Macaron Madness

March 20th is more than the first day of spring or the beginning of March Madness in NYC. It’s officially the launch of macaron madness! A few weeks ago, I was quoted in a Wall Street Journal arguing (well, the word the WSJ chose to use was sniffing) that “macarons are not meant to be mainstream.” I fully stand by that statement and thought I had an ally in New York based French pastry maker François Payard.

Last fall, Mr. Payard took the macaron as culinary jewelry analogy up a notch. Pierre Hermé, the Picasso of macaron, exposes his sweet creations in a tiny parisian shop designed to look like a jewelry store, with gloved vendeuses handling the delicate treats. Part of the experience of enjoying a macaron is the packaging, the presentation and that’s why I cry when I see macarons sold for 90 cents next to your average croissants and pains au chocolat at the McCafé in the Louvre. François Payard seemed to share that concept and even brought macarons to an actual jewelry store when he opened a chocolate bar on the fourth of Mauboussin’s Madison Avenue flagship boutique. And yet, as the sponsor of the 1st annual New York Macaron Day on March 20th, he seems keen on bringing the macaron craze to the masses, even stating on the front page of the event’s website that *le sigh* macarons are the new cupcakes.

Macaron Day NYC is inspired by and will coincide with the 5th annual Jour du Macaron in Paris, organized by Pierre Hermé. Several New York bakeries will give out free macarons all day. The participants include Almondine, Bouchon Bakery, Burdick Chocolate, Butterfield Market, DessertTruck Works, FC Chocolate Bar, Macaron Cafe, La Maison du Chocolat (home of the best vanilla macaron I have ever had!), Mad-Mac at Bernardaud, Madeleine, and Silver Moon Bakery. Now of course, anyone who appreciates macarons knows that one is never enough. While you will receive one free macaron at each participating location by mentioning the promotion, some of the bakeries are eactually encouraging you to have more by donating a portion of the day’s macaron sales to City Harvest. Hum… perhaps I should organize a macarons bracket…