Exterior of Maison Kayser at 921 Broadway; Bread display at the to-go section and interior of the café
Maison KayserMaison Kayser opened its second New York City location in the Flatiron District. Hearing from a few friends and many people (who are NYC based) who follow me on Instagram said to me, “Finally!” when I started to IG food photos of their new location when I ate there on Wednesday evening (the bakery’s first day).
Even though I do like Maison Kayser’s first location, having a location in the Flatiron District, on 921 Broadway at 21st Street, is very convenient as it’s in the middle of everything. It’s a few blocks away from Union Square, not too far from the Empire State Building (for those who are tourists), and if the weather’s tolerable, you could pick up a few sandwiches, juices and pastries and picnic out at Madison Square Park.
This Flatiron location is bigger than the Upper East Side location, as it easily and comfortably seats around 32 people for those who want to dine in, their coffee bar is twice as large, and their take out section larger with a refrigerated section filled with the day’s fresh pressed juices and sandwiches to go. Like all of their other locations within New York City and internationally, everything is made within their own premises as in the true French bakery style.
Glorious pastries on display
While walking around the to-go section, I can’t help but be distracted by the tantalizing pastries on display. These jewels are begging to be taken home with me and be eaten…
But a girl can’t live on just bread and carbs alone. I had a Salade de Homard & Julienne de Légumes ($21) composed of Maine lobster, large leaves of romaine heart, shaved fennel, carrot, celery leaves, radish, and tarragon and mustard dressing. A very refreshing, light salad that is very suitable for the summer. The large chunks of fresh lobster were sweet and firm and worked wonderfully with the vegetables and zingy dressing.
Tartine Poulet & Artichaut ($16), an open-faced sandwich of artichoke and green olive tapenade, grilled organic chicken, artichoke barigoule, and aioli was simply excellent. The white chicken meat was moist (and there were lots of it), the tapenade and the cured artichokes added an incredible depth of briny flavors, bitterness of the arugula, and the aioli brought everything together.
I’ve learned that Chef Olivier Reginensi was recently appointed as Maison Kayser’s Corporate Chef. (He was recently at Le Cirque.) The menu infuses French classics with seasonal, mainly local and organic ingredients and .
The Pain aux Figues ($7.75) is a hearty fig bread that haves lots of flavor from its slow fermentation and subtle sweetness of the dried figs. The Carré Vendôme ($8.50) is a wonderful crusty, chewy white bread that I think would be amazing for any sandwiches.
On the sweeter end of their breads, the Viennois Chocolat Blanc, a white chocolate viennois ($5.70) was a fantastic, rich brioche-like bread and the white chocolate added enough sweetness without being too sweet. The Pomme-Cannelle & Sirop d’Erable ($9.70) is a loaf apple cinnamon bread sweetened with a touch of maple syrup that’s not overwhelmed by cinnamon (a rarity) and the fine dices of dried apples all in a soft, chewy loaf.
I was most surprised and currently obsessed is with their Seigle Citron ($6.25), a lemon rye loaf with has a great crust, dense crumb that’s filled with lots of lemon zest perfuming the delicate, light rye loaf. It’s complex and delicious that it trumped my usual love for fig bread.
Chocolate Almond Croissant & Plié au Chocolat (Chocolate and Custard Croissant)
For those who go to bakeries simply for their pastries, their chocolate almond ($4) and custard filled, chocolate Plié au Chocolat ($4.75) croissants were delectable. Wispy, flaky, buttery croissants filled with high quality chocolate (and sweet pastry cream on the latter).
Coffee, Pistachio, and Chocolate éclairs
Their coffee, pistachio, and chocolate éclairs ($5.25 each) were very fresh despite the fact I went there later in the day. The baked choux were still delicately crisp and held its structure while I bit on it. The flavored pastry creams were intensely flavored, very creamy, and not too sweet. My personal favorite is pistachio, is it’s incredibly flavored of the nut (and technically, pistachio is my favorite nut).
Adagio
The Adagio ($6.50) is a creamy chocolate mousse cake filled with a creamy passion fruit in the center, enrobed in a shiny chocolate glaze. The bittersweet chocolate so it’s not too sweet and it could stand on the potent tart passion fruit cream. It was fantastic and arguably on the decadent side, so it’s great to share it with a friend.
There’s news floating around that two more locations are opening soon at Columbus Circle (similar setting to the Flatiron location) and Bryant Park (it’s primarily for taking out). It’s an exciting time for this bakery!
To view more photos of this visit, please view the slideshow below (or CLICK HERE for my photo set):
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Information:
Maison Kayser
Official website
921 Broadway (on 21st Street)
New York, NY 10010
Map
Phone: (212) 979-1600
