Tuesday, November 17, 2009

New to the Neighborhood

As many of you may know already, there's a new French pastry shop in the neighborhood at the corner of Tompkins and Putnam called La Table Exquise, and it's EXCELLENT!

They offer delicious, and very authentic, pastry, quiche and (soon) baguettes, all baked daily on the premises by the chef/owner, Sebastien, using ingredients imported from France. They will soon have wi-fi and a cappuccino machine, too.

They also offer pastry cooking classes twice a week! I had the opportunity to take the class this weekend where we learned how to make an all-purpose crust for tartes, an almond filling and, in our final creation, a fresh pineapple and coconut tart. The class wasn't complex but held enough information and technique to be of interest to someone like myself, who considers himself a "foodie" and closeted chef. The best part is we got to take home the spoils of our efforts!

Chef Sebastien inspects the hand-pressed crust as interpreted by Mimi, one of the participants.

Questions are answered by the pro (Chef Sebastien was the original chef at the Buddha Bar).

What seems easy to the Chef seems a little easier to amateurs like me when it's demonstrated and the many questions are patiently answered.

Le Table Exquis is open 7 days a week- check with them for the exact hours.

---11/17/2009, Vishnu Hoff



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