The Newfangled Bakery

Everything in the food service industry has changed in the last  twelve years, and bakeries have been no exception. COVID has exacerbated these changes. Hours have been considerably shortened, with workweeks smaller. Some places are only open three or four days a week. Younger generations of owners are favoring the” life” part of the “work/life balance.” This is particularly apparent at bakeries that I refer to as the “newfangled” bakeries. Everyone is done at 2pm. Another key difference in these newer bakeries is that they tend to have more savory food than in more traditional bakeries. I like this trait, since I don’t have a sweet tooth. I’m much more inclined to be looking for a great biscuit or breakfast.

That’s exactly why I went to my favorite of the “newfangled” bakeries, Ayu Bakehouse in the Marigny. This little shop is located in a corner of Washington Square, and is lovely inside. There are a few tables for eating outside, and a line often snakes away from the front door. Inside are two cases filled with savory and sweet things, a menu for breakfast and a smaller one for lunch. And breads. Lots of breads.

It’s hard not to get carried away when faced with such options. I always make fun of their cornmeal cookie, which seems an odd thing from which to construct a cookie. I got a chocolate chip cookie instead. There were cinnamon rolls and a few other sweet options, but I chose a chive biscuit and two flaky pastries. The Boudin Boy has a boiled local farm egg and chunky boudin wrapped in puff pastry, and the ‘Shroom Boom includes caramelized onion and Gruyere cheese.

In front of me as the pastries were being packed was a board with two frittatas, a yellow one and a green one. The green one looked a bit scary. It wasn’t spinach, and it turned out to be kale. I went for the less arresting-looking egg dish which I was told was onion, bacon and red pepper. I passed on egg sandwiches on great-looking challah rolls. There were a few dessert items next to where I was standing. I picked a chocolate tart that was beautiful, with shreds of chocolate on top. 

I had the chocolate chip cookie on the way home, and I liked it. The cookie was loaded with chocolate that was melted in such a way that there wasn’t much definition between cookie and chocolate. I like the way the melted chocolate gave each bite a chocolate taste.

The rest I took home, and I heated everything else. My big complaint about pastries in bakeries is that they aren’t flaky because they are cold. Heating the Boudin Boy and The Mushroom pastry made them crispy and flaky. Both were delicious. The Boudin Boy was filled with chunky boudin and the pastry ruffled around it.

The mushroom pastry got better with each bite, revealing an intense mushroom flavor Both were terrific.

The frittata was as good as promised. It didn’t look exciting, but it was filled with bacon pieces, red bell pepper, and onion. I ate this with the Parmesan and chive biscuit, which I toasted in the toaster. It was a nice breakfast.

The only real disappointment in all this was the thing that looked the most promising. The chocolate tart would have been better-described if its name had been Ginger. Because of its revered health benefits, I eat ginger far more than I would ever have expected. But its distinctive taste should be in the background, in my opinion. The inside of this tart was gooey and had a caramel-like texture, but it had an overwhelming flavor of ginger. So sad! I scraped all this gooey filling away and kept only the crust, which was dark chocolate and solid. This, and all the chocolate shavings made it worth it. 

I will return again and again for this “newfangled” bakeshop that is open seven days a week! Till 3:30pm most days! Busy all the time, with good reason.