate with a macaron.
On Sunday, we tried again. While celebrating Bastille Day at the FIAF street fair on 60th Street, we bought rose-litchee, espresso and passion fruit macarons from the Macaron Café stall. The owners have one store near Penn Station and recently opened another in the Upper East Side. These macarons were delicious, with crisp meringues, creamy filling and tons of flavor. I’ve already started planning my sojourn to their store …
a bite out of life 