"A Ridgewood institution for more than 90 years, Rudy’s serves nostalgia in cheerful pink pastry boxes, tied up with red and white string. (Please package our ashes accordingly.) The charming original terrazzo floors with an inlaid “R” design are still in place, and the old-world staples remain the jewels of the display case: moist, flaky cherry and cheese strudel, or bee sting cake topped with crunchy caramelized almonds. Their signature black forest cake is strikingly minimalist—crowned with a single red cherry, like a clown nose—and totally delicious. It’s boozy and heavy on cream, with a crisp layer of pastry as its foundation." - Willa Moore, Will Hartman, Sonal Shah, Molly Fitzpatrick, Bryan Kim