ChikaLicious vs. Baked by Melissa: Death by Dessert

I finally accomplished something I’ve wanted to do forEVER: Dessert for dinner. This week’s richNY/poorNY is a fantastic comparison of sweet treats on opposite sides of the eating experience spectrum.

richNY
I’d been wanting to try chic East Village dessert bar ChikaLicious ever since I walked past it one night and noticed the line of people out the door on the street, waiting for tables! Any place that only has seating for 16 and won’t take reservations seems like it would be worth investigating, so I scoped out the menu. ChikaLicious features a three-course prix fix menu (with wine pairing option), bringing the art of flavor and delicate taste front and center. ChikaLicious was also the first true dessert bar I’d ever seen: a restaurant that focuses on experience and unique flavor combinations, like many of the richny entries of late, but with a spotlight solely on desserts.

Another amazing thing about ChikaLicious, aside from the intimate and modern space (almost all the seats are at the bar, so you can watch chef Chika and others prepare your amazing treats right in front of you – a real plus) is that the menu changes almost daily, so that dishes can show off seasonal ingredients. Two of their “entrees” however remain all the time, the Chocolate Tart, which we indulged in, and the Cheesecake, which is served untraditionally in more of a pudding-like form on a bed of ice – because who really likes cheesecake crust all that much anyway?

We started off with a small and smooth amuse-bouche with a duo of jasmine tea-infused sorbet and a whipped custard, light and flavorful, but very refined. The sommelier helped us choose a wine pairing that would complement both dishes, a light bubbly red Brachetto d’Acqui Banfi 2007 that was sweet but not TOO sweet.

I opted for the Brioche Cake, soaked in rum and lined with cream, paired with a grapefruit sorbet that tasted like a fresh grapefruit. The cake was served in a dainty tea mug next to the sorbet, and was light yet absolutely flavorful; the sorbet capped the dish, sweet and tangy with a gorgeous pink color.


We also sampled the tried-and-true Warm Chocolate Tart, which oozed molten chocolate so rich it was like a melted chocolate bar, with a yummy crust. It came served with a black peppercorn ice cream that at first was a little weird to taste, but when married with the chocolate made a lot more sense to my senses. A red wine sauce poured in an artful arc completed the pretty plate.

Last but not least, a trio of petit fours:


Chocolate pudding tear drops, coconut flake-covered homemmade marshmallow cubes, and pecan shortbread cookies; each just enough to tickle your tongue with the bite of flavor, but each more delicious than the last. The best part about ChikaLicious was the experience itself: it was so nice to sit comfortably and eat luxurious ingredients painstakingly prepared in front of us, and we were never rushed, even when the line started piling up outside. For $12 a person, it’s pricy for dessert, but completely worth the experience.

ChikaLicious also fits into the strain of restaurants in New York that really care about ingredients and flavors, as well as presentation, over amount: quality over quantity. While the dishes were small portions, they were artfully created, and to be fair, not intended to make one feel full. My rating: go for the experience of truly loving your dessert (if you have the time to wait) or, if you’re like me, have dessert for dinner, and dinner for dessert.


ChikaLicious
203 East 10th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)
$$$

poorNY
If you’re like me, you crave a tiny bite of something sweet every once in a while – not a whole dessert or milkshake or ice cream, but just a smidge of sweet every so often, especially after a good meal or as a snack. Baked by Melissa offers exactly that: smaller-than bite sized delicious stuffed miniature cupcakes! What an ingenious idea.


Baked by Melissa is a fledgling company that’s managed to find a sweet street spot: right on Spring Street off of Broadway in trendy shopping haven SoHo. That means it’s the idea place to nab a delicious treat while you’re exhausting your wallet south of Houston Street. The shop, which is hard to miss, offers seven different flavors (and occasionally special ones for holidays) of teeny-tiny cupcakes at a budget price. For just $3, you can sample three of the different cupcakes: I chose Cookie Dough, S’Mores, and of course, Red Velvet. The cupcakes, which are roughly the size of a silver dollar, pack a major sweet punch, but avoid the major cupcake flaw of being too sweet. The consistency was wonderfully moist and smooth, too, which surprised me, as it can't be easy to perfectly bake such tiny treats.

Part of the great appeal of Melissa’s might be the presentation: not only are the tiny cupcakes perfectly shaped and iced, they’re topped with a tiny bit of whatever they are stuffed with and served in custom tiny-cupcake boxes! The show may, however, disguise the fact that a dollar is still a little much for such a tiny amount of food….but for such a perfectly crafted bite (or two, if you’re careful) of sweetness, it’s definitely worth it. Who can eat a whole Magnolia’s or Crumbs' anyway?


The verdict: if you’re wandering SoHo with a tiny sweet tooth or looking to order something fun for a party, Baked by Melissa is the cupcake nouveau for you.


Baked by Melissa
529 Broadway
Pick-up Window on Spring between Mercer and Broadway
$

Joe’s Pizza vs. Una Pizza Napoletana :: NY vs. Italy :: The Great Pizza Debate

Am I even allowed to do a richNY/poorNY comparison on Pizza in Manhattan? Even though there have been more reviews of pizza in New York than I can count, I’m going to go ahead and offer my opinion on two great pizzerias in the city. For this special entry, I had to call in backup: The Purveyor of Pizza himself, my friend A (who really is a pizza expert.)

poorNY
If you have never gotten Joe’s Pizza over on the West Side downtown, you are missing out. Easily accessible and wallet-friendly, Joe’s is some of the best pizza I have ever had. The ambiance is very casual, just a pizza counter and a few tables if you can snag a seat, but don’t go for the customer service (if Joe lets you use the bathroom, you know you’re lucky). Joe’s slices are hefty wedges of delicious crispy crust of a medium thickness slathered in delicious sauce and cheese. Disclaimer: if you’re a toppings-kind of person, be forewarned that Joe’s toppings are not all that grand, as they’re generally afterthoughts. The kicker is the sauce, which A tells me is so good because it’s so simple: you can really taste the fresh tomatoes.

The ambiance and the no-nonsense approach to punching out pizzas indicate why Joe’s is so good. The pizza is almost always fresh and hot right out of the oven, unlike other pizzerias that might toss in a slice to reheat it. “Joe’s has kind of perfected the slice,” says A. “You can tell by the ambiance that the focus is just on getting a fresh slice out of the oven, which you almost always get.” Joe’s is the model of true, delicious New York Pizza, and at $2.50 for a nice-sized slice, it makes the perfect lunch on the go or after-drinking snack.


Joe’s Pizza
7 Carmine Street (at 6th Avenue)
$

richNY
Both my friend A and I are lucky enough to have lived in Italy, and equally lucky to have both tried true Napolean pizza in Napoli. There, the pizza is messier than we’re used to: olive oil dripping off of thick, doughy chunks that you either have to rip or cut apart – Italians eat personal pies, no such thing as slices.

That experience can be replicated in Manhattan, with a little bit of an investment. This week’s richNY is probably the most expensive pizza I’ve ever eaten, but it’s worth it, since it sent me right back to Italy. Una Pizza Napoletana is a snug little restaurant that you have to walk by slowly to catch. They don’t take reservations, they’re only open Thursday through Sunday, and it’s a tiny place with only a handful of tables, but it’s got a great vibe. I came across Una Pizza when looking for a place to grab a bite with A, and when we noticed two things – there were no prices on the menu, and their hours were from “5 pm ‘til we run out of fresh dough,” we were intrigued.

To be fair, their pizza is expensive. I was shocked when we discovered that our personal pizzas were $21 each! Luckily, it was worth it. I ordered the Marinara, delicious thick crust smothered in olive oil and sea salt, fresh garlic, basil, and fresh sliced tomatoes. A ordered the Margherita, which is the Marinara but with buffalo mozzarella. To die for. The pizzas, which had a smoky flavor from the brick oven, were super fresh and surprisingly filling, not to mention nostalgic.

Una Pizza Napoletana brings pizza back to its roots by elevating it to the level of an entrée you would order in any other restaurant. The care that they put into their pizzas there – and the fact that that’s all you can order! – really shows their dedication to deliciousness. You might wonder if the nose-up attitude is deserved (no prices on a menu is always snobby) but if you’re in search of an authentic Italian pizza and you have a few dollars to spare, this place is perfect. This place is not for those in a rush: don’t forget about Slow Food, the Italian movement started by Carlo Petrini that focuses on enjoying your food while you eat it. It’s a great venue for a leisurely date with a bottle of wine.

The good news is, you don’t have to choose between the two pizza joints because they’re such different experiences. According to A, “When you pit New York versus Naples, I think the contest ends in a draw.”


Una Pizza Napoletana
349 East 12th Street (Between 1st and 2nd Avenues)
$$$