Macaron Day…Again! 2013

On March 20th of 2012, I went on my first extensive Macaron Day journey. I scoured New York City in search of free macarons! And I enjoyed it so much that I made sure that my class schedule this year would not interfere with my 2nd annual Macaron Day adventure. Yup, I put my classes later in the day just so that I could have the whole morning and early afternoon to hunt down macarons in Manhattan. (Okay, okay. I also chose my Wednesday classes later in the day because they were only offered at those times/they were most convenient in terms of equally dividing my classes amongst the weekdays.)

This year, I took what I learned from my previous experience and now have a more comprehensive overview of my day! I filmed my journey, recorded the name and store of each macaron, and took notes on what I thought of each!

Here’s my third YouTube video:

Some extra notes on the day:

Last year, I was quite nervous to go up to each shop for Macaron Day. I’m not particularly outgoing, so I did not feel comfortable ask the cashiers for a free macaron and then just leaving without buying anything extra. Well this year, I totally felt fine. I realized that no one really judged me and that I don’t care enough to worry if people think I’m lame or a freeloader. All I want are my free macarons. Also, much has changed since my first video at Grand Central Terminal. I’m more comfortable talking to my camera in public. Yeah, I don’t care if people think I’m weird anymore. I just want to make fun videos for all of you to enjoy! So I hope you enjoy.

Like last year though, I planned the heck out of my day, with a map of stops and a detailed itinerary with times to make sure I could reach all the stops and still make it to class on time. Lucky for me, I was ahead of my schedule and made it to ALL the stops with time to spare~ Booyah! Superwoman! That I am.

This is the map that I created, detailing each of my stops and the path that I took:

View Macaron Day 2013 in a larger map

My journey:

Woke up at 7AM, left house at 8. Took the E train to 5 Av/53 St and walked to Rockefeller Center. Stopped at the ice skating rink to look at people. It was freezing cold. But I was dressed perfectly with my warm red jacket, my puffy red scarf, super comfy jeggings, and extra soft combat boots. I was ready to attack the cold and walk lots of miles.

9AM. First stop: Bouchon Bakery. This bakery is located right next to the NBC Studios so as I was heading over, I overheard weird things on the loudspeaker, like someone asking a girl, “Will you go to prom with me?” followed by a few “aww”s. No idea what was going on. And I didn’t see people outside, so…strangeee. There was also a ginormous, colorful float next door. Very peculiar. Anyways, I went through the front door and got on line, asked for a macaron, and then quickly left. I tried to film inside, as you can see in the video, but I didn’t want to be awkwardly told off so I didn’t film for long. I repeated this at all the other places I tried to film in. Some stores get very snippy when you try to film inside with all the merchandise. I just wanted to avoid being yelled at. And succeed, I did. No one yelled at me. Anyways, getting off topic. I saved my macaron (a small vanilla one, like last year) for later and headed on my way to Columbus Circle. But before I left, I looked back to get a picture of the store and then noticed a sign in front that said if you were only here to get a free macaron, use the side entrance. Whoops! Luckily, the man behind the counter did not say anything to me and acted perfectly cordial, though a bit perplex when I didn’t order anything with my free macaron. So thank you kind sir for not calling me out! I avoided a potentially awkward situation, but I felt really bad after finding that out. I should have never looked back!

Up to Columbus Circle, I visited Epicerie Boulud. Last year they gave me a macaron. This year, not only were the free macarons bigger, I got to choose from a basket of four different flavors! I had no idea what any of them were, but I guessed pink = raspberry (although I said rose in the video…I meant raspberry), green = pistachio or green tea, white = vanilla, and brown = chocolate. I chose pink. While I was taking a picture and filming outside, some guy started talking to me. Not a Macaron Day goes by without a stranger trying to talk to me.

Next I went inside Time Warner Center to go to yet another Bouchon Bakery. I knew they were just going to give me the same one that I already had, but I just wanted to go to say I went. Plus, it was on the way. I love the open glass façade of the mall, especially on such a bright day like that Wednesday. The glass has a ginormous view of Columbus Circle and Central Park south. Really, you have to be there to see it. Another bit of the mall that I really liked was on the third floor, I think, there were a lot of men and women dressed in business suits, dining at a café. There was so much happy energy. And what I particularly like was how the restaurant was not inside a store. It was out on the open floor, right off of the escalators, overlooking the glass façade. I can’t really describe it, but the vibe was so casual yet classy. At Bouchon Bakery, the cashier was so nice to me. Upbeat, bubbly, and a bit quirky. My favorite kind of people!

Next, I walked to François Payard. I got a bit lost trying to find this place because I walked right by it without noticing. I blame all the scaffolding around it. On the way I passed by this lovely little art display called Dandelion Cluster #3, 2011 by Patrick Jacobs. It was basically a hole in the side of a building wall, through which you look and see this wonderful artificial landscape. So cute! Back to FP: at the store, the cashier said that they wouldn’t start giving out macarons until 11, but it was 10 when I got there. I was right on my time schedule. So, on I moved. (I had another FP on my list anyways.)

I continued on to attack the stores at The Plaza Hotel. If you go down to where all the shops are at the side entrance (on 58th St), it is so nice. The floors are decked with red velvet carpet and the walls are gold and mirrored. (Well, this is all from my memory. Forgive me if my description is slightly off.) Very luxurious, but what else should one expect from The Plaza. There’s dining space where a few people were quietly brunching alone. A lax atmosphere. The stores where they sold food looked so nice. If you’ve ever been to the food marketplace in Chelsea Markets, this is quite similar: where each store has its own counter and cooking section but all in the same open space, with a few bigger stores that have their own areas with doors. I walked through the maze of shops until I found Todd English Food Hall. There were people inside, employees presumably, so I tried to open the door. But it wouldn’t budge. I tried multiple time at both doors, but nothing. The people inside though didn’t even bother to tell me that the store was closed. Either that or I don’t know how to open doors. Haha. FP Patisserie was supposed to be somewhere in the Plaza as well, but I couldn’t find it so I moved on knowing that I was heading to another FP Patisserie later. I wanted to film inside the Plaza so badly, but I didn’t want to be confronted, so I didn’t :( I will definitely head back one day though! At this point, I was feeling a little bit down because I had just missed out on 3 places in a row.

On to Macaron Café. Last year, I visited this place and was astounded by how colorful the arrangement was and how I was able to choose from their whole collection of ~15 flavors. The store was a small hole in the wall and its address is shared with a huge office building. (I hate when that happens because I never know where the store is located!) I once took my friend’s friend here and got lost a second time trying to find the store. But this time, I knew. I knew where it was. So I found it easily and chose a really funky looking one, white chocolate. First off, I love white chocolate. Second, one side of the shell was light beige while the other was teal. How cool is that!

Next, I crossed the street to Mad Mac at Bernardaud. What this store is is basically a high-class French glassware shop. But on Macaron Day, the famous chef, Florian Bellanger, who is also a judge on the show Cupcake Wars, puts out a few trays of his macarons on a table in the back and lets people sample it. Because of the nature of the store, I felt intimidated, as if the associates might be snobby to me. But everyone was very nice. Bellanger was there and if I actually watched Cupcake Wars, I might have been excited. But then again, famous people don’t really excite me. He was speaking in French to his fellow people, but I could not understand because sadly, my French isn’t up to that level…yet! He told me all the macaron flavors and let me choose. I said, “Oh gosh, so many, I don’t know which one to choose!” So he replied, “You can try them all if you’d like.” Wow. So I picked up a raspberry one and bit it (yummy!) to look less greedy and then, when no one was looking, I took one of each. I did this because I didn’t want to seem greedy if I took them all and didn’t eat any. But of course, I am greedy. Heheheh. I talked to one of the associates, who was French, about me going to study abroad in Paris and then left. We had a nice little conversation about how something in Paris is better. Naturally. I should have totally told Bellanger that Mad Mac was my first introduction to macarons. But it slipped my mind. When I went outside to film my macarons, I crouched at the corner of the building and put them all down. If you watched the video, sorry for the awkward sound of my voice. I have no idea why it sounded like that. I also had a small panic attack throughout the day. I thought I took two chocolate macarons. It wasn’t until I got home and tried them that I realized the chocolate and the cinnamon just look very similar. So yes! I managed to get one of each :D Greedy me. And now, I totally realized that I could have and should have filmed inside and even gotten some footage of Bellanger. He would have been up for it because I remember last year, my friend took a photo with him on Macaron Day. Yeah… I was back in high hopes for the rest of the day again.

After that, I took the 6 up to Lenox Hill and went to Butterfield Market. The macarons here are from François Payard, but there were some cool flavors. I chose mint chocolate. Kinda boring, but I’ve never had this flavor before, so that merits something! The lady manning the free macarons table was so sweet. I think she was the same lady from last year because I recognize that English accent! When I went up to the counter, I politely waited my turn after a middle-aged couple was deciding on their flavors. When I approached her, she immediately told me, “You look like someone who knows about International Macaron Day.” I was so shocked! How did she know? Was there something about the way I carried myself or something about my face that said, “I’m a pro free-macaron hunter”?

I walked over to 3rd Ave to go to FP Patisserie and this place was snazzy. I saw from pictures online how fancy it looked and yup, the pictures did not lie. The floors were so shiny and towards the back, there was a seating area that looked so nice with a chandelier and everything. If I wasn’t just here for a free macaron, I would totally love to sit there! The cashiers here were so much nicer than the ones at the first François Payard that I visited this day. Phew. I was kind of scared they’d be a bit cold, but they weren’t at all.

Onwards, I took the 6 down to Midtown to go to yet another Macaron Café. This place was 10x roomier than the first one. Sorry that in the video I filmed so quickly. I basically whipped my camera out, filmed the store for a second, and then did my little spiel on my nutella macaron. I don’t get what the obsession is with nutella. I mean, it’s yummy and everything, but people make it out to be this holy thing, no offense. It’s just the spreadable version of a Ferrero Rocher and I’ve been eating those for years. At this store, as I entered, there was this lady handing out these cute little green books, which were City Harvest Zagat books. And you know how I like my free stuff. So naturally, I took one.

I walked to Grand Central Terminal to take the train to Herald Square and wow did it bring back memories. I did film outside and inside, making allusions to my first video (as you can see in the previous post or on my YouTube channel, acityaffair), but I decided not to add those clips in my Macaron Day video. It was getting too long already, just like this post! But I don’t care about this post. This is where I spill my heart out to you. Every clip that wasn’t added into the final video is here because it hurts so badly to exclude certain footage. I just want you to know everything!!

This Macaron Café is very small and extra crowded. Nothing else to say. Oh, but I got orange blossom! Interesting in name and look. I love anything that is not plain ol’ chocolate, vanilla, pistachio or raspberry. I didn’t include this in the video because, like in writing, nothing interesting to note.

Then, awkward jump in the video, I know. I took the A train down to Greenwich Village. I love this neighborhood because it’s chic and has these lovely little stores. I went inside Bisous Ciao where they gave me a Salted Peanut Butter and Concord Grape Jelly macaron. (That’s all they were offering.) Last year, they did these cute QR code, macaron lollipops with two different flavors. Less of a display this year, but a more unconventional flavor, so it evens out. I took a bit into this right away, though I don’t remember why…

Next, I walked to Bosie Tea Parlor and got a salted caramel macaron. I should have gotten jasmine. I think I’ve already had salted caramel and I’m not really a fan of salted sweets or a lot of caramel, so why I chose this flavor is beyond me.

After this, I walked to another François Payard. This one was nice and roomy. I even sat down by the tables a bit. Then I walked to Mille-Feuille Bakery near NYU. I loved their macarons this year. There were macaron pops! I have no idea what flavor it was because I forgot to ask, but it was dipped with chocolate pieces and melted sugar or something. By this point, I had been walking for a long time from one store to the next because in this area, there really aren’t trains that run from one place to the next. But finally, I got to take the F to another Bisous Ciao because I was ahead of schedule at this point. If I was running late or right on schedule, my trip would have ended at Mille-Feuille, but because I am superwoman, I blasted through each place. (And also because I over-calculated time to make sure I would not be late.) At Bisous, I got the same macaron as before. And then, I proceeded to walk a long walk from Stanton St up to St Marks Pl. Whoo.

I got to Macaron Parlour, this cute little store down some steps. Last year when I visited here, they had just opened so the store literally had a table then. Now, it was fully furnished, so quite a change for me! They had a chart of different flavors and omg, were some of the flavors weird. I really was torn between party time (salted milk chocolate and dulce de leche!! Doesn’t that sound so yummy?) and s’mores. It took me so long to decide and in the end, I chose s’mores. One of the craziest flavors they had was Cheetos. That sounds horrific. Haha, but who am I to judge what I have not yet tasted. I would love to go back and sample their other flavors though. Some sound so delicious!

Anyways, I finished my Macaron Day adventure early. It was almost 1:40PM and my class wasn’t set to begin until 3:40. So I had 2 hours to get back to school. It took less than an hour so I had plenty of time left to hang out with my friends on campus before I went to class. Oh! And on the way to Astor Pl to take the train home, I bumped into a person in a huge panda bear suit dancing on the sidewalk. He/she gave me a sticker and coupon for the store Panda Diplomacy, I think. Anyways, such a quirky view. I love the atmosphere on St Marks Pl, where all the stores and restaurants are.

So now, this post has gone on for centuries and I haven’t even discussed the actual macarons yet. I saved them for when I got home and ate about 9 in one sitting then I had the rest the next day. I know what you’re thinking, “what a daredevil!” Sorry, can’t help myself.

I’m just going to go through each flavor quickly with my opinions:

Bisous Ciao – Salted Peanut Butter and Concord Grape Jelly – I didn’t realize this till I got home but, this macaron is basically a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Mind-blown! I’m not a big fan of PB&J, but I thought this was really good. It’s the right amount of sweetness (as some macarons can get disgustingly sweet). So if you like PB&J, you’ll love this.

Bosie Tea Parlor – Salted Caramel – The ganache was really creamy. But other than that, I didn’t like it. Too salty.

Bouchon Bakery – Vanilla – It was good and sweet. Although the macaron was tiny, if it was any larger, it would have been way to sweet.

Butterfield Market – Mint Chocolate – This smelled so good. It tasted like a less chocolatey version of a York Peppermint Pattie. I liked it!

Epicerie Boulud – Raspberry – It was pretty okay.

FP Patisserie – Pistastchio – This one was big! It tasted okay. I don’t know how else to describe it other than that it was quite sweet.

François Payard Bakery – Rose lychee – I tried this because I’ve either already had or do not like the other flavors that they offered for free. I’ve also had rose lychee before. My opinions this time: not bad, not too sweet, nutty, and tastes very faintly of lychee. It’s only okay.

Macaron Café – White Chocolate – Such a pretty color. Yummy. Faintly nutty. Not really sweet, but that’s good.
Orange Blossom – It is sprinkled with this shiny bronze stuff and smells good (flowery, of course). It had an interesting taste, but was not really my style. So I thought it was okay.
Nutella – It didn’t taste much like nutella. The ganache was thick. Verdict: okay.

Macaron Parlour – S’mores – I adored the texture of this macaron. It was so chewy inside. I loved it! And when I bit into the macaron, melted marshmallow just oozed out of it. So no regrets on choosing this over Party Time. It was a bit too sweet, but I mean, it’s a s’more. What else do you expect?

Mad Mac – Raspberry – Very good! A perfect amount of sweetness combined with a tarty flavor.
Pumpkin – I don’t know what pumpkin is supposed to taste like, but this kind of stung the back of my throat. There wasn’t much of a flavor, but excepting the sting, I found it sweet and pretty good.
Purple – I am calling this one purple because I have no idea what the flavor actually is. I totally forgot right after Bellanger told me. But whatever it was, I LOVED IT. It was milky, sweet, and light. OMG. SO. GOOD. PERFECT. Gahh.
Cinnamon – It was okay. Not much of a taste. Just a dash of cinnamon.
Chocolate – I am assuming this is chocolate from its taste, because I don’t remember if it actually was chocolate. But it was not too sweet (a plus in my book) and light.

Mille-Feuille Bakery – unknown – Whatever this was, it tasted like toffee. I love how creative it looked and it tasted quite good. I really love the candied part. Its after-taste was super sweet.