Bouchon Bakery: Corkful of goodness
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Bouchon Bakery, Thomas Keller's latest venture at the Time Warner Center, brings upscale mall food to the consumers.
Arriving after 2pm, first glance, open seating area on the left, off to the right, a long, wenge community table and to the far right, the bar where patrons can sit and eat their meals too.
The view of Central Park South is spectacular.
The color themes here are modern and fresh, springy greens, dark brown and white. Everything's very well presented. From the Christofle silver, to the lil dijon mustard jar, sugar packet sticks and modern glassware.
The waiters, donned in their JCrew-like light lime button-down shirts, are knowledgeable and friendly.
Famished, we didn't know what to order. Everything looked great.
Their cashew peanut butter and apricot jam sandwiches called out to the inner child. Cheese plates were luscious. The quiche special sounded divine. Next time, think I'll order that, or perhaps the pate, or tuna nicoise tartine ... decisions, decisions!
Decided to go with one of my faves, roasted beets and garden mache with goat cheese and toasted hazelnut. Perky with the right touch of vinaigrette.
For drinks, they have a variety to choose from, GUS (Grown Up Soda), Gus Meyer Lemon, coffees and teas. They also recently acquired their liquor license. I stuck with the ginger ale and my friend ordered the white wine with his hearts of romaine and free range chicken salad.
Desserts here are a sweet tooth's dream! Simply making a decision proved to be difficult. Bordering on a two hour lunch, work beckoning, I ordered desserts to go.
Packaged in a pretty brown and green box, I sampled the desserts:
- Chocolate bouchon: a cork shaped, intensely rich brownie biteful. Seriously tasty.
- Jardin: a chocolate/hazelnut mousse (I think) with mandarin orange bits infused with earl grey tea. There was a tiny layer of cake at the bottom too. Chocolate squares lined the edges. Looking decadently sweet, it was light in texture. Very tasty. The mandarin orange definitely added a nice touch.
Kudos to them: Attentive to detail, when the woman behind the counter first packaged the Jardin in my box, she smooshed the edges. She asked me to wait while she repackaged another one for me.
While I waited, I asked them if they would soon start selling bread. Right now, they don't have enough bakers to do so. Wouldn't want a riot to start over ten pieces of bread.
Would love to go back and try their other savory items.
Note: Eating at the cafe is a bit pricey compared to the take out area.