Yes, I confess: when writing my blog post about Dinosaur BBQ, I omitted a small detail...It concerns the fact that we were planning to walk up to the restaurant and, coincidently, we passed by Beard Papa's...I am sure that when Jodi will read the word "coincidently", she will roll her eyes...I am discovered! Yes, I had a plan! Look, walking to Dinosaur BBQ requires so energy and Beard Papa's had what I needed! If you do not know what Beard Papa's is, it is a French-style bakery franchise that originated in Japan in 1999 and specializes in delicious cream puffs or choux à la crème! You cannot not notice the logo that is a bearded...papa...who looks like a sailor!
I still remember the first time I tried Beard Papa, few years ago. We were walking in the street on the Upper West Side when a delicious smell came through our noses. Outside of the store, they were giving samples of these cute choux packed with deliciousness! After we tried it, we had to get several of them! From all the flavors they propose, the vanilla custard remains my favorite! Even the chocolate one does not measure up for me.
So, here we are again! The staff greeted us in Japanese and freshly stuffed the Chou with the vanilla custard.
I think it is great that they fill them a la minute, because otherwise, the shell would lose its slight crunch. You should have seen my big smile when they handed me over the yellow bag...
I delicately opened it, and there was the vanilla custard filled cream puff, with a bit of confectioner's sugar on top (that usually ends up on my shirt!).
The first bite was fantastic, as well as the second, third, etc...The vanilla custard was so good!
It really tasted fresh and homemade!
Then, few weeks later, thanks to a colleague, David, I got the chance to try a Paris-Brest cream "donut" puff. Paris-Brest is a French Pastry made of a chou cut in half with praline cream in between the two slices.
As well as an eclair one:
The Paris-Brest was very good with a slightly different shell for the chou. The chocolate eclair would satisfy any fan of chocolate! First of all, it tasted like real chocolate melted and not just some sugary one. Then, the filling was a vanilla custard and I really thought that it was an excellent pairing with the dark chocolate, because it counter balanced the bitterness of it.
Well, after writing this post, it makes me want to go back quickly! What about you?
Enjoy (I did)!
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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!
