I’m a total sucker for bakeries. I can’t resist their intoxicating aroma of butter and sugar. So, on my lunch hour recently, I dropped into two East Village bake shops. One is an old kosher bakery left over from the days when the East Village was an ethnic enclave. Another caters to the hipster crowd.

Pinsi. The cupcakes, brownies and cookies looked awesome. But I went with a chocolate horn. This kind of pastry should be super buttery. But what I bit into I could have gotten at any supermarket bakery counter–it was dry and bland and virtually tasteless. Still, I’ll return for the cupcakes and brownies. They looked luscious and maybe that’s the shop’s strong suit.

Moishe’s Homemade Kosher Bake Shop. At this venerable bakery on First Avenue, there were cases displaying cookies, regulach and the like. I consider myself a connoisseur of the rich little moons of pastry. My grandmother, otherwise a truly awful cook and baker, got an A+ in regulach making. The ones at Moishe’s were mighty fine, so buttery they melted in my mouth and with just enough cinnamon and nuts to give the sweet just the right crunch.

Pinsi
128 W. 4th St.
New York, NY
212 614 9079

Moishe’s Homemade Kosher Bake Shop
115 2nd Ave.
New York, NY 10003
212 505 8555

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