Joan's On Third: I.N.D.U.L.G.E (Part 2)

(A box of happiness)

In my mind, Joan’s on Third was about the closest you could get to Dean and Deluca and so, unsurprisingly, it’s been on my “to-go” list even before I moved to LA. Well, since we were in the neighborhood anyways after a super indulgent brunch at Little Next Door, I decided to pop into Joan’s and grab a little something (i.e. a little anything) from their baked goods counter.

I was stuffed from brunch so I was planning on getting just a cookie but, when I got to the counter and saw the little cupcakes, my heart wavered a bit. I asked the cashier if I should get the cookie or the cupcake and even before I finished my complete sentence, she blurted out “the cupcake. Go with the cupcake.” I was sold. Given the size (about half the size of a Crumbs cupcake), the cupcakes are a little on the pricey side at Joan’s ($3.00/each) but, hey, today was going to be super-indulgent day so I whipped out my debit card and got the cashier lady to box up a coconut cupcake, a peanut butter cupcake (peanut butter craving? Check!) and the raspberry filled vanilla cupcake. They all smelt soooooo good.

(Give me a P. Give me a B. But most of all, give me a cupcake!)

Usually, I’d head straight for the coconut but, like I said, I’ve been craving peanut butter like no tomorrow and since they ran out of the peanut butter cake when I went to Susina yesterday, I headed straight for the PB cupcake. OHMYGOSH, the cupcake was stellar stellar stuff. The crumb is so moist and the cake itself was sweet and light. For some reason, the fragrant smell reminded me of a really well-made donut. The ganache topping wasn’t overly sweet either – it was just prefect. The cupcake had a PB cream filling which was absolutely fantastic. The whole cake just exuded peanut-butteriness and I found myself licking up every last crumb. It was a good cupcake. A VERY good cupcake.

FOOD: 4.5/5
SERVICE: 4/5
ATMOSPHERE: 4/5

JOAN'S ON THIRD ($)
8346 W Third St.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 655-2285
http://www.joansonthird.com/

[NYC '09: Dessert, day 5] Dessert Club Chikalicous: Cute Desserts in a Not-So-Cute Place

After dinner at the Stanton Social, we hailed a cab to try Chikalicious, the dessert place endorsed by New York magazine's Adam Platt. We were still too full from brunch so we nipped into the Dessert Club for individual dessert portions instead of the prixe-fixe three course dessert bar across the street. I have to say, the place was totally different from what I had expected. For a place praised for its dainty Japanese-styled desserts, I had imagined a bright, cutely decorated place only to find that the space was the size of a shoebox, had minimal decorations and had two bulking Mexican guys working the counter.

Oh well, at least the desserts are still pretty damn good. Their take on the New York cheesecake (4.95) is served in a small plastic cup. The balance between sweet and zesty tartness is spot-on and the cheesecake manages to be satisfying without being overly heavy. I got the banana custard ($4.95) which was served in similar cup as the cheesecake. The custard had a strong banana flavor which made me all-smiles and the texture was wonderfully smooth and creamy. The pudding tasted best when eaten in a bite mixed with the crushed graham cookies. The mix of textures was wonderful. The desserts at Chikalicous are decent – great, even – but definitely not something to rave about. I heard they were famous for the bread pudding but they were all out by the time we got there. Oh well, maybe next time…

FOOD: 3.75/5
SERVICE: n/a
ATMOSPHERE: 1/5

DESSERT CLUB CHIKALICIOUS ($)
204 E 10th St.
New York, NY 10003
(212) 475-0929
http://www.dessertclubchikalicious.com

[NYC '09: Brunch, day 4] Bouchon Bakery: The Lake

(Ingenius Coffee-to-go Lids at Crumbs)

On day 4, Sunny and I decided on a second round of Bouchon Bakery + Central Park. We hopped off the C line at Columbus Circle and picked up a few baked goods before hopping back on the subway out to West 70th. We took a little stroll around the upper west side, stopped at the 72nd street station (so beautiful) before ducking into Crumbs for a coffee-to-go.

(Sweet, moist coffee cake)

We entered the park on 75th – I was planning on enjoying our food at the Ladies Pavilion (remember when Carrie and Miranda talk about forgiving Steve in the SATC movie? Yes, there) but the place was occupied by a wedding ceremony. How cute. Well, we settled instead on one of the benches facing the lake. It was equally lovely.

I took a bite of Sunny’s coffee cake which was crumbly and moist. The brown sugar topping really brought it up a notch too. Stellar stuff. And after falling in love with it the first time, Sunny bought the raspberry and almond croissant ($3.25) again. This croissant is a MUST-TRY. It’s so amazingly flaky – it melts on your tongue and leaves a soft, tart sweetness. SOOO good. I wanted to get that too but since Sunny got it already, I decided to try something else with the hazelnut and fig croissant. I’m not a big fig fan – I got it mainly for the hazelnut. This croissant was also flaky and soft but the fig taste was probably a little too much for me. Definitely get this if you are a fan of figs. It’s chock full in every bite.

(No other croissant will be good enough after this: raspberry and almond croissant)

(Hazelnut and Fig Croissant)

I wanted to try Bouchon Bakery’s famous TKOs (i.e. Thomas Keller’s Oreos) but, since I’m not a crazy big fan of Oreos to begin with, I decided to forego them and opted for a second round of macarons ($2.75/ea) instead. I got the chocolate this time and also got the caramel (my favorite!) again. The chocolate was well and a definite chocoholics’ dream but I definitely preferred the lighter flavors like vanilla and caramel. Seriously, the caramel is so amazing.


It was an absolutely beautiful day. I love Central Park and I love Bouchon Bakery. And, of course, the company I was with :D Sunny and I did manage to sit in the Ladies Pavilion for a while after we had finished our food. So peaceful, so beautiful. And it’s times like these that you know life is good.

FOOD: 5/5
SERVICE: 3/5
ATMOSPHERE: 4/5

BOUCHON BAKERY ($)
10 Columbus Circle, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10019
(212) 823-9366
http://www.bouchonbakery.com

[NYC '09: Afternoon Tea, day 3] Eleni's: I Still Love You;

After our midtown tour, we headed down to Chelsea. This worked out perfectly for me since I felt like I NEEDED a picker-upper after that disappointing lunch at Emporium Brasil and what better way to cheer my stomach up than by treating it to my favorite cookie place in the world, aka Eleni's in Chelsea Market.

I absolutely LOVE Eleni's and I still remember my first ice-cream cone shaped cookie from years ago. I actually contemplated placing an order for their cookies while I was in LA. Yes, THAT good. This time around, I got a cute, sparkly sheep-shaped cookie ($5.00) which, of course, was fantastic. Sure, Eleni's is not cheap but I am more than happy to dole out a fiver for a piece-of-art cookie.

The only thing that put me off this time was the service. You'd think that people would be friendly and happy at a place like Eleni's (they were the first time I went) but not so this time. Blegh.

FOOD: 4.75/5
SERVICE: 1/5
ATMOSPHERE: 4.75/5

ELENI'S NEW YORK ($)
75 Ninth Avenue.
(in the Chelsea Market)
New York, NY 10011
(888) 435-3647
http://www.elenis.com