Claude Bakery (NYC)

The Best Pastries at Three West Village Bakeries | Eater NY

"A successor to the longtime neighborhood bakery opened in 1982 by Claude Le Brenne (known as Monsieur Claude), this totally new place pays homage to what came before while updating its offerings under pastry chef Anthony Roonchareon, whose CV includes stints with the Jean-Georges and Starr restaurant groups. Roonchareon jokes that he doesn’t speak French, but he knows how to bake as though he does, and he’s focusing on classic laminated staples, updating the croissant to meet "the criteria of the new generation." The croissants are double the size, darker in crust, and have a more pronounced yeasty flavor; the almond croissant is described as one of the better almond croissants the reviewer has had in a long time, although it is ginormous. The leek quiche remains Monsieur’s recipe. The showstopper is the double-layer Manhattan Blackout Cake: not too sweet, a moist, dense, cocoa-rich crumb, an irresistibly smooth ganache frosting, and a hedgerow of jimmies. The chef has also introduced a banana pudding to rival Magnolia’s and a seasonal pumpkin layer cake with a well-spiced, moist crumb and the reviewer’s ideal cream-cheese frosting." - Charlotte Druckman