I recently visited New York with my mother. (Like so many other food bloggers!) She retired this year and we took this trip with two of her long-time friends and their daughters. We all had different goals for the trip and I regret that I did not get to as many bakeries as I had hoped, but the most important thing was spending time with my mom and I am happy to say we had a lovely time. It had been four years since I had last been to New York and I fell in love with the city all over again. I will always be a Chicago girl at heart but I hope to spend some more time in New York soon.
On the morning of our third day some of our party insisted on going to Rockefeller Plaza to shout at morning news stars and try to get on TV. After about thirty seconds of this I took refuge in the Dean & Deluca on the corner and decided I would spend my time reviewing something tasty. Their croissants sure looked like they would fit the bill.
This croissant was buttery and tasty, though uncomplex. The crust did not flake as one would desire and was overall below average with an unappetizing toughness. The crumb did most of the work and was in fact quite decent, as was the coffee (though I did not see any fair trade options).
Later in the day my mother and I parted ways with the other women and headed to Amy’s Bread in Hell’s Kitchen. Amy’s is an adorable little store with a shockingly blue paint job and a pleasant staff. There are a few tables in back as well.
I ordered a rosemary mini, a small black olive loaf, a French baguette, and a tomato and basil focaccia. My mother and I walked to Central Park and I planted myself in the grass to try the breads while we waited for the others to meet up with us.
I began with the French baguette. In the handout I picked up the French baguette is said to be made with: "unbleached flour, water, salt, and yeast. Shaped by hand!." I find the latter claim to be a bit alarming, what else should I expect from a small, professional, artesian bakery? The appearance of the baguette was nice (must be that hand shaping!). The crust was oddly chewy, soft, and flavorless.
The crumb had a nice flavor but a poor structure and very few holes, much like a hamburger bun. Butter did very nice things for this bread. Overall this was a below average baguette.
The rosemary bread is said to be made with: "unbleached flour, organic whole wheat flour, water, natural starter, fresh rosemary, olive oil and salt." This bread had a fantastic aroma and a lovely flavor. You can tell that they do in fact use fresh rosemary. The thin, chewy crust was good and had integrity, though ideally it would have been a little more robust and thick.
This bread had a nice crumb that was moist and semi-resilient with a decent hole structure. However, it was in serious need of some salt. With a bit of sea salt and butter this would have been a very nice bread.
The black olive bread is said to be made with: "unbleached flour, organic whole wheat flour, water, natural starter, Kalamata, Amfissa and Atalanti olives, salt, and yeast." This bread also had an excellent aroma and had a pleasant sourness that went well with the olive and yeast flavors. Much like the rosemary bread, this crust was decent, thin and chewy but could be improved upon.
The olives were chopped and used liberally, giving a strong and excellent flavor to each bite. The crumb was resilient and glossy with a decent hole structure. This bread took butter superbly.
The focaccia is said to be made with: "unbleached flour, water, natural starter, olive oil, milk, salt, and yeast." They had a lovely tomato and basil focaccia propped up in the display window and it prompted me to order one. However, as I spread out my loot in Central Park I noticed that my tomato and basil focaccia had no basil. . .
This was a beautiful focaccia nonetheless. Unfortunately, it did not taste as well as it looked. The crust was passable, but the crumb was down-right bad. It had the same hamburger bun-like texture of the baguette but this was far worse. It honestly looked indistinguishable from a bun and it tasted like one too. This focaccia was also far too oily. It was a hot day so I could be mistaken, but it appears as if the bread was doused until wet with olive oil after it was baked rather than before.
Amy’s is an adorable bread shop and I suggest a visit. When you go stick to their rustic breads rather than their delicate European breads. Amy’s would do well to let a real crust form on their breads. I do not know what type of oven they use, but a thick charred crust would do wonders for the olive and rosemary breads.
I will post more about our New York trip soon.
show hide 11 comments
Michele - A bread shopping spree! Its the stuff dreams are made of. I would be in heaven sitting on the grass with a bundle of loaves to sample. Even if there are some disappointments. The rosemary bread sounds fantastic!
tara - Oh I am SO very happy that I have a baguette in the house already … after reading this post, I couldn’t help but go and rip of a chunk!
Zarah Maria - I love how you go out and buy FOUR breads, just because you have to taste a little bit of each – I’d have done exactly the same!
Antonietta - the bread looks delicious!
- - Oh, so many breads and all of them are white. Why not try a dense and dark bread packed with flavours. Once you have converted to dark breads there is no way back – at least not for me. They stay moist and are so much better for you too… but maybe it’s hard to find good dark bread in the states? Is it?
Anyway, the rosemary bread looks beautiful!
gemma - Michele, Tara, Zarah, Antonietta- Thanks! My mother knows that I review breads, however I think that she was a bit alarmed when she saw me buying loaf after loaf. I just can’t help it though!
Hi Anonymous: I love all types of breads. (If you are new to my site you can look through my bread review archives, I review many bakeries). While I love dark, dense breads I also love whites, ryes, semolinas, etc. Much as you can’t imagine going back to white breads, I cannot imagine cutting out a whole section of breads! I find the full spectrum to be fascinating, tasty, and quite complex and I would never choose to ignore any of the many varieties!
Thanks for stopping by. Do you bake breads? I would love to know what types of breads you are most interested in.
- - Yes, I’m new to your site, and hope I didn’t offend you cause it was not my purpose, I just pretty much say exactly what is on my mind and sometimes people take it the wrong way. And regarding this subject, people often seem to think that white bread is all that is out there, which makes me tired and hence my post. I did actually look at your archives and it was lots of beautiful breads but (except for the Irish bread) it all looked white to me. But maybe I jumped to conclusions, sorry :) Anyway, it’s your blog! I’m not the one to tell you what to do with it, just wanted to encourage people to try more dark breads.
I do eat white bread as well cause it is better for some stuff, like crostini. And I love turkish flat bread which is indeed, very white. But can’t agree with you on white breads being comlex though… would say they are tasty but pretty “easy”. I guess I think that dark bread has personality and will grow with time, while white bread might be pretty and seem fun at first but then there is just air and no substance (for the reckord: I’m still talking about bread) But hey, I’m blond and get judged for that a lot, so maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to judge the poor white breads…
gemma - Hrmm. . ok. I guess we will just have to agree to disagree here. I love all kinds of breads and I can’t agree with you that white breads can’t be complex, that they are ‘easy,’ and that they have intrisically less personality than white breads. I’m also somewhat intrigued that you seem to see such a clear distinction between white and non-white breads. Most breads use a blend of flours, not all white flour, so your stark distinction is kind of lost on me… In any event, feel free to share recipes of breads you find to be worthy, because as I said I love all breads. Also, I would encourage you to experiment more with white breads, because I think there might be a whole world of things to appreciate about breads that you may have written off.
- - I think you get me wrong. As I said, I do eat white bread as well. I’m not ignoring any breads and try all new ones I get my hands on (white or not) and usually enjoy them all. Just cause I find them easy doesn’t mean I don’t like them! But I do think people seem unaware that there is other breads than the airy white ones (which dominates the market completely in most countries I’ve been to).
So, all I wanted was to encourage people to try more dark breads cause frankly – people don’t eat them a lot and I think they are missing out. What is regarded as dark in most countries aint dark to me (the Irish bread you had pictured, that looked like dark bread though). An airy bread with a mixture of flours that might be stated as dark is not dark in my opinion, it has to be dense as well. So again, sorry if I sound like a dark-bread-fascist cause I’m not! Just want to open peoples minds to try dark bread (or darker if you prefer).
Haven’t done any baking with yeast yet (except for a foccacia once). So what I have done is, of course, scones and biscuits but also a beer bread and a non-yeast dark fruit and nut loaf. It is easy as, and I can share that with you if you wish.
Cheers :)
Molly - I’m so sorry to hear that Amy’s Bread was a bit of a disappointment! It had been on my list for my June trip to NYC, but I passed it up in favor of other places–and happily so. I, like you, prefer breads with much more character to their crusts. Those look a little too light and shiny. Hmph! Did you, by chance, get to try Balthazar Bakery? They make a pain de seigle that has a fantastic crust–thick, crisp, and chewy. Mmmm…
gemma - I was disappointed too Molly, but perhaps it was a blessing in the end because I easily could have put away a loaf or two if it had been tasty and would have regretted it an hour later when we went to Tavern on the Green for lunch. . The breads definitely had that distinctive “I have no character” sheen and lack of heft. Oh well.
I didn’t get to Balthazar, it was on my list. . . as were way too many things.
I have fallen for NYC a bit, so I will return soon and hopefully dedicate this future trip to more bakery visits. I will keep in mind your pain de seigle recommendation. Thanks!