While in NYC last week I was lucky enough to visit the newly opened Bisous Ciao Macarons in the Lower East Side.
Bisous Ciao is the brainchild of Tanya Ngangan (above right), my good friend's soon to be sister in law (sorry, confusing). Tanya is a girl after my heart. Get this... while studying fashion design in Paris she discovered that the one thing she loves more than clothing is pastries (I think we can all relate). So, off she went to French culinary school where she became an expert in the art of creating fine French pastries. Once done with school Tanya began selling French Macarons by mail and conjuring up plans to one day open a New York macaron shop. Which brings us to Bisous Ciao. Tanya and her lovely French boyfriend Alexandre (above center) have been putting their heart and soul into creating this truly devine shop and the work has paid off. Opening day was a little over two weeks ago, from the numerous reviews I have read, New Yorkers are going crazy over the opportunity to get their hands on authentic French macarons. I love Tanya's story and I am so glad I got a chance to go to Bisous Ciao while I was in New York.
When I opened the door and entered this gorgeous shop I felt like I was walking into a designer shoe store or fine jewelry showroom.
Simple and elegant decor brought my eyes straight ahead to a sleek glass case holding row upon perfect row of carefully placed macarons in both traditional and unexpected varieties. Salted caramel, Rose, Hazelnut, Blackberry... I knew immediately that I would need to get a dozen in order to try all of the flavors that were catching my attention.
As I chose each flavor Tanya delicately picked them up and placed them in a box worthy of a pair designer shoes and then placed my box in a bag tied at the top with a pink ribbon. The whole process felt so special and made me all the more excited about my purchase.
We chose a couple of these lovelies to eat in the shop for instant gratification. I picked hazelnet and Don went with the much talked about vanilla. The second I bit into mine I knew I had found my new favorite dessert in the city. Texture is key when it comes to macarons and Tanya and Alexandre have found the ultimate formula. Just beneath the pop of the outer shell my teeth sunk into a soft layer of sweetness and chocolate hazelnut filling. Don found his to taste like just a perfect bowl of vanilla ice cream.
If you go to the Bisous Ciao website you can see that Tanya is still very inspired by fashion. Her seasonal flavors are featured under catagories such as "The Classic Collection", "F/W 2010" and "Fleur 2010". It is just like heading over to the Chloe website to check out the newest season's collection. So clever...
So readers New York readers, get over there! These treatsies are so good. And for the rest of you, now you have another not to be missed spot to hit up on your next trip to NYC.
