Maison Kayser

Last summer, I had read about a new bakery opening on the UES.  Similar to Laduree, Maison Kayser is a well-regarded French bakery/cafe with branches around the world and they've finally opened a NYC branch.  If you need to know anything about me, its my love for bread and baked goods (mostly bread though heee).  So of course I was super interested in scoping out this new bakery known for its bread.

A friend suggested we meet for dinner at Maison Kayser and I was super surprised to find out that they offer full meals at the cafe!

As I rolled myself in, I was immediately greeted with a beautiful display of tarts, pastries, desserts, breads, rolls, croissants, and all sorts of goodies. 

Front area with bakery goods on display

Then when I looked to the right, I saw the large and spacious dining area:

Cafe and dining area

As I dragged myself away from the display cases, my attention was next attracted to the big windows showing the bakery in the back.  Where bread is born!!!  Fresh baguettes were still coming out of the oven even at 6:30pm.  

Windows in the back of the dining area showing the bakery areas

Dragonfly Cakes' Petits Fours

For my birthday last month, I was surprised when a little box arrived in the mail for me.  It wasn't anything I would expect like clothes, a bag, household trinkets... basically anything non-perishable!  It was a box of adorable petits fours from Dragonfly Cakes!  I was a little wary upon opening it, wondering how in the world it stayed fresh (they're based in California).  Even if it was edible, I figured it probably suffered a bit in transit.  It did come packaged with refrigerant to keep it cool in transit.

They are so pretty though that I was intrigued and couldn't resist biting into one as soon as I opened the box (and even before I remembered to snap a picture!).

From L to R: Chocolate, Vanilla-Orange, Apricot Petits Fours (12 for $36.95)

Boy was I wrong! They tasted soo good! My pretty little box came with three different flavors: Chocolate, Vanilla-Orange, and Apricot.  I bit into a green one (apricot) - the shell was made of chocolate and the inside was three little layers of cake.  It was moist, and not too sweet.  It was the perfect bite-size piece of cake.  All three flavors were delicious, but my favorite was probably the Vanilla-Orange (with the Apricot a very close second!).

Baked by Melissa

Still stuffed from Thanksgiving Dinner yet somehow find yourself desperate for a midday snack?  Need to satisfy that sweet tooth but are reluctant to let loose your belt?  Baked by Melissa is the perfect solution for you!

My Red Velvet, Tie-Dye and Cookies & Cream Cupcakes!

Baked by Melissa creates these tiny bite-sized cupcakes in a variety of flavors.  They’re great for when you are looking for a snack, but don’t want to overdo it.  OR it’s perfect for when you can’t decide upon a flavor and want to taste them all!  

Great bite-sized cnack!



Laduree

I am a marketer’s dream consumer.  Put together some hype with a high probability of getting ripped off and I'm sold!  Naturally, when I heard that Laduree was opening an Upper East Side store at the end of August (their first US location!), it was no surprise that I was immediately swept into feelings of “I need to have it now!!!”.

However, opening week offered disappointing reports of hour-long waits just to get into the store and the likely probability that must-try flavors would be sold out before you even get up to the counter.  Thus I strategically waited until a recent Saturday which overlapped with a long holiday weekend.  I set off towards Madison and 70th Street, determined to wait however long it would take for me to get those macarons.  As I approached the store and saw that there was no line out the door I could hear the angels singing (oh wait… that was just me screaming “yipeee” as I giddily ran in).

Laduree storefront on a glorious Saturday afternoon

Appetizing window display mmm...