Samantha Hew and Anthony Piliaskas believe in evolving spaces and snacks. From Bembe to 3 Roots, both have successfully sustained businesses while layering the neighborhood with innovative adaptations. Their newest collaboration, Vittles Cafe (94 Franklin St), is a vibrant testament to 9 years of friendship and belief that food should be positive and rooted in love and community.
Nestled at Oak and Franklin, the treats – vittles – deliver scrumptious aromas and flavor. Vegans, omnivores, health nuts, and meat-ers will want to indulge in the mouthwatering menu and caffeine addicts will be delighted by the drinks list. Highlights include Toby’s Estate espresso, egg & cheese on a biscuit, Australian hot milo, cornmeal rolls, Thai vegan banh mi, Barista’s specialty, kaya butter toast and potato curry puffs. Continue reading →
Ooh la la! There’s a new cafe in the neighborhood and oui, vraiment, c’est Français! Recently opened on Nassau Ave, Sweet Fox Café is run by French chef Jean-Marc Hardy, and is a great spot to pick up a morning coffee and croissant, a fresh-baked baguette for lunch, or a fancy pastry for afternoon tea. Sweet treats include alluringly colored macaroons, delicate fruit tartlets, and the classic praline cream-filled Paris Brest (an item which, at the age of nine, I rated as most the sophisticated of all racy foodstuffs.) Continue reading →
Crema (182, Driggs Ave.) opened in September, serving up cups of coffee, pastries, and deliciously simple sandwiches. Owner Jin Han gave us an introduction to his fascination with pour-over techniques and charcuterie, which both led to his desire to open his shop. Continue reading →
Bakeri has been baking delicious small batch breads and dessertsin Brooklyn for over five years. Inside their bakery you will find amazing cookies, pastries, warm sandwiches, soups and great coffee. If you haven’t been to Bakeri yet, now is the time to come in and enjoy this friendly and authentic place where bread and baked goods are made daily with the utmost craftsmanship.
And now that the holiday season has begun, get your Thanksgiving Breads and Desserts made just for you by the ladies at Bakeri. Order by Sunday Nov. 24 to have your dessert by Wednesday after 4pm or Thursday before Noon. Enjoy classic Apple & Cherry Pies, Tarts, including a vegan version and my personal favorite, the Pumpkin Whoopie Pie with cream cheese and crystalized ginger filling!
I am always on the hunt for a great espresso. There is a little coffee shop, in the middle of nowhere, on Woodpoint Rd. in the 11211 called Tar Pit Café. Their motto is “Espresso, Pastry, Love.” I can get behind that. What I found when I strolled over was a pleasant teeny coffee shop with a friendly barista name Ginny, who served me the shortest espresso (in a great way) that was perfect and made with Kitten Coffee, which comes from Bed-Stuy.
The technique for their short espresso pulling is called ristretto, which should be the standard for which every espresso is pulled, much in the same way all steaks should be rare and all eggs should be runny. They would have made a great contender in the Greenpointers Espresso Tour.
I’ve had this recipe for Rainbow Cookies on my fridge since last year and decided to make it. Working my first job as a counter girl at an Italian bakery in Queens and accepting collect calls from the grumpy bakery owner’s son, who was in jail for idiotic low-level racketeering, gave me have a distaste for Italian pastries, with the exception of a few things: Pignoli Cookies, Rainbow Cookies & Cannolis (but only the cannolis that the nuns from the San Carlo monastery on Erice, a medieval mountain town in Sicily make. God is in them.) The rest of the Italian pastries can burn in hell.
Rainbow Cookies are pretty pricey per pound and if you’re going to buy them around Brooklyn I would recommend Fortunata Brother’s on Manhattan & Devoe.
Making the rainbow cookies seemed pretty pricey, too. It didn’t help that I had to buy 3 half sheet pans at $15 a pop from The Brooklyn Kitchen, plus 4 tubes of Almond Paste at $8 a pop! I definitely came home grumpy.
“I should have just bought them at the bakery,” I said as I laid the ingredients on the counter. But the process and the end result were worth it, plus we got between 150-200 cookies out of it.
I cut the recipe out of New York Magazine from the chef of Torrisi Italian Specialties, a great Italian restaurants down on Mulberry, the walls lined with Manhattan Special: my favorite drink, espresso soda.
If you plan on making rainbow cookies, make sure you have an entire day off plus a partner with good hand-eye coordination. I am lacking in that area and Jon, who is mechanically inclined proved, to have amazing cake layering and chocolate spreading skills. Had I tried to take this endeavor solo, I assure you these cookies would not be so pretty.
When it comes down to it, “it’s a lot of work, Jane,” as Nonna, my Sicilian Grandma would say. There are many steps: beating the egg whites for stiff glossy peaks, splitting one batter into three for coloring, baking three cakes separately until just underdone so they stay moist, cooling the cakes then layering them using orange marmalade as glue, letting them set then spreading warm chocolate on the top and bottom. Start as early in the morning as you can.
While getting closer and closer to chocolatey soft almond cookie goodness, I was giddy. I remember saying, “this sure as hell beats last minute christmas shopping.” In fact, making these cookies is what the holidays are all about: slowing down, spending time with someone you love, making something you love, then giving to people you love.” These cookies put a truer smile on faces than anything you can unwrap and rip a price tag off of.
12 large eggs, separated
2 2/3 cups sugar
24 oz. almond paste
8 sticks butter, softened
5 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. red food coloring
2 tsp. green food coloring
16 oz. orange preserves, heated and strained
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Preheat oven to 350. Beat egg whites in electric mixer until they just hold stiff peaks. Add ½ cup sugar, beating until whites hold stiff, slightly glossy peaks, then refrigerate. Beat together almond paste and remaining sugar in mixer. Add butter gradually and beat until mixture is fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add yolks and beat until well combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour and salt and mix until just combined. Fold in egg whites. Divide batter equally among 3 bowls; wearing gloves,(1) whisk red food coloring into one and green into another, leaving the third batch plain. Spread each batter separately and evenly, about ¼-inch thick, onto 3 half-sheet pans, each greased and lined with parchment paper. Bake until just barely set, about 7 minutes. (2) When layers are cool, spread half the preserves onto the green layer. Invert plain layer over it and discard paper. Spread on remaining preserves, and invert red layer over it; discard paper. Wrap with plastic and top with a weighted baking pan. Refrigerate for several hours. Remove plastic and bring to room temperature. Melt chocolate in a double boiler, and (3) spread thinly on top layer. Chill in freezer briefly until firm. Cover with wax paper, place another baking sheet on top, then invert cake onto sheet pan and remove paper. Quickly spread with remaining chocolate and return to freezer until firm. Trim edges, slice, and serve.
