Ladurée

The recent opening of a New York branch of the French pastry shop Ladurée had me venturing up to the East Side this weekend to purchase some of their famed macarons. Ladurée, which began as a Parisian bakery in 1862, is credited with creating the macaron that we all have come to love—two small round cakes filled with a soft filling of deliciousness.

The crowds at the Madison Avenue location have been large and so I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived to find the line was not spilling out onto the street.

The shop is adorable. With pale green walls, old portraits, bottles of fragrances, and candles it’s almost like stepping into an 18th-century boudoir.

The inevitable problem with shops like these is I immediately want to buy everything—the candles, the bags, the chocolates. But I refrained. I was there for one thing and one thing only—macarons. 

Rows and rows of macarons, flown in from France, greet you when you reach the counter. It's an extremely hard decision to make but I settled on a decorative purple box of eight—four caramel à la fleur de sel (my favourite), one citron, one fleur d'orange, one chocolat, and one pistache whose green seems to match the walls. I waited until I was back home to have one and they are incredible. Crunchy and soft at the same time and extremely sweet. Well worth a trip uptown for a special treat or gift.

Photos by Michele.