I got the drop on this place from Dessertbuzz. It's officially called FPB but that P stands for Payard, a big name in French pastry. It made no sense - I'll be back in Paris in a week, but somehow there I was, ordering French pastries from his new shop on Houston. Dodo's gonna mock and tease me for sure. I can't explain it - I guess I was just curious to see how it stacks up against the Paris shops I frequent. The apricot danish was bursting with flavor but could have been a bit lighter and flakier. To be fair, I was there at 5pm, they're probably different in the morning, fresh from the oven.
The almond roll was very sweet - glad I had a latte to go with it. I've not had this in Paris, so I've got nothing to compare it to - it was light and flavorful but not mind-blowing. I've become jaded - I'm always expecting a mind-blowing experience. They have many of the usual suspects: tartes, croissants, pains au chocolat, eclairs, cookies, macarons but also offer a variety of sandwiches. I'd like to come back and try the smoked salmon on pretzel bread - sounds interesting.
It's a nice place, with small tables along one wall and the back of the store. There are large windows into the kitchen, which may be larger than the retail space itself. Welcome to the neighborhood, FPB, we can use all the French pastry we can get!
116 W. Houston
Manhattan
Hello, I am a regular reader from France, I don't miss a single post; however for the past few days, I haven't been able to read all of your posts, because when I click on the "read the rest of this entry" thinggy or whatever it's called, it leads me to the full article... well, not really, a whole stripe of the text and pictures is missing to the left; so all I get is bits of sentences and it's hard to make sense of them. Any idea what went wrong? Keep posting! Great blog!! (I hope there aren't too many spelling mistakes, I unfortunately cannot see whatever I wrot that's on the left of the screen :( )
ReplyDeleteHow funny, now that my comment has been posted, I can see the whole screen! Is this a trick to get your readers to post more often ;-) ?
ReplyDelete@Frenchie - Woooohhhaaaaaaahaaaaaaa (evil laugh.) Ummm, no, I wish I were that smart, but I ain't! Thanks for being a regular reader, now I got TWO! Woohoo, time to celebrate!!!!
ReplyDeletehello! regular reader #3 also faces the same problem. Mr. tech guy please help us solve the problem and read the full post! hope you guys are having fun wherever you are in the states.
ReplyDelete@Pesky - ummmm, I don't have any issues on any of my ccmputers? Anyone else seeing this problem other than my two regular readers??
ReplyDeleteYep, I'm having the same problem: several letters are missing from the left side of every sentence, but only if I click on the "Read the rest of the story" link. The first page of every post of yours is OK.
ReplyDeleteHmm... no comments on the pastry.. since we are heading to Paris soon.
ReplyDeleteAs for the blog issue, it happens to me too once in a while but usually when I refresh the page, it becomes alright again.
@Sal - Well, Google changed their blogger software recently, so maybe that's it? I don't see the issue so it's hard to fix...
ReplyDeleteNice work - if we combine our readership we'll have 4!. If you go back you have to let me know what the Pan Au Chocolat's taste like -- I had one at the opening the wasn't so great. Previously, when Payard has his bakery and Bistro on Lexington, his Pan Au's and Croissants were the best in the city....
ReplyDelete@Niko - I am about to head back to Paris and every morning I stop at one of the 37 patisseries on the way and pick up a pain au chocolat or croissant. It is the best thing about Paris.
ReplyDeleteDamn - that's what I want. I used to go 20 mins out of my way on my commute to hit Payard's place on the Upper East. Do you have a favorite patisserie in Pari if you were forced at gunpoint to name one for consistency of high quality?
ReplyDelete@Niko - it's funny but when I try to answer your question I get stuck. The level of quality is so high that putting them in an ordinal rank would be misleading. They're everywhere and everyone has a fav, which is usually in their neighborhood. Close to my apt, I like Fougasse and Pain de Sucre. If I cross the river, I like Patisserie des Reves. Then again, I like Carl Marletti and Legay Choc. I get on a bus every Saturday to go to Jean Millet... Man, it is just endless and excellent....
ReplyDeleteHey, I'm another loyal reader/lurker! What happened to your other blog, Grumpy's Travels? Love your pictures!
ReplyDelete@Musician - I got rid of that other blog - too much work to do two.... Sorry.
ReplyDelete