MacarOn Café hits Midtown with more than Macs

Yesterday morning my alarm clock went off an hour earlier than normal for a very good reason. I was invited to celebrate the grand opening of MacarOn Café's new location on Third  Avenue. As you may well know by now, MacarOn Café is one of my favorite spots in the city for getting my macaron fix. I can always count on a variety of flavors, something new to try, and above all consistently perfect shells and fillings. My favorite location has been the 59th and Madison shop; it is on my way home from work, right by FIAF and has cozy seating in the back. The new shop, located at 750 Third Avenue (between 46th and 47th) may very well become my preferred location in the coming weeks thanks to an evening menu and another favorite of mine: wine. The pink-and-white shop is officially open now but the evening menu and wine will begin in the coming weeks. I can't wait to try it out and will be sure to report back when I do.

The Third Avenue location is in a great spot, right by Grand Central, and easily accessible from the north, east, south or west. Yesterday white and pink balloons encouraged  guests to come in for a free macaron and maybe a perfectly made espresso beverage or a cup of Mariage Frères tea. I was glad to start my day with a balanced cappuccino complete with decorative foam on top.

Fortunately I was able to spend a bit of time chatting with Cecile and Arnaud Cannone, the chef and owners of MacarOn Café. Cecile and I spoke about the process of making macarons and, as always, ways of troubleshooting problems when baking the shells. She advised me how key controlling the humidity of the oven is and suggested not baking them in the summer when it is as humid as it has been in New York. We discussed some flavors- Cecile, like me, is a chocolate lover. I mentioned to her how I like that there are always new flavors to choose from when I come by. Most recently I tried the new Earl Grey, which I had bought for my friend Kyle. I don’t normally enjoy Earl Grey teas or bergamot in general so I didn’t try it until he told me it tasted like… Trix cereal! (They really do!) I told Cecile this but she hadn’t hear of our sugared-up American Trix. I suggest trying one out when you stop in.

Chef Ludo's Chocolate Soufflé Pour Une!

Ever have a hankering for some chocolate after dinner? And not just a nibble of your 70% cocoa Lindt bar, but warm satisfying chocolately goodness? Thursday night was one of those nights for me. Chocolate soufflés are something I crave ever since I had my first many moons ago at the now closed Carmine’s Restaurant (in Albany, NY, now Grappa 72). Last May I picked up Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s cookbook Crave and finally made something from it tonight. His soufflé recipe always came to mind when I wanted one. I decided to make them tonight. Rather than make 4-9 oz. ramekins of soufflés, I opted to pare down the recipe for 1, using 2-4 oz. ramekins, as I was only baking for myself.

The recipe I normally use contains melted butter. Chef Ludo keeps it simple and light with

Destiny Calling. The New York City Wine & Food Festival Part I: Alton Brown's Cooking Demo

By bouts of good fortune I had one of the best weekends of my life this month during the New York City Wine & Food Festival October 7th through 10th. 

First and foremost my good friend Marlie of Marliese's Sweet Treats offered me the awesome opportunity to work the American Lamb Board table during the second session of Sunday's grand tasting and the opportunity to attend the first session on Sunday as a guest. The chance to participate in this important part of the festival got me throughly excited for the upcoming weekend! I was living in New York last year during the festival but since I did not have tickets to events I did not even think to go loiter around Chelsea Market (which I recommend you do with or without tickets during the Festival-- lots of activity and foodie celeb sightings!l!).

During the week leading up to the event my Twitter feed was a-buzz with #nycwff attached to all tweets about chef appearances, events, details, and the most fortunate tweets for me-- giveaways! My love of Twitter and Whole Foods combined to bring me what would become great fortune....

Confection Collision: Cupcakes

My good friend Marlie of Marliese's Sweet Treats organized a cupcake tasting in Central Park this past Saturday for some of our girlfriends. Everyone brought four-six cupcakes from a different bakery-- bringing 2-3 of two different flavors (chocolate & vanilla or that bakeries signature flavors). 

We met in the Sheep's Meadow with cupcakes and wine in tow. Marlie brought judging sheets for everyone to take notes and rate each bakery's sweets. 

First up was Tu-Lu's Bakery which specializes in gluten-free sweets. We tasted Chocolate with Peanut Butter and Vanilla with Chocolate. 

Les Joies du Chocolat-- sans Peur!

Fallen Chocolate Soufflé Cake Simple French Desserts, by Jill O'Connor, 2000 http://www.jilloconnorcooks.com/cook_books.html

My very good friends Jocelin and Marlie are off to Paris for a jaunt on Wednesday. My other friend and I decided this is an occasion for a little party to show them a proper send off. Jocelin's husband, a former restaurant chef, is taking care of making dinner therefore I offered to make dessert!

I love baking with melted chocolate, its so satisfying. The cake is just one large soufflé as opposed to smaller individual ones which are most often seen in restaurants. O'Connor gives tips on "Fearless Folding" following this recipe in her book which got me to thinking about fear & baking/cooking. Most people who don't cook or pronounce that they cannot cook probably have never done it much and are too afraid to try. Like many of the current eldest generation who fear the computer because they secretly believe they may break it, people who find themselves too afraid to cook are probably afraid they'll get someone sick or light the house on fire! But being fearless is one of the greatest assets a cook can possess. Even in terms of tasting, a fearless taster will develop a wider range of ingredients to select and cook with. The beauty of cooking is that you can always try again. You won't lose all your tools, or even all of the ingredients and every time you screw up a recipe you learn something new! Whether that something new is a more obvious thing such as not to put plastic in the oven or a new trick for next time you make the recipe, you're better equipped to do it again. Soufflés seem difficult or challenging, but all it takes is an understanding of how to make them and the patience to let their beauty rise. Folding is a simple technique and can be mastered in one correct blending. It is the respect of the egg whites you so aggressively beat into those stiff peaks that mustn't deflate when folding, when spooning the mixture into the pan (as opposed to pouring it where it will be toppling all over itself and de-poufing left and right), and when placing and removing the souffle from the oven.

Baking is truly an art and I am happy to be an aspiring artist.