Almondine Bakery
Pastry shop · DUMBO ·
French bakery offering classic croissants, éclairs, and tarts
French bakery offering classic croissants, éclairs, and tarts
"Almondine is revered for their flakey on the outside-soft on the inside-almond croissants, but be sure to get there early, as they tend to be gone by afternoon. In addition to their wide array of French pastries and deserts, they also serve a variety of quiches and sandwiches. With limited seating and no wifi, this is not the place to camp out but a great place to grab a coffee and a sugar buzz to go." - Column Five
"Here's what Arcade Bakery is not: the hottest new underground restaurant with a monthlong waiting list. It's in the lobby of an office building, and seating, amazingly, is even plentiful. Another thing it's not: some swanky new date spot, unless your version of a date is croissants and pizza before 4 pm on a weekday. So what is Arcade Bakery? The most important thing you need to know is it's the new home to New York's best croissant. This is some small-village-in-France level buttery baking, and we're pretty confident in saying that there's no longer much of a contest: Arcade Bakery has taken the croissant crown. Arcade Bakery is located in the ground floor of an office building at 220 Church Street, so you're unlikely to stumble in randomly, which is why we'd like to bring it to your attention. In addition to croissants, Arcade also serves some incredible bread and babka, as well as sandwiches and pizza at lunchtime. The goods are both baked and served by Roger Gural, who used to be the head baker at Thomas Keller's famous Bouchon Bakery, and also has incredible bakeries like Bouley and Almondine in Dumbo (unsurprisingly, also famous for its croissants) on his resume. He's basically the valedictorian of baking, but without any pomposity or tendency to curb to the pressures of cronut-type madness. Arcade sticks to the classics, and totally kills it doing so. The hours - 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays only - are tricky unless you work in the area (new World Trade Center imports, you're just in walking range), but it's worth going a little out of the way for a midday excursion for a fresh pizza, or a croissant for lunch. Go forth and carbohydrate. Food Rundown Croissants As previously stated, THESE ARE VERY GOOD. They're flaky on the outside and soft on the inside, and buttery without being oily or greasy. The classic plain variety is a sure bet, but chocolate, almond, or ham are also on offer. Pizza Freshly baked pizzas are available from 12-3, and you can either preorder online, or wait around 10 minutes. There's typically a margherita, and a white pizza. You'll want to eat them while they're hot, at one of the drop-down tables in the lobby. Babka On a recent visit, they were serving up a speculoos-flavored babka. Cookie-flavored babka! An excellent babka, if you're in the market for babka, but what you're coming out of the way for is the croissant. Sandwiches The sandwiches - we've tried the turkey, as well as an apple and cheese variety - were full of nice, fresh ingredients and excellent bread, but didn't quite come together as destination-worthy." - Hillary Reinsberg
"We’re not aware of any official rankings, but if an award were given out for the best people-watching corner in Brooklyn, North 5th and Bedford in Williamsburg would be a strong contender. That’s where you’ll find this all-day cafe, with outdoor seating right on Bedford offered every day from 8:30am-9pm (11pm on weekends)." - matt tervooren
"Well before Dumbo was cool, in 2004, Herve Poussot (who once made the desserts and bread at Le Bernardin) opened a bakery. Still one of the neighborhood’s favorite stops, Almondine is known for croissants that taste like the ones on every corner in Paris, and Poussot’s chocolate eclairs have a nice balance between crisp pastry and soft cream filling. The hazelnut-raisin bread is a crowd favorite, and baguettes sell out early." - Daniela Galarza, Eater Staff
"Located in Dumbo on the first two floors of a charming brick house, this standalone bakery produces everything in-house and consistently turns out classic, Paris-style pastries. Highlights include a favorite pain aux raisins — a tight coil of croissant dough layered with a whisper of pastry cream and jammy-glazy raisins — compact éclairs with still-crisp choux filled with chocolate, coffee, or caramel pastry cream (widely regarded as the best in Brooklyn if not all of New York), buttery fruit tarts topped with small apricots or pear wedges, and an unexpectedly delicate Napoleon of flaky layers and rich custard. Beyond the baking, chef Hervé Poussot is noted for warm, generous gestures — offering a madeleine to a toddler and sending a molten chocolate cake to sheltering family members — contributing to an unpretentious, welcoming atmosphere that makes enduring long transit or parking searches worthwhile." - ByChris Morocco
