Vive Le Macaron!

The cupcake has been at the top of America’s snack-food chain for some time now. Sweets like pies and doughnuts have made advances, but none have come close to knocking the cupcake off its perch. Some people, including some very influential Frenchmen, are trying to change that.



In 2005 the renowned pastry chef Pierre Hermé initiated Jour du Macaron in Paris to promote France’s emblematic sweet treat and to raise some money for charity along the way. He enlisted a handful of bakeries to give away macarons on a Sunday in late March, on the eve of spring’s arrival. Thousands of Parisians turned out, and have been celebrating the new holiday annually.

Inspired by the macaron madness in Paris, another star chef — François Payard — decided to take the idea to New York, in a bid to earn the dessert some more fans on the other side of the Atlantic. This past weekend New Yorkers came out to celebrate the city’s second go at Macaron Day, and by early afternoon they had managed to deplete caches of the confections at bakeries in Manhattan and Brooklyn, like Jaques Torres, Dessert Truck and Bisous Ciao. Looks like Payard’s plan is working.

This should hardly come as surprise, as anyone who has sampled a macaron knows how easy it is to succumb to their appeal. Cookies may crumble. Ice cream will melt. And cupcakes are perhaps the most cumbersome of all — just impossible to consume elegantly. A macaron however, is so poised, so chic and trim, so refined—so French! They are as pleasing on the eye as they are on the lips, making the most dressed-up apple pie look homely in comparison. And while a single macaron is certainly thing to look at, in mass the cute factor only increases. Looking at swathes of the pastel puffs on a slick counter-top, it’s as if Monet’s palette has come to life.

As more macaron purveyors land in New York, the city’s famous sweet-tooths test their willpower against the French import. If you visit any of the following patisseries, all bets are off.

Our favorite places for enjoying a superb macaron:

Manhattan
FPB (Francois Payard Bakery)
116 West Houston Street
West Village

Kee’s Chocolates
80 Thompson Street
SoHo

La Maison du Chocolat
1018 Madison Avenue
Upper East Side

La Maison du Macaron
132 West 23rd Street
Chelsea

Brooklyn
Margo Patisserie Cafe
667 Driggs Avenue
Williamsburg

Almondine Bakery
85 Water Street
DUMBO

Jacques Torres
66 Water Street
DUMBO

Headed to New York? Have a sweet tooth? Did you know that at the Andaz Fifth Avenue, mini-bars are stocked with a (complimentary) supply of Jacques Torres chocolates? Yes, really.