Patisserie Florentine
Almond Croissant
Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Muffin
Matin
Krantz
A rare case of New York importing a dining concept from New Jersey, the longtime favorite of Englewood setting up shop in the East Village at the very end of 2016, Patisserie Florentine quickly rose to the top of many Manhattanite’s lists of ‘best’ Almond Croissant, though the relative lack of traditional French Pastry found in the Big Apple currently makes this claim a bit less significant than it seems.
Owned by brothers Tomer and Itay Zilkha, the former a Pastry Chef by morning and Professor of Culinary Arts by day while Itay manages the financial end, Patisserie Florentine promises to bring the baking traditions of Northeastern France to the United States by way of items both familiar and somewhat less common, the Garden State location this year celebrating its 4th anniversary.
Eschewing the warm bistro approach of its original storefront in large part due to Manhattan’s well-publicized property costs, Patisserie Florentine at 280 East 10th Street opens Tuesday through Sunday by 8am with two glass cases well stocked alongside a sizable barista station, the items ranging $2.75 to $4.50 with not one savory among them, perfectly fine for those with a sweet tooth and enough to warrant a sixteen dollar order for four items inclusive of tax.
Not offering a dine-in option in Manhattan, the selections thus carefully bagged or boxed and taken elsewhere to eat, it was with Coffee from nearby in hand that items were carefully cut and sampled, the “Matin” essentially an Apple Tart made out of laminated Dough that puffs up big, flaky and full of Fruit while the Banana Chocolate Muffin features the dense crumb expected of Whole Wheat without coming across dry, the Bananas intentionally over-ripened and thus becoming pudding-like alongside melted Dark Chocolate chunks.
Not attached to only selling traditional French pastry, items incorporating Nutella also popular amongst fans, a small loaf titled “Krantz” was tasted to follow-up the Muffin and although the clerk chose to describe the dish as ‘essentially a German Babka’ the dense, buttery crumb made such a claim seem half-hearted as this is more a Coffee Cake that just so happens to be ribboned in Dark Chocolate with softly separating layers while the famed Almond Croissant was the flattened, double-baked style completely devoid of Frangipane and thus crisp, buttery and only as sweet as it should be.
http://www.patisserieflorentine.com
