A Sweet Taste of New York

            Free NYC Dessert Fest is a monthly event all New Yorkers should look out for.          

             Charismatic 58-year-old Bruce Scher is the founder and tour guide of Free NYC Dessert Fest, a walking tour in Manhattan that takes participants through four dessert shops. The tour stays true to its slogan: “Where sightseeing and dessert meet.”

            The tour covers 1.25 miles, from 23^rd Street to the intersection of Broadway and Lafayette Street.  That’s a lot of walking, but it’s worth the walk to visit some of New York’s finest bakeries and dessert shops.

            The first stop on the tour is the café Le Pain Quotidien on East 19^th Street.  Le Pain Quotidien has a lazy Sunday feel, with a couple of tables and chairs outside, and high ceilings and soothing music inside.  Alain Coumont, the Belgium founder of Le Pain Quotidien, put a great deal of attention into the variety of breads he offers.  The young Coumont watched his grandmother make bread and knew it was something he wanted to pursue.  All of Le Pain Quotidien’s breads are hearty and wholesome, using only organic ingredients in each loaf.  Le Pain Quotidien is the perfect place to have bread that’s made with care and efficiency.

            The tour continues to City Bakery on West 18^th Street.  The bakery serves lunch as well as breakfast.  The breakfast pastries range from sweet to tart and have a home-baked taste to them.  The mixed berry scone, made of whole-grain dough and finished off with a sweet crust, is packed with fruit, which gives it a tart flavor. What sets City Bakery apart from other bakeries is its unique twist on the classic hot chocolate.  City Bakery offers everything form beer hot chocolate to malted milk chocolate.  A taste of these unique flavors will change the way people think of hot chocolate.

            Bringing in customers with the rich smell of chocolate, Max Brenner, located on Broadway between 13^th and 14^th Streets, is sure to be on the list of top chocolate shops in New York.  Walking through the doors, customers feel like they’re in a chocolate factory.   Pipes run along the ceilings and walls, leading to two huge vats of white and milk chocolate.  Free samples of caramelized pecans with a cocoa coating, called “The Nuts,” are given out to anyone who walks through the doors.  All desserts are free to drool over, but are relatively expensive to purchase.  The dessert all customers should try is the chocolate pizza.  With a chocolate sauce and choice of marshmallow toppings, customers say it’s sure to please.