I don’t want you to think I’m fixated by carbs or anything (the truth is I am) but it’s hard to avoid them in New York. And my second great find, introduced to me by the wonderful Dorie Greenspan, is the Pretzel croissant at City Bakery.
Actually Dorie’s not alone. There are so many people obsessed with this croissant that the City Bakery has a dedicated website for it. (There’s also a rather bizarre black and white YouTube video of them making it – or maybe another croissant – inexplicably backed by the soundtrack from My Fair Lady. But persevere through ‘The Rain in Spain’. There’s a great sequence of them rolling them out.)
Anyway the croissant is just heavenly. Less fatty and flakier than a typical French croissant with salt and sesame seeds sprinkled over the top it has the sweet-salty-crunchy appeal of salted caramels. I also loved their apple sauce cakes with bourbon raisins (below). Dorie and I both felt though that their celebrated chocolate chip cookies were a touch too sweet, an almost heretical view in New York. But Dorie can get away with it because she is a Baking Goddess. You should check out her lovely blog.
City Bakery is at 3 West 18th Street, just off 5th Avenue. If you’re visiting New York you must go there for breakfast.