Aloha (and Great Pastries) in the Big City

Returning from a wonderful week in New York a few days ago, it was difficult to decide what to post about first. I finally decided to write about a little place where we spent several mornings, where the great pastries were matched only by the great service; Dessert Delivery. (I know, I know, the name isn't very exciting but it does describe a good portion of their business I guess!) This cute little bakery, with the "Say It With Flour" sign, was just down the street from the place we stayed, had a couple little tables and tons of cakes, cookies and baked goods. Great little neighborhood bakeries are hard to come by in Hawaii, so we were all drawn toward it and once we met the team there and tried the pastries, we were hooked and found ourselves going back again and again.

I was so busy eating and enjoying, I forgot to take pictures of some of my favorites--like my first purchase, the Old-Fashioned Crumb Cake, in the lower right of the photo above. It was delicious--tender, buttery, with a crumb topping to swoon for.
The cakes and desserts were beautiful--especially the intricately decorated flower cakes on the second shelf down on the right.

Another favorite were the Almond Turcs, a flaky, buttery delight, in the bottom right hand corner above. Advertised on the sign as "Tastes like French Toast" and it really did! Yum!

New York Magazine (and I think Zagat's too) selected their Black & White Cookies as the "Best in the City". While I didn't try enough to make that claim, these large "cakey" cookies with their rich frosting were excellent and we all ordered some to take back to Honolulu as gifts--which were happily received by the friends I gave them to.
I took one of these White-Chocolate Supreme beauties below on the long bus ride to The Cloisters and one the long plane ride home. Thick and chewy, and full of white and semi-sweet chocolate chunks--a wonderful cookie. I miss it as I am a chewy cookie girl and it seems like the majority of cookies in Honolulu are crunchy!
I tended to get up a bit earlier than my friends on this trip and enjoyed the apple turnover below with a cup of coffee and my book at one of the little tables while waiting for them one morning. Inside the flaky, layers of cinnamon pastry were thin delicate slices of tart apple--the whole thing melted in my mouth. (Sorry-I ate it too fast to take a picture of the inside!)

In addition to the quality of pastries, it was the friendliness of Sam, Joann and their team that kept us coming back. We got good service in several places in New York and even some great service in a few places but what set Dessert Delivery apart was the sense of Aloha they delivered. They seemed to really care about us and glad to see us, chatting, offering suggestions on places to see and things to do. When we had "our last meal" there the morning we left and picked up our Black & Whites all packed to go, Joann took the time to box up a "snack" for the plane ride home. It was a good-sized rice crispy square, with a layer of chocolate and a tasting of vanilla. Very chewy, good and much appreciated!

If you get an opportunity to visit Dessert Delivery, do not hesitate! They really know how to bake and they also know how to live and spread Aloha and we can all do with more of that in this crazy world!

Dessert Delivery: 360 East 55th Street, New York, NY 10022 Tel: (212) 838-5411 http://dessertdeliveryny.com/