Pear tart and eclaire from Francois Payard Bakery
The Mavs are NBA champs! Being a sports fan means to be a fanatic. The dictionary say it is to be full of extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal. Leave it to a book to sum up the entirety of my passion for basketball so concisely. Food can never live up to that. It's easy to cheer for something when there's time and consequence associated with it. We all can give cheer upon tasting delicious food, but simply to watch it? The Food Network and Bravo have proved that competition makes for more compelling food stories. Yet are we passionate about it? If we can't be passionate about watching it, it means on some level we cannot fully imagine ourselves on that stage. It's not that we can't be extreme about food. It's that we can't be extreme about what we might do or what the right thing is to do in the situation. What would you make in a final elimination cookoff? And how do you judge the decisions made by the chefs on TV? Would you diss a rough dice because it should have been a fine dice? Perhaps some viewers are capable of that (I'm not), but it's much easier to say, "Lebron should have been more aggressive in the fourth quarter." If an editorialized TV show doesn't fully convey passion for food, how much of a chance does a blog have? Sure, the pear tart from Francois Payard Bakery is good. How does it compare to Mille-Feuille? How can we really know? I can't come to terms in determining the better of the two French bakeries, so I'll simply say they're both good. Delicious croissants appear at Mille-Feuille. Eclaires and tarts at FPB.
Last time at FPB, we tried a pissaladiere and chocolate eclaire. This time, instead of a savory tart we picked a sweet pear tart, and a pistachio eclaire. Both were $4 I believe. The tart was not too sweet and fruity. I kept thinking about where this pear came from since it's June, but I don't give a fuck. Ship it from the southern hemisphere for all I care. This item is worth a try, although not mind-blowing. You might be better off trying it during pear season.
The pistachio eclaire was like the Miami Heat. Looked good on the outside, although it lacked something on the inside. Is the filling in an eclaire supposed to be creamy? It failed on this front. Is it supposed to be in need of a Squeegee? This one did. Flavor was as expected, just like the basketball team. However the texture of the entire eclaire was disappointing. It certainly did not delivery down the stretch and I question its heart. I want the center of my eclaire to be velvety and smooth like a jumper, but not wet like a jumper. Also not going to explain 'wet' as it pertains to jumpers. Look it up if you're curious.
Like Miami, when we talk about eclaires what counts is on the inside. What differs between judging food versus sporting events is that when you watch sports you get a feel for what could be, and what actions could would help to get to that stage. I don't know how to make the center of an eclair creamier. Is there some sort of fundamentals for that? Is there a drop-step drill for that? Or is it a situation where your fundamentals are sound, but the opponent takes you out of your game. In the case of the enclair, does the environment variable make the filling not as creamy as it's supposed to be? I'm not sure what the answer is, but FPB to me is hit or miss. Sometimes you don't know what you're gonna get.
Francois Payard Bakery
116 W Houston St.
New York, NY 10012
212-995-0888
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it's also easy to say that Lebron reaped what he sowed for bitching out on Cleveland in that ridiculous spectacle he put on. I really hated Dirk for every basket he sunk in every 4th quarter against my beloved Thunder, I hated Lebron even more.
If you're talking about a team and "what counts on the inside," the Heat are probably devoid of whatever truly makes a championship team.
Nicholas
June 14, 2011 11:04 am
I had high expectation from FPB but it totally fell flat for me. I tried all things sweet but just wasn't impressed.
hunrgy
June 14, 2011 2:40 pm
@Nicholas,
Dirk totally came through in the clutch. Even though people still want to put Barkley ahead of him, I think that's just people loving Barkly as a man. Sure, he was 6'4 playing the PF, but he still couldn't lead his team to a ring. As for whether the Heat has what it takes... I mean, they were two games away. If anything, if we count the first year of super friends vs 2008 Celtics... one could argue the Heat was way more dominant until they got to the Finals. The Celtics went to two game sevens in 2008, and against crappy teams like the Hawks. I think the Heat has it in them next year for sure. All they need is Lebron to add a jump hook.
@Hungry,
oh wow, you're a trooper for trying everything on the sweet menu. Yea the pistachio eclaire wasn't everything I wanted... and the price is a wee bit on the pricier side. That said, it's still passable for me on some days. Maybe Mille-Feuille is more your thing?
Danny
June 15, 2011 11:35 am
Sorry, I meant that everything I have tried so far has been sweet. I haven't even come close to everything that they offer.
hungry
June 15, 2011 3:15 pm