January 20, 2006
brainfarts and baked goods
I don't usually complain about much, do I? Or have unfavorable things to say? When I complain about becoming a monsterous blob-creature resulting from massive pastry consumption and subsequently taking advantage of my newfound corpulence to stomp around on children, puppies and other things people hold dear to them (cellphones, prosthetic legs, cheesy poofs), I'm just jokin'. I think. [stomps]...Yup, my stomping power has not reached the ability to kill organisms larger than small bugs.
- flan
I had a very little "something" on my mind lately and unfortunately, you appear to be on the path to reading this "something". Well then. The other day I went to Financier with Carol and I bought a slice of flan (kinda like a flan bar). The price said $2.25 but the cashier asked for $2. Hm. Did I read wrong? Hear wrong? Did my brain poop itself? I asked again and she repeated $2 so I figured that while there was still a possibility that my brain did poop itself, at least I was sure that she asked for $2.
But of course, I WAS WRONG. Or she was wrong. As I was walking out, another cashier (one with more authority) told me it was another $0.25. Ah, okay, so I wasn't really crazy. I didn't mind, but it kind of bothered me in the way he said it. He almost made me feel like it was my fault, although I don't think it was. There was no, "Sorry, we made a mistake; it was $2.25" but just that it was another $0.25 and I MUST RELENQUISH THE MONEY NOW OR THE BAKERY ATTACK DOGS WILL GET ME (okay, not that last bit). I've encountered that employee a few times and I feel like at every experience he's been a bit...well, not the friendliest person who works there (I've found that most of the employees are really nice though). So that's my rather insignificant brainfart of the day.
During my lunch break, I went to Sweet Melissa to pick up some madeleines for my mum since those are one of her favorite snacks, in addition to a cookie for myself (seriously, it's research people) before heading further down into the not-very-crowded bowels of Soho. Inside Sullivan Street Bakery's wooden, bread-filled interior, I spotted two new things: spiced persimmon cake and panino del giorno ("sandwich of the day", according to google; I'm not sure if Sullivan Street bakery always had sandwiches but I've never seen them before), which had goat cheese, sliced roasted beets, some kind of herb that I couldn''t recognized (cilantro maybe?) and some kind of baby lettuce that I'm sure has a real name but of course, I don't know what it is or I would've said it already instead of rambling on like this. While SSB always has sweet baked goods, it may surprise you to know that I've only tried one of them. I usually go for the bread--that is what they're known for, after all.
- sammich of the day
The cake slice was $3.50 and the sandwich was $9, but you could buy a half for $4.50. I went for the half since I didn't need a entire sandwich, nor did I feel like spending $9 on one. The sandwich was good, but I felt like $4.50 was a lot for the small piece (I know sandwiches usually cost a lot anyway, hence why I never buy them, unless it's Cafe Zaiya where the tastiness-to-cost ratio is high). I don't regret eating it, but I don't see myself buying it again since it didn't provide me with $4.50 worth of gastronomic delight. All the ingredients were fresh and there was enough of each for everything to balance out each other and not too much so that the filling exploded all over the place. It's a sandwich I wouldn't mind making for myself except that I hate preparing roasted beets. I had to make them for a cooking class last semester and after peeling and cutting more beets than I hope to ever encounter again in my life (or afterlife; I'm sure they make you peel beets in Hell), my beet juice stained fingers looked like evidence that I had killed a man with my bare hands through the "organ ripping" method. I hope no one actually thought I had day-old blood on my hands.
- persimmon cake
As for the persimmon spice cake (more like quick bread than like a typical buttercake), it was flavorful with spices (you know...spices...don't ask me to identify them besides things that you'd find in fall/winter treats). Not good enough that I'd get it again, but nothing wrong with it either. I onlytook a little nibble so I'm not sure how much persimmon flavor is in it, but I think persimmons are best for eating plain (fuyu persimmons, although not necessarily used in this cake, are my favorite fruit, so maybe 'm biased). So...it's tasty.
- cookie innards
While sitting outside the bakery, I decided to sample the cookie ($2.50) from Sweet Meliissa, which is actually a chocolate chunk almond cookie and not a plain chocolate chip cookie. But you know...it's close enough. The cookie is of the large, flat, and kind of crispy "but not in the dry crumbly sense" variety. It resembles a City Bakery or Jacques Torres cookie in composition, smushing layers of chocolate in between...well, the dough. The almonds are an added bonus (unless you're allergic/deathly afraid of miniscule amounts of cyanide/attacked by almonds as a child), and they're not like crushed almond bits but whole almonds, or sem-whole considering how flat the cookie is. The cookie is definitely above average, but in my opinion not as good as those from City Bakery or Jacques Torres (not comparing it to Levain since it's too different). It's missing something special (illicit stimulants?), that flavor in CB's or JT's (oh boy, now I'm too lazy to type) cookies, the thing that gives you intense cookie-lust, involving major mouth watering, robbing banks or extorting people for more cookie money, etc. Since it's not any cheaper than the other cookies, I wouldn't say that I'd go back for this cookie. But it does have almonds! They also have snickerdoodles, which I haven't seen in other places, so maybe I'll try that next time.
Posted by roboppy at 4:43 PM
Comments (5)
mother of god you are one queen of unbearable close ups.....that flan looks intolerably gorgeous.......
Posted by: Sophie at January 21, 2006 11:08 AM [#]
Kathy: Sure, throw it in there! ;D Good luck with the homework. I have to read...Food in History, hehe.
Mumu: Thanks! I POSSESS MUCH COOKIE LUST.
Sophie: Haha, thanks...sorry that they're so unbearable. ;) It looks a lot better than it tastes though. Wah.
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: This is the 
We need to start making a list - can we throw Sullivan St Bakery on there? I can't believe I've never gone. And piggy pudding! that's a must. Sigh. Now back to some accounting homework...
Posted by: Kathy at January 20, 2006 6:24 PM [#]