Whenever I’m in the Union Square vicinity craving something sweet, I feel like my choices are either Max Brenner or…Max Brenner. A few days ago after dinner in the area, my friends and I were trying to figure our game plan for dessert and we just as easily gave up and began heading for some chocolate by the bald man. We stopped in our tracks though when we caught a glimpse of Viva La Crêpe!

Viva la Crepe

The original outpost of Viva actually did start in Paris and grew to work its way stateside. They have a full savory and sweet menu, but the savory one might as well have not existed for us at that moment. We were busy trying to decide between dark chocolate, nutella, white chocolate, vanilla or chocolate ice cream, berries or almonds, etc. etc. We settled on a nutella/banana/almond/walnut/vanilla ice cream combo and a heavenly dark chocolate/berries/banana/vanilla ice cream one.

Dark chocolate ice cream crepe

The crepes are served in a little pocket you can hold while you munch. Just a word of advise if you’re getting it with ice cream, ask for it on the side . It makes devouring it a LOT easier.

Nutella crepe with ice cream on the side

read more…

It’s an odd pairing of sorts: famed Chanel and Fendi designer, Karl Lagerfeld makes Rachel Bilson his muse for the first of his “original short films inspired by Magnum Ice Cream.” Fashion and fatty foods seem a bit of an anomaly. The video itself was not that provoking, but Bilson (who plays a model named Olivia in the Zoolander-esque sequence) looks gorgeous as usual with her bouncy ombre hair. Probably the best part about the video. What do you think?


x
Shy

Ok, I know I’ve had my rant about good and bad gelato earlier but regardless, I have been DYING to visit Popbar downtown. Well, mostly because the big posters of the gelatos-on-a-stick-covered-with-nuts-and-chocolatey-goodness look sooo appealing, but also because I’m always passing by it when I’m in the area to eat (which is often….Noodle Bar, Joe’s Pizza, Kati Roll…mmmm).

Popbar

The thing is, every time I’m done eating at any of the aforementioned places, I’m stuffed. So, I always think to myself “next time.” That’s not without re-routing my way home just to intentionally pass by and stare at the dessert boutique longingly. That’s kind of what happened this time, but I was with friends. We just finished up a fantastic meal at Noodle Bar, and afterwards, I wanted to give them a mini tour of all the places I love to eat in the area (what? that’s totally normal). At the end, I point to Popbar: “And, I haven’t tried thisss place yet, but it looks amazing so let’s just go inside and look at the ice cream.” Again, totally normal.

Popbar display

Right away, my friends just looked at each other and were like, “Why do you want to stop in if you’re not going to eat anything?” Which is when I get all shifty-eyed: “Oh, you know, it just looks so good, doesn’t it? I swear I REALLY don’t have room for any though…” But I guess they weren’t having it… “So you always pass by but never had it? That’s it. We’re going to buy some NOW!” By the way, I just realized how creepy/stalkery this post makes me sound…passing by an ice cream store just to stare at it from a distance? I know how this might sound, but I do that with food.

Dipping in nuts

read more…

Enjoying a gelato in Rome, Italy. Photo: Priya Chandra

One of the most inexplicable things is that I never really got into gelato. Even more strange, I feel like my taste for ice cream doesn’t have the same fervor it used to. I’m now into the fro-yos and fruits. But my history with gelato specifically was a rocky one. I remember the very first time I had it, must have been 12-years-old or so and my aunt and uncle kept saying we’re going to this fab place to eat gelatos. The concept was so foreign to me but in a good, exotic way. I had never heard of it before and had no idea what to expect. I pictured something lighter, like Italian ice. We ended up going to some small ice cream parlor in Jersey and I ordered a scoop of some strawberry variation, and was sort of underwhelmed. It tasted like ice cream, but not as sweet, and you know us Americans are spoiled with sugar. I guess I was more of a Baskin Robbins girl. Luckily since then, I’ve been slowly changing my mind starting from a trip in Rome. Not right away as you’d expect — the first couple gelatos I had there was also just OK. But we did find some places that had the most decadent flavors (I quickly realized hazelnut is one of my favorites).

4D Outside

Inside 4D

I guess that’s why I really appreciate a really good gelato place, because in my opinion, not all are created equal. And the one we stumbled upon in a recent trip to Miami, 4D, fits the bill. We stopped by while shopping at the Lincoln Road Mall in South Beach.

Hazelnut gelato

Oreo Gelato

read more…

DeLush Bakery camera cake

My brother and sis-in-law went to a birthday party this past weekend, and I could not stop gawking at the pictures they brought back of this camera cake made by Saba Khan of DeLush.Bakery. Sheer creativity.

Details

read more…

If there is one way to a girl’s heart, it has to be through these cupcakes. My friend Samar and I were walking in pursuit of sugar last night after dinner in the East Village, and not even a few doors down, we came across the tiny Pinisi Bakery. I have heard storied legends of the red velvety goodness that comes out of this bakery, but I found that they had much more interesting flavors lined up when we walked in:

A stand of rainbow, lavender, and pistachio cupcakes

Red velvet cupcake

Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

But THIS was probably the pinnacle for us…the icing on the cake, if you will: Lavender-batter cupcakes. Lavender’s actually IN the batter, not just the frosting. Violet-colored cupcakes seemed like such a novelty — I was excited. They had a cream cheese topping and one with chocolate ganache. We went with the former. Heavenly:

Lavender cupcake

It reminded me of Early Grey flavored treats I’ve had before and tasted splendid with tea. We also ordered a pistachio and red velvet (of course).

Pistachio cupcake

read more…