While the UWS is for eating and sleeping, Varick Street is for working and food trucks. Tons of food trucks. This one happens to purvey gourmet ice cream sandwiches. Beautiful. Coolhaus serves up wildly creative create-your-own cookie/ice cream flavor combos for $6 a pop. Yes, it’s a bit steep, but this thing is a freakin’ meal replacement. It’s also fantastically indulgent in both calorie count and imagination. You could pair 2 lemon rosemary cookies with a heaping scoop of earl grey ice cream. Or if you require meat at all times, try some brown butter candied bacon ice cream on a brioche cookie. Yes, you heard me. There’s a meat lover ice cream sandwich. Go ahead and eat the wrapper while you’re at it (seriously… it’s edible!). After deep introspection and deliberation, I finally went for the balsamic fig & mascarpone ice cream sandwiched between two potato chip/Skor toffee bar cookies. It was ridiculous. The salty-sweet balsamic reduction was perfectly swirled into the ultra-rich mascarpone ice cream, dotted with chewy fig chunks. The cookie had a great crunch and stood up like a pro to the fast-melting ice cream in the city heat. Check out Coolhaus’s site for their full menu and next location to get in on this crazy deliciousness.
I'm alive! The semester's over, the birds are singing, and the sun is shining. Gone are the sleepless nights and shouting expletives at my laptop. This newfound freedom can mean one thing, and one thing only: It's Kyotofu soft serve time. Now, when I think "soymilk," the terms "chalky" and "weird aftertaste" usually follow. I shy away from store-bought soy ice cream, as it's expensive and tastes weird. With that, I can honestly write that Kyotofu's soymilk ice cream is some sort of miracle. It tastes dairy. In fact, I'll go so far as to say it tastes better than dairy.
Life has been a bit hectic in Savvyland, but never too hectic to stop in at my new favorite French pastry shop in Chelsea. Now, if there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I’m serious about my pastries… very serious. Don’t give me that rubbery, preservative-filled Starbucks excuse for a croissant, and don’t even think about the pre-packaged, mass-manufactured, cloyingly sweet thing you call a “danish”. No. Give me the real stuff and give it to me straight. If I’m gonna murder myself to tears at the gym all week, it better be for a damn good reason. My friends, the monstrously large, expertly crafted, freshly baked almond croissant at Madeleine Patisserie is one damn good reason…
After a gourmet food truck dry spell, Wafels & Dinges has finally decided to hit up the Columbus Circle lunch hour. And lucky for me, there was no line! For those who aren’t familiar, Wafels & Dinges is a gourmet Belgian wafel truck that serves up two varieties of wafel and a zillion different dinges. Wafel = Waffle Dinges = Sh*t you put on your waffle Like you needed another reason to move to NYC…
In a world of Egg McMuffins and defrosted breakfast burritos, it’s comforting to know a little shop on Amsterdam is doing breakfast right. Artopolis Café on 113th street is an adorable getaway from the morning rush, serving up all sorts of handmade crepes, pies and gelato. I recently stopped in for a Saturday brunch, though the entirety of the Upper West Side beat me to it. The place was packed! The usual wait during brunching hours is anywhere from a half hour to an hour- so imagine my surprise when it only took 10 minutes to get a cozy table for two. Not that I minded waiting by the glass cases of expertly crafted cakes and chocolate dipped cookies…
Is there anything more perfect than a gigantic pocket of homemade fried dough stuffed with melted chocolate and creamy banana? Of course, not! That’s why Empanada Mama, nestled between 51st and 52nd on 9th avenue, is here to stay. They give the people what they want for about $2.50 a pop- everything from sautéed Portobello empanadas to sweet plantain with cheese. They even have variations on their dough, ranging from wheat to corn flour. Mi novio y yo hit up Empanada Mama after a mediocre Mexican lunch down the street. We owed it to ourselves to eat something yummy while keeping with the Mexican theme (at least that’s how we rationalized it). Their dessert empanadas looked outstanding, so in we went to the brightly painted eatery...
 photo courtesy eatingintranslation @ flickr It’s official! Holey Cream: Outrageous Ice Cream and Bake Shop, on 53rd & 9th, is open for business. You might remember my gushing, wistful post a few weeks back about the place- so naturally, I had to follow up and get me some doughnuts asap. As giddy as I was to barge through the door, I must admit their look was a bit off-putting. I guess I was expecting more of a Doughnut Plant, “mom’s kitchen” kind of thing- an aesthetic customary to Hell’s Kitchen and the Village. Shiny, super stylized and youthful, Holey Cream unfortunately reminded me of the Baskin Robins/ Dunkin’ Donuts joint franchise. Perhaps they’re aiming to create an easily duplicable image in hopes of going national? Whatever the reasoning, I was willing to look past it for the sake of my doughnut craving...
 Poseidon pastry photo courtesy alwayshungryny.com Poseidon Bakery is my new favorite pastry shop. Hands down, case closed. Almonds, honey, spinach, feta, handmade Phyllo dough… I think I’m secretly Greek. I’d like to say I “discovered” this little shop- but after 87 years and 4 generations of established success, I finally poke my head in. Poseidon Bakery is a true fixture of “old New York”- a realization of the classic American dream. It’s comforting to see shops like these flourish in a world of venti soy no-whip vanilla lattes and headset-bearing, superficially enthused employees. The owner and her family even live upstairs, making this den of Greek goodness an extension of their home. It’s also the only bakery in the United States that makes their Phyllo by hand. Impressed yet?...
photos: amysbread.com & cherrypatter.com. After hitting the Eggnog a bit too hard last night, you’re probably in need of some good ol’ carbohydrates to soak up that excess rum and get on with your day. Enter: Amy’s Bread. Founded in 1992 in a brightly painted shop in Hell’s Kitchen (9th between 46th & 47th), Amy’s Bread bakes up outstandingly tasty breads and pastries at terrifically affordable prices. And with locations in Chelsea Market and the West Village, nearly everyone can snatch up some hearty Potato Onion Dill bread or perfectly tangy Sourdough. But don’t just come for the Challah (theirs makes a mean French Toast, by the way)- Amy’s Bread prepares everything from Orange Butter Cookies to gooey Cinnamon Raisin Twists. And such variety! The chefs seem to do no wrong as they concoct what they please each day…
photos courtesy thewanderingeater @ flickr Every once in a while, a savvy girl’s gotta step back and take note of her accomplishments. She must commend herself on rocking a good semester or impressing the pants off of her colleagues during that big meeting. Sticking to a budget is important, but every once in a while it’s totally ok to blow it off for something awesome. Yes, kids, I’m talking about the sinfully sweet “s” word: splurging… also known as the $4 chocolate soufflé cupcake at Kyotofu.
“4 bucks for a cupcake?! Isn’t that… a lot?” you might say. Yes. Yes, it is a lot. It’s also the best damn cupcake you’ll ever eat...
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