My friend Dottie and I were probably the LAST FOLKS IN NEW YORK who hadn't yet seen the fun Takashi Murakami-curated Little Boy exhibit, so yesterday, during one of my infrequent visits to the Upper East Side (which might as well be Pluto to me), we headed over to the Japan Society to take a gander. Before we turned the corner from 1st Ave., my food zoom eagle eye spotted an inviting pile of sugar and spice dusted cream puffs in a storefront window.
It turned out to be the Japanese-owned Choux Factory, the Beard Papa rival that popped up months after its competition. In the spirit of scientific research, Dottie and I decided to sit down and try some.
A lit refrigerator case had sweet lines of special filled choux -- chestnut cream choux with chestnut puree piped to look like a tightly wound pile of whole wheat spaghetti; a coffee brown nut custard choux that really didn't look or sound very appetizing; strawberry choux with a round blob of whipped cream and a gigantic alien strawberry that I later thought of when we got our Japan Society entrance pins with the kawaii cartoon of a smelly dookie pile.
We ordered up the special berry-filled choux -- which were not, contrary to what other people have said, piped to order. In fact, though the special choux were quite pretty, they tasted of refrigerator captivity. The thick whipped cream and yellow pastry cream were just not as interesting to me as Beard Papa's gloppy, creamy custard, and the choux had the color and flavor of softened melba toast.
In the battle of Beard Papa vs. Choux Factory, Beard Papa wins by a landslide for me, for both its crisp, light choux texture and cold, messy filling fulfillment. I'm sure one of yous is going to tell me that I ordered wrong and I have to try the plain choux, but you better save your breath -- it's going to be another couple of blue moons before I need to go up to Pluto again.
Nice meeting you and your soon to be a mother friend at Panhandlers. I like your Blog. Can you teacgh me how you enter in the material. I am basically a PR person, writer with no tecnical computer knowledge.
Also who/what is Beard Papa. I worked a bit with James Beard and blonmg top the James Beard society, any connection.
My wife and I, together with our 14 soon to be 15 year old son frequent NYC as often as possible, at least 4 x per month. We are always in interested in off beat, modestly priced restaurants where there is a low corkage fee. Know any in NYC or ones in Bklyn that we shoulkd try?
I have not blooked at all the entrys on your blog, but plan to do soon.
Best Personal Regards, Marc Reynolds
I googled Tacos Matamoros and found your blog. I am Colombian and I love Mexican food. I lived in Sunset Park for 15 years, and I have enjoyed their tacos, nachos and specially their seafood tostadas (my favorite during my pregnancy). It is an excellent restaurant and I am glad that you have put it out there for other people to know and enjoy.
I googled Tacos Matamoros and found your blog. I am Colombian and I love Mexican food. I lived in Sunset Park for 15 years, and I have enjoyed their tacos, nachos and specially their seafood tostadas (my favorite during my pregnancy). It is an excellent restaurant and I am glad that you have put it out there for other people to know and enjoy.