{"id":193,"date":"2010-01-01T14:14:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-01T14:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/endoedibles.ifm.yji.mybluehost.me\/?p=193"},"modified":"2010-01-01T14:14:00","modified_gmt":"2010-01-01T14:14:00","slug":"balthazar-new-york-ny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/?p=193","title":{"rendered":"Balthazar, New York NY"},"content":{"rendered":"

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On January the 1st 2010 I again woke early despite being up quite late the night before \u2013 and I woke up to find out that the Long Island busses were running on some asinine \u201cSunday Schedule\u201d that didn\u2019t start until around noon \u2013 having reservations at Momofuku Ko at 12:10 this was hardly acceptable so I decided to start the day with a 2.5 mile walk from my friend\u2019s place to the train station \u2013 making good time on the recently fixed sidewalks I arrived moments before the train and actually found myself standing in Penn Station at exactly 8am. <\/span>Deciding to make my way south to browse Soho and Tribeca for a bit I guess I didn\u2019t really think about the day \u2013 almost nothing was open, although the still-hung-over crowds in the street were admittedly entertaining. <\/span>Wandering past many stores, shops, galleries while listening to The Antlers album I suddenly happened upon a long line at a red awning.<\/p>\n

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To be fair, given the fact that most gourmands are not at all impressed by Balthazar I\u2019d never really paid attention to its location \u2013 but there it was, and it was opening at 9:00, so I figured I\u2019d stop in for at least a pastry and a coffee. <\/span>Hopping in line minutes before the doors opened I was probably the 20th person in the restaurant \u2013 and it was bustling and full within 20 minutes of me taking a seat, a line stretching down the street. <\/span>Greeted quite promptly by my server and handed a menu I was offered a cocktail, water, coffee, juice \u2013 selecting a coffee I was asked if I wanted bottled or tap water \u2013 tap would suffice. <\/span>Seated at a cramped little table (even for one) I have to admit I liked the feel of the room \u2013 very \u201cFrench Bistro\u201d with the long bar serving chilled seafood and drinks and a menu focused largely on bistro\/brunch fare.<\/p>\n

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Returning shortly with the first of many refills of coffee \u2013 a deep and nutty blend, possibly the best I had outside of Daniel in New York (saying a lot as both Per Se and Picholine had excellent coffee) \u2013 I was offered the pastry basket with the words \u201cCan I bring you our basket of fresh baked breads?\u201d which I declined (I later realized this was offered to everyone, at $18, and most people did not expect it to be charged for because of the manner in which she offered it \u2013 there was quite the scene at the table next to me regarding this, actually.) <\/span>Instead asking for a single almond croissant and the Brioche French Toast to accompany the coffee my server quickly disappeared to give my order to the kitchen \u2013 returning within moments to manage 4 other tables with impeccable skill \u2013 honest to goodness one of the most effective servers I\u2019ve ever seen anywhere.<\/p>\n

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Returning shortly with my Croissant \u2013 still somewhat warm from the oven (or rewarmed) I was impressed by its girth and fluffiness \u2013 it stood tall with a nice crisp shell. <\/span>Unfortunately the interior of the croissant was largely doughy and most certainly not up to par with Madeline, Payard, or Petrossian. <\/span>Not that the croissant was bad \u2013 not by any means \u2013 but for $3.50 and Balthazar\u2019s famous breads I guess I expected an exemplary croissant while this was merely average.<\/p>\n

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Merely moments after finishing the croissant I was brought my French Toast and my coffee was refilled yet again \u2013 while they were certainly trying to turn tables due to the growing line, I still must note how impressed I was with my server\u2019s cordial and professional behavior despite being very rushed (as it turned out I overheard her speaking to a colleague noting that the two of them were covering their own tables plus the tables of a server who was running late \u2013 even more impressive.) <\/span>Tasting the crispy bacon first I liked the smoky flavor a lot and found it to be well balanced between fatty\/supple and crispy \u2013 while I\u2019m not a big bacon eater, this was excellent. <\/span>Next pouring the chilled (should\u2019ve been warmed) maple syrup over the toast I first taste the syrup \u2013 certainly not pure maple like Maialino, but certainly not Mrs. Buttersworth either, for the price I\u2019d rather expected better syrup. <\/span>Tasting the buttery brioche I will note that the bread itself was sublime with essences of cinnamon and vanilla very pronounced \u2013 unfortunately while the outside was crispy and delicious, the inside was again doughy \u2013 a combination, in my opinion, of using too hot a griddle and not allowing the bread to soak long enough. <\/span>Again decent, but most certainly not worth the $18 price-tag.<\/p>\n

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Receiving the bill and another coffee, this time in a paper cup to take with me, I have to admit I was a bit annoyed by the price \u2013 more than $30 when including the well deserved tip. <\/span>Obviously I don\u2019t mind spending good money on good food, but this was a case where I definitely felt like I was paying more for a name or hype than for quality or quantity. <\/span>Bill paid I made my way downstairs to the restroom and in the less than 2 minutes I was downstairs they had already taken down my table and seated the next couple \u2013 impressive. <\/span>Great service, a nice setting, decent food and high prices – in the end I have to say Balthazar was a nice touristy experience, but not someplace I\u2019d return.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On January the 1st 2010 I again woke early despite being up quite late the night before \u2013 and I woke up to find out that the Long Island busses were running on some asinine \u201cSunday Schedule\u201d that didn\u2019t start … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[250,28,87,27,102,15,61,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-balthazar","category-coffee","category-croissant","category-food","category-french-toast","category-new-york","category-pork","category-vacation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}