Bite by Byte

I have tasted a number of croissants from throughout the city. All in one sitting. From Bouchon Bakery, Cannelle Patisserie in Queens, Payard, etc. My favorite was Petrossian’s. It is unbelievably buttery, with airy, separate layers, and a great exterior.

Petrossian Café
911 Seventh Avenue, New York NY 10019

What we like here: The cookies. If that.

What to skip here: Almost everything else. Especially the gelato.

The short story long: We often end up at Martha’s Country Bakery when we have a hankerin’ for something sweet. We are almost always disappointed. Note to future selves: The cookies are the only things you’ve ever liked there — they’re not mindblowing but aren’t bad, either. Just pretty MOR. The cake is like something you’d eat at a coworker’s birthday or going-away party — adequate, inoffensive, and pretty generic. The gelato is just downright not good.

Also note the weird table service thing they have going on. You can’t just order an item or two from the counter and then go sit. You’ll get a waitress. Which tacks on extra expense. And the service is not always that attentive.

We wish there were better late-evening alternatives for our sweet tooths (sweet teeth?) — like an ice cream shop — so we’ll probably go to Martha’s again. But this time, I hope our future selves will just stick to a take-away cookie.

The baked goods aren’t mind-blowing but are solid and are certainly much better than, say, Martha’s Country Bakery. The coffee is good.

What’s worth noting: Free wifi and relatively uncrowded dining area in the morning make for good impromptu workspace.

Address: 2521 Broadway, Astoria NY