Good bakery in New York?

[nanabou]

Hi!

I'm a baker from Montreal and I'll be in New York next week! I wanna know where I can find the ''best'' bread in New York, or maybe just a place you like for their croissant or for their special stuff.

Thank you!

[skeetereats]

Don't miss out on SCRATCHbread in Brooklyn. Or Bien Cuit too, on Smith Street.

[kathryn]

Any type of bread specifically? German (like Landbrot)? Italian style? Baguettes?

Are you interested only in French pastry or also American?

Off the top of my head, you might to look into:
Bouchon Bakery - bouchon, TKO
City Bakery - scones, muffins, bakers muffin, pretzel croissant
Two Little Red Hens - cupcakes, cake, pies, cheesecake
First Prize Pies - pies
Amy's Bread - sticky buns, cake, cupcakes, twists
Bosie Tea Parlor - macarons, scones, cookies
Laduree - macarons
Dominique Ansel - DKA, Paris-New York
Mille-Feuille - great croissants
Doughnut Plant - cake doughnuts only
Balthazar Bakery - chocolate bread, fruit, focaccia, sticky buns, their croissants aren't great though
Butter Lane - cupcakes
Momofuku Milk Bar - cookies (chocolate chocolate, corn, or cornflake marshmallow), cake truffles, candy bar pie

Best bread:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/780158
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/814371

Best pastry and baked goods:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/831071
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/831071
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/833987
http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2011/05/best-bakeries-in-nyc-new-york-manhattan-brooklyn-nyc.html
http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2011/0...

[nanabou]

I prefer the French bread, but if there a place of German bread or Italian bread I should go, I will.

For the pastry , I prefer American style. Maybe I wanna try to find good doughnut, cheesecake and pie?

[kathryn]

Check some of the links above or these:
http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2009/10/where-to-find-new-york-best-cheesecake-bronx-manhattan-queens-brooklyn-upper-west-side-east-side-little-italy-soho-nolita-s-and-s-juniors-eileens-two-little-red-hens-factory-sara-lee.html
http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2011/0...

For doughnuts I would recommend Peter Pan in Brooklyn or Doughnut Plant in Chelsea (cake doughnuts only). However, I would say that NYC's doughnuts overall are perhaps not as strong as other cities in the USA.

[vnair2]

I agree that the chocolate blackout cake doughnut at Doughnut Plant is probably the star, but Ive always enjoyed the Creme Brulee yeast doughnut as well.

Dough in Brooklyn is my standard for perfection when it comes to yeast doughnuts. Its not terribly convenient to get to, but its worth the trip.

[kathryn]

I believe Cafe Grumpy in Nolita is now carrying Dough's doughnuts. I find they are too big and sweet, but that may depend the individual flavors & freshness.

[johannabanana]

I second Peter Pan and the Doughnut Plant. The Tres Leches would be my doughnut of preference at the latter. Hot Bread Kitchen at the Union Square Market has some good breads (Grindstone Rye, M'smen). I used to like City Bakery, too, but I think the quality of their baked goods (as well as their lunch stuff, salads etc) has gone down and the variety also seems to have become more limited.

[rpk]

The sticky bun I got at Amy's Bread on Bleecker St was the worst sticky bun I've ever had. I really like the ones I've gotten at Two Little Red Hens, but I think they only have them on Friday & Saturday. According to my notes from 6 years ago, the pecan-topped sticky bun at Bruno Bakery on Bleecker St was also good.

[BluPlateSpec]

Almondine Bakery in Brooklyn has has the best French Baguettes.
http://www.almondinebakery.com/
It's easy to get there on the subway from Manhattan and there are other interesting places nearby. A short walk will get you to The Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory on the East River where you can sit and enjoy your baguette with some excellent ice cream or a cup of coffee. From there you can take in a great view of lower Manhattan.
http://www.brooklynicecreamfactory.com/

[von_levi]

Sullivan St. Bakery is the obvious choice.

I personally like Silver Moon Bakery a lot.

[kathryn]

Silver Moon's baguette was rated best by Serious Eats last year:
http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2011/0...

[von_levi]

I wasn't aware of that -- I feel like my taste has been validated!

And if you go all the way up to 105th St for Silver Moon, you might as well go several blocks farther north to Absolute Bagels -- my favorite bagels in NYC.

[uwsister]

I too love Silver Moon and Absolute. NYC vs. Montreal bagel comparison is always fun.

[kosmose7]

Silver Moon's baguette and other boulangerie items may be good, but their pastries like napoleon and macarons were pretty mediocre.

[uwsister]

I don't think I've ever had napoleons or macarons there - pastries are obviously not their forte. In any case, there are few bakeries who have truly excellent macarons unless they specialize in them, so I don't think macarons are a good item to judge a bakery's standard. Their boulangerie stuff is definitely better. My husband's also a big fan of their chocolate chip cookies (I personally prefer Levain's big, slightly undercooked ones.)

[kosmose7]

I didn't try to 'judge'. It's just that for me, Silver Moon's boulangerie items seem to be way way better than their pastries. :)

[Pan]

I respectfully disagree. I don't think I've tried their napoleons, but I've liked their macarons and tarts. To be sure, there are better macarons to be had in Manhattan, but your standards of what constitutes a good macaron are higher than mine, clearly.

[von_levi]

I have to agree with other posters. The primary food a bakery makes is bread (or more broadly, flour-based foods), not pastries. Obviously a good bakery should also be able to make pastries, but rating a bakery based on its macrons is a bit ridiculous.

[uwsgrazer]

And while OP is in the neighborhood a stop at La Toulousaine Bakery on Columbus between 106th/107th would not disappoint, imo.

http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/...