Destination Bakeries II

Some of those who have eaten their way across Greenwich Village and Little Italy (see  Destination--Italian Pastries, Pastas and Cheeses) might like to know about outstanding bakeries on the Upper East Side. We took on this onerous task and on our way, discovered some of Old New York's treasures.

We started with the 110-year old Glaser's Bake Shop on First Avenue at 87th Street.

It's still there baking wonderful everyday familiar specialties including cinnamon buns,

cheese Danish, and marble pound cake that tastes really good on the second day toasted. Rita tells us with her lovely smile that on Wednesdays they have sour dough bread, on Thursdays challah and on St. Patrick's Day, Irish soda bread. Don't miss this landmark.

The next stop on our pilgrimage was decades-old Andre's Cafe and Bakery on Second Avenue between 84th and 85th Streets where we lunched on a vast appetizer portion of chicken paprikash palazcinta (crepes) and cabbage (yes cabbage) strudel. One of the few Hungarian restaurants left in Manhattan, the bakery offers lekvar (fruit butter, often prune) and poppy seed (an acquired taste but very good) pastries.

At 78th Street we turned East and found Orwasher's bakery, sitting quietly in the middle of the block as it has since 1916.

West Siders can get some of their artisanal breads at Zabar's, but you should visit the original. Try the sour dough baguette, rustic breads, and filled to order jelly doughnuts.

We walked across beautiful townhouse-lined 78th Street

to Third Avenue and continued our explorations, passing FP Patisserie (Payard) at 74th

and a brand new Belgian bakery and cafe, O Merveilleux, also on Third, specializing in meringues and Belgian favorite, gingerbread-spiced speculoos.

We finished up at Maison Kayser, a busy cafe and bakery with genuine French favorites,

including the yummy brioche au sucre that we loved and lost on the Upper West Side.

At the end of the day and a long walk, we surveyed our goodies, realized we didn't have the face to eat it all ourselves, and invited our friends to dig in and share. They had to force themselves but they are good friends so they came and helped us out.

#retiredinnewyork
#uppereastsidebakeries
#newyorkbakeries
#glasers
#orwashers
#andres