Macaroons are the New Cupcake

We’re on our annual trip to NYC between Christmas and New Year’s. We’ve got the routine down now – this is pure relaxation and exploration. We’ve been to NYC enough that we no longer have to do the “tourist” things – Top of the Rock (although we will wander by to see the tree), Empire State building, Central Park, etc – we’ve got a few friends here and visit them throughout the week, but mostly we eat our way through different neighborhoods and just get recharged.

One of the things we do enjoy when exploring the City, though, is trying to find places (usually food-related) that we’ve seen on television. It also seems like there are always new trends that are popular -- last year cupcakes were the celebrity food. For 2011, it's Macaroons.

This led us to the discovery that La Maison du Macaron was just around the corner at 132 W. 23^rd street.

Finding out that a nifty food place is just around the corner can be a mixed blessing. It’s fun to run into places that you’ve seen on television, so you can claim the “I been there” award, but if it’s good, it’s entirely too convenient to return, especially for treats (as opposed to meals).

I had no idea that this was the latest food craze. I wondered how on earth someone could create a whole shop around those white piles of coconut that we see emerge from kitchens around Christmas (and of which, incidentally, I’m very fond – but a whole shop?)

These aren’t anything like that. They’re more like a soft Oreo in lots and lots of different flavors.

That’s somewhat problematic for me, because when faced with more than 3 choices I tend to become overwhelmed and shut down, or in the alternative I buy two of everything (because you might need a backup).

When these little cookies are $2.50 a throw, that’s a problem. I mean, for $2.50 you can get a whole bag of Oreos!

So we took our hoard of six (all different flavors) home and have been rationing them out, each one carefully divided and shared.

They’re worth $2.50 each, especially when each crumb is savored with a cup of coffee.

It’s a good thing we don’t live here, though, because there were something like 30 flavors in the case when we went there, and since I was picking based on color as much as anything, we’d have to go through several rounds to find the ones that are our “favorites.”

So far, we’ve managed to limit our intake to two a day – total, split with the precision of a diamondcutter and minimize shrinkage due to crumb loss – but our adventures today will take us past the store again.

Resolutions begin tomorrow, not today, right?