I first tried macarons from Vendôme Patisserie last spring. My friend Barb and I were meeting up with her husband Max after a morning at Dekalb Market, and he had somehow taken a very long detour somewhere in Boerum Hill. When he finally showed up, it turned out he had stumbled into a macaron shop and had spent some time carefully picking out a sampling to try.
Macarons? Well okay, that's easily forgivable. We got some coffee, found some benches in a community garden nearby, sliced up each macaron with a little plastic knife, and savored every bite.. So. Worth. The Wait.
(According to the NY Times, Vendôme's macarons are the only ones in NY that rival Ladurée's. "The cookies are puffier than Ladurée’s, crispy domes that cave in with a sigh. The ratio of cookie to filling (of flaky to gooey to creamy) is golden. No need to consult a flavor chart: each macaron announces itself.")
Vendôme's macarons are in a few new locations: inside Bacchus Café on Atlantic Ave., at Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, and occasionally at Smorgasburg. The Rose hip is by far my favorite, but other great flavors include the Tahitian Vanilla, Italian Pistachio, and Pumpkin. And every time I come across them I lose self-control. Like today after lunch. When I picked up half a dozen, with every intention of saving some for later, and somehow ate them all in one sitting with some earl grey tea. The upside: a bit of a sugar high to get me through the rest of the afternoon.
Vendôme Patisserie @ Bacchus Café
409-411 Atlantic Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11217
(718) 852-1572
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