Tag: pastry

favorite desserts of 2018…

– I have little to add to the thoughts that I previously recorded about pastryland in 2016, and which I reiterated in 2017. The majority of desserts I encounter in restaurants continues to be overwrought.  Sadly, excessive plating remains a popular style.  And pastry chefs haven’t lost their interest in unorthodox (sometimes bizarre) ingredients. In 2018, […]

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favorite desserts of 2018…

– I have little to add to the thoughts that I previously recorded about pastryland in 2016, and which I reiterated in 2017. The majority of desserts I encounter in restaurants continues to be overwrought.  Sadly, excessive plating remains a popular style.  And pastry chefs haven’t lost their interest in unorthodox (sometimes bizarre) ingredients. In 2018, […]

Continue

travel: the city by the bay… (san francisco; 2018)

– According to the year-end travel summaries and stats issued annually by my airline of choice, San Francisco has been my most-frequent destination for the past four years.  And yet, I rarely mention the city on this blog. I’ve written about eating in cities like New York, Copenhagen, Paris, Kansas City (where I get my mail), […]

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travel: the city by the bay… (san francisco; 2018)

– According to the year-end travel summaries and stats issued annually by my airline of choice, San Francisco has been my most-frequent destination for the past four years.  And yet, I rarely mention the city on this blog. I’ve written about eating in cities like New York, Copenhagen, Paris, Kansas City (where I get my mail), […]

Continue

favorite desserts of 2016…

– What is happening in pastryland? In 2015, I described a slow-down and a top-off, as the energy and excitement that I first noticed propelling dessert-making into a new era half a decade ago began to level.  And as that unbridled sprint into the unknown, which had charted new and exciting territory, suddenly slowed, the language and form of pastry in this new era seemed to […]

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favorite desserts of 2016…

– What is happening in pastryland? In 2015, I described a slow-down and a top-off, as the energy and excitement that I first noticed propelling dessert-making into a new era half a decade ago began to level.  And as that unbridled sprint into the unknown, which had charted new and exciting territory, suddenly slowed, the language and form of pastry in this new era seemed to […]

Continue

best desserts of 2014…

– My parents, who immigrated to the United States over forty years ago, said that, when they first arrived on these shores, they had no concept of “dessert.”  In Taiwan, where they had spent most of their lives until that point, there were bakeries that sold sweet pastries, and confectioners who made candy. But most of […]

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best desserts of 2014…

– My parents, who immigrated to the United States over forty years ago, said that, when they first arrived on these shores, they had no concept of “dessert.”  In Taiwan, where they had spent most of their lives until that point, there were bakeries that sold sweet pastries, and confectioners who made candy. But most of […]

Continue

best desserts of 2012…

~ Last year, I asked: “Is pastry having a ‘moment?’” The question was clearly rhetorical. And in the paragraphs that followed, I cited dozens of examples of why I thought it was so. In 2012, pastry sustained its “moment” because chefs kept redefining and expanding its borders. They continued to explore uncharted territory, questioning tradition, […]

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best desserts of 2012…

~ Last year, I asked: “Is pastry having a ‘moment?’” The question was clearly rhetorical. And in the paragraphs that followed, I cited dozens of examples of why I thought it was so. In 2012, pastry sustained its “moment” because chefs kept redefining and expanding its borders. They continued to explore uncharted territory, questioning tradition, […]

Continue

recipe: poteca…

Poteca It’s pronounced poh-TEE-tsah, according to my friend Mangeur. Poteca is a eastern European rolled yeast-based pastry layered with a slightly sweet nut filling. I’ve known a version called povitica, which is sold by a rather well-known company in my hometown called the Strawberry Hill Povitica Co. Their pastry comes in 2.5-pound loaf form and […]

Continue

recipe: poteca…

Poteca It’s pronounced poh-TEE-tsah, according to my friend Mangeur. Poteca is a eastern European rolled yeast-based pastry layered with a slightly sweet nut filling. I’ve known a version called povitica, which is sold by a rather well-known company in my hometown called the Strawberry Hill Povitica Co. Their pastry comes in 2.5-pound loaf form and […]

Continue

eleventh hour elevation?…

Macarons Eleven Madison Park, New York Ms. Toidy Toid and Toid emailed me yesterday with a link to this post on Eater. The culinary cyber-tabloid reports – based on tips from trusted sources – that Frank Bruni, the outgoing restaurant critic of the New York Times, has been recently spotted circling back to Eleven Madison […]

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eleventh hour elevation?…

Macarons Eleven Madison Park, New York Ms. Toidy Toid and Toid emailed me yesterday with a link to this post on Eater. The culinary cyber-tabloid reports – based on tips from trusted sources – that Frank Bruni, the outgoing restaurant critic of the New York Times, has been recently spotted circling back to Eleven Madison […]

Continue

review: collective swoon…

Over the past couple of years, I’ve witnessed married women, single women, young girls, gay men, grandmothers, and pets *swoon* at the sight, mention, thought, hint of Johnny Iuzzini. And, it’s usually accompanied by one collective and synchronized *eye roll* from husbands, boyfriends, and granddads (and me) nearby. Johnny Iuzzini Photos courtesy of Johnny Iuzzini […]

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review: collective swoon…

Over the past couple of years, I’ve witnessed married women, single women, young girls, gay men, grandmothers, and pets *swoon* at the sight, mention, thought, hint of Johnny Iuzzini. And, it’s usually accompanied by one collective and synchronized *eye roll* from husbands, boyfriends, and granddads (and me) nearby. Johnny Iuzzini Photos courtesy of Johnny Iuzzini […]

Continue