No, the Georgetown purveyor of colourful macarons is not opening a second boutique in Shaw. At least not yet (how great would it be though??) But there's still some good news if you love Olivia Macaron but don't love trekking all the way to M Street... you can now purchase a limited selection of macarons to go along your favourite coffee blend at La Colombe in Bladgen Alley. Obviously, there's a lot less flavours available at La Colombe, but it's great to know that there are some available in Shaw right? Also, if you can't make it to (or don't want to) Olivia Macaron or La Colombe, Olivia delivers nationwide (just call 202.965.1000 for orders.) La Colombe is located at 924 N St NW. Olivia ...
Just desserts
New Éclair de Dessert Collection at Paul Bakery
Looks like it's definitely éclairs season in DC! After introducing two decadent new éclair flavours for Valentine's Day (framboise & trois chocolats,) Paul Bakery is keeping the momentum going with a whole month of new limited edition éclairs. A new line-up of tasty éclairs with join Paul's traditional flavours vanille, café and chocolate. Jot down this schedule! The Un Éclair de Dessert campaign will debut on February 25 by tackling one of France's most beloved dessert: the Paris-Brest. What's that you ask? It's actually kind of like an éclair! Named after a bicycle race that used to take place way before the Tour de France was a thing between the French capital and one of ...
G’Eclair to Bring Trendy French Pastry to Adams Morgan
In 2009, I met my mom, aunt, grandmother and cousins in Djerba, Tunisia for a relaxing Mediterranean family vacation (you can read more about that trip here). I had to leave before everyone else because well, I'm the only one who lives in a country that doesn't have 6-weeks of paid vacation days a year (grrr USA!) but did meet up with my dad in Paris for a quick 24 hours before flying back to D.C. My dad and I both have a mad sweet tooth and truly appreciate fine desserts, so these 24 hours turned into quite the pâtisseries marathon. And it was good timing: Éclair Week was in full swing at Fauchon, leading me to rediscover a forgotten childhood favourite. Fast forward to today. Saying ...
Sweet! There’s a New Menu at The Grill Room
Wednesday night, I headed off to the Capella Hotel in Georgetown to celebrate its new chef Frank Ruta, and the new menu he designed for its restaurant The Grill Room. I must confess, I never ate at Palena, the Cleveland Park establishment Chef Ruta headed before it closed last year. I also never attended one of his famed Bread Feast supper club dinner at Mark Furstenberg's Bread Furst . And yet, I have an awesome memory of Chef Ruta, one that doesn't involve his food directly. Instead, it involves a panel on which he sat at the National Archives a few years back. A panel of former White House chefs. The soft spoken Chef Ruta sat between former White House Executive Chef Pierre Chambrin and ...
Les Merveilleux de Fred Opens in New York’s West Village
I spent the past week in New York City for a work event, and just had to find some time to visit the newly opened bakery Aux Merveilleux de Fred. HAD TO. The Manhattan version of Frédéric Vaucamps' meringue-shop looks like his many Parisian outposts, with a stunning chandelier, rows of merveilleux in display cases and an open kitchen that allows passers-by on 8th avenue to see how the pastries are assembled by hand. And the pastries? Well, they're just as marvelous on this side of the Atlantic ;-) If you're not familiar with the merveilleux pastry, you're not alone. This traditional northern France sweet had fallen out of fashion until the late 90's, when Fred decided to make it the ...
Nutella Cheesecake Mousse
I was looking for an easy dessert recipe to cap off a raclette dinner party when I stumbled upon this no-bake Nutella cheesecake mousse recipe in My Baking Addiction. Not only was it easy to make, but it was absolutely delicious! You can check out the recipe on Jamie's blog, though I did change up the recipe a little bit and made my own whipped cream instead of using frozen whipped topping like her recipe called for. To do that, I simply whipped 1 1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream until soft peaks formed and added 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and whipped further until stiff peaks formed. I also topped each individual cups with a quarter of a Rocher Suchard. Trust me, you'll want to try ...
Ben & Jerry’s Introduced Spectacular Speculoos Cookie Core
The Vermont ice cream company just introduced three new flavours to its "cookie core' line-up. Since I grew up eating spéculos (that's how we spell speculoos in French, you might know them under the name cookie butter) I'm really only excited about one of those flavours: the spectacular Speculoos Cookie Core. GET IN MY BELLY!!! Oh, and in case you want to know, the other two news flavours are Boom Chocolatta! Cookie Core and Peanut Buttah Cookie Core. But really: SPECTACULAR SPECULOOS!!! ...
Dolci Gelati Cafe Now Spreading Happiness in Shaw
Unless you live in Takoma Park and already have easy access to chef Gianluigi Dellaccio's sweet frozen creations, you're probably like me and pretty stoked that Dolci Gelati Cafe just opened in Shaw. Equally exciting, chef Cedric Maupillier of Mintwood Place is slated to open his new restaurant, Convivial, next door... Dolci Gelati is a labour of love for Gianluigi and Anastasia Dellaccio and I never tire of hearing the story of their business' beginnings, which had Gianluigi drumming up business by going from restaurant to restaurant with a cooler of gelato strapped to the back of his vespa. Today, Dolci Gelati is a larger operation, with a production facility in Northeast ...
Celebrate Fall with Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Macarons
It's pumpkin season and that means the pumpkin macarons are back in Trader Joe's freezers, along with about a million other pumpkin flavoured items throughout the stores... (OK, apparently, just 40 according to Tech Insider.) Trader Joe's is very committed to the pumpkinization of fall that way ;-) I'm not a huge fan of frozen macarons, though I've had these before and they're not bad (for frozen macarons...) They're ready to eat in about 30 minutes after you've taken them out of the freezer (though my friend Kaoru likes to eat them frozen too, almost like French mochi) so that's an option as well.) They're a bit on the soggy side, could definitely use a little more crunch but the pumpkin ...
Pumpkin Pie Spiced Macaron at Malmaison
One more reason to love fall! PS: did you know that the second Monday of every month is #MacaronMonday at Malmaison? You do now ;-) Mention Macaron Monday on October 13, buy one macaron (pumpkin Pie Spiced or not) and get one free! Macarons are $2 a piece at Malmaison and typically sell in the following flavours: Lemon, Raspberry, Mixed-Berry, Pistachio, Salted Caramel, Toasted Coconut, Chocolate Hazelnut, & Orange. I can't wait to try this new seasonal flavour! ...
