SALSWEE
Dessert shop · Flatiron District ·
French-Asian bakery with trompe l'oeil fruit pastries
French-Asian bakery with trompe l'oeil fruit pastries
"Think about everything you love in a croissant. All those airy, buttery layers that crumple under the weight of a finger. Now take all those things, crush them, and dunk them in chocolate. You’ll find this trend at various places around the city—here it's called the Flatiron croissant. An obvious play on Salswee’s location in Flatiron, it doesn’t taste terrible, but it does feel a little disrespectful to all that beautiful laminated dough." - willa moore
"This trendy bakery in Flatiron has glazed mousse cakes that look like shiny fruit, and a caseful of croissants with different sweet and savory fillings and toppings—as well as pressed flat croissants dipped in chocolate. Through doors fitted with baguette-shaped handles, you’ll find a spare room with white marble counters." - will hartman
"If you randomly passed Salswee, a bakery in Flatiron, you might think it was a new, upgraded Apple Store. The earth-toned space has a long marble display case where the pastries live, and an elaborate coffee-making contraption in the back. There, someone makes fancy caffeinated beverages that sound better than they taste, like a sesame latte that's basically just a regular iced latte with some vaguely sesame-flavored sediment. The pastries—croissants, flattened croissants, and tiny fruit-shaped mousse cakes—are solid, but nothing you need to go out of your way for. The fruit-shaped cakes do get points for being aggressively adorable though, so keep that in mind if you're really just in the treat game for the photos." - Willa Moore
"Opening in Flatiron, Salswee sells fruit-shaped sweets, French pastries, sandwiches, and espresso drinks; it's run by an owner of Shakalaka Bakery and intentionally avoids repeating the bakery’s Flushing name." - Emma Orlow
"When I stop by the new Flatiron bakery I immediately think of Richard Scarry — Salswee sells trompe l’oeil pastries shaped like mangoes, bananas, and pears that sit in a showcase like fruit-shaped vehicles at a marble-clad luxury dealership. The French-Asian bakery, opened earlier this month at 180 Fifth Avenue near West 23rd Street, serves cakes, other pastries and espresso drinks, and was started by the owner of Shakalaka Bakery in Flushing. On a recent visit the banana-shaped dessert — with a banana mousse inside — was listed for around $10; eating it is a race against the clock because it smoothly melts into a spoon, not at all like the slow chew of an actual banana. The shop’s versions most closely resemble the bruised banana Lee served at Jungsik, showing how bakeries are turning little desserts into sculptural, high-end treats you can sit and linger over." - Emma Orlow
