Ah le croissant, si delicieux! Flaky, buttery, easily peeled dough layer by dough layer, the outside crunches and crumbles.
As a one-time expat on Rue des Quatre Vents in the 6eme arrondissement of Paris, just on the corner of my street at Rue de Seine stands Gerard Mulot, my favorite and the most beautiful pastry shop in the city. In the mornings I would take a croissant on the go and stroll through Jardin du Luxembourg and then back toward the Seine at Place de Furstenberg picking slowly at my pt’t déj’ with each delectable bite, savoring the flavor and texture and the surrounding glory of the grande ville.
Perhaps, it is no accident that I fell in love with the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, not just for it’s treelined streets and beautiful brownstones, but a neighborhood plentiful of cafés and bistros for artisanal breads and menus of the classics — confit, tartare, les moules — and of course, Bordeaux.
Listed here are a few favorites in the hood and around for a croissant when I am missing a piece of rue des quatre vents.
Bien Cuit, 120 Smith Street, Boerum Hill ~ try the ham and cheese sandwich croissant
Almondine Bakery, 85 Water Street, DUMBO ~ all the classics at this small shop
