NYC Journal: Bouchon Bakery

We've finally come to the last installment in Fosco's ongoing series on his pre-Christmas weekend in NYC with his boyfriend Oz.

Sunday morning brunch found Fosco and Oz at the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle to have brunch at Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery. Brunch was a real treat because Fosco and Oz were joined by Fosco's college roommate David Lat, former Wonkette and current managing editor of the Breaking Media blog empire. David is great fun to chat with and lives an interesting NYC life. In fact, he's something of a hero to Fosco.

As far as Bouchon Bakery goes, Fosco has read much criticism of the location. It's true that the dining "room" is an open space on a mezzanine in the middle of the Time Warner mall. And indeed, there is some resemblance to a mall food court. On the other hand, Fosco has never eaten at a mall food court with this view of Columbus Circle and Central Park:

The menu at Bouchon Bakery is very casual and quite affordable--focusing on baked goods and pastries, with a Gallic flair. Fosco ordered the Bouchon take on the traditional PB&J. This is CBJ: Cashew Butter and Apricot Jelly on Toasted Brioche (served with banana chips).

This was an excellent sandwich. Oh yeah, and that's hot chocolate in the background. Mmmm.

Oz opted for one of the daily specials, the Macaroni and Cheese:

Fosco wishes he had paid attention to the waitress's description of this Mac & Cheese because it was the best he's ever tasted. It was creamy and French-tasting. Exceptional.

For dessert, Fosco and David split some profiteroles, which actually should have been better than they were.

Well, at least they were beautiful.

And that, my friends, puts the exclamation mark on Fosco and Oz's weekend in NYC. Thanks for reading along.