Breakfast Club at Clinton St. Baking Company

February was Pancake Month at Clinton St. Baking Company.

Bennie and I went twice for Breakfast Club. Once for raspberry almond pancakes.

And another time for the spicy chocolate and crispy banana ones.

Always on the menu are blueberry pancakes.

Let there be no mistake. These are the best pancakes in the city.

Breakfast Club at Four & Twenty Blackbirds

For most Americans, pie season is over. Pumpkin, apple and pecan treats are of a season past, and the preferable winter indulgences are cakes and bonbons. But if you happen to live near Four & Twenty Blackbirds in Gowanus, then pie is a yearlong celebration.

(You might even want a slice of malted chocolate pecan, along with a baked oatmeal muffin, for breakfast.)

Breakfast Club at Bakeri

Heaven. We were in heaven.

Ben suggested Bakeri, in Williamsburg, for our latest Breakfast Club. I couldn't have been happier to oblige.
Opened and run by Nina Brondmo since 2009, the place is just adorable.

 

(Does that mural look familiar?)

More important, it's beyond delicious. Everything is baked from scratch in the morning, and there's an incredible selection of breads and pastries, inspired from America (strawberry pie!), France (chocolate brioche!) and Nina's home country, Norway (Skolebrød!). It was tough to decide, but we made exemplary choices.

The chocolate hazelnut tort that Ben insisted upon was perhaps the highlight.

Chocolaty and nutty, still a titch warm from the oven, it was sweet but savory and a totally decadent, but right, breakfast choice.

The strawberry lemon cake with lavender crumble wasn't so bad either. Heavy with moistness, it was equal parts tart and sweet.

The bread pudding was of the savory sort, this one filled with spinach and feta and tomatoes, and every bit as eggy and lovely as one would expect from bread pudding.

But still, we weren't sated. So we went ahead and ordered that ridiculous-looking chocolate raspberry scone.

It was a favorite Breakfast Club destination.

(That's me, genuflecting before the sign.)

150 Wythe Avenue
Williamsburg, BK

French breakfast club at Lafayette

This is a sign that I like to see:

Because, inside, French pastries abound.

Almond croissants...

Pain au chocolat...

Plain croissants...

Frangiopane tart...

All these pastries are pitch-perfect, grace à pastry chef Jen Yee.

Ben and I met there for Breakfast Club and strategically selected our petite dejeuner pour deux.

We even let a slice of savoriness slide by. (The garden quiche. It was delicious.)

And added a butterscotch coffee éclair. For breakfast. It was insanely delicious.

But maybe my favorite thing was the pistachio pound cake.

 I swear, it was the taste that transported me back to Paris.

À la prochaine, Lafayette!

Piles of pancakes in the dead of winter

This is what greets you at Clinton Street Baking Company.

But this is what awaits.

I’m talking about the pistachio frangipane pancakes with burgundy cherries.

It’s Pancake Month at Clinton Street Baking Company.

 So naturally Bennie and I got the special pancakes.

But we also got some French toast.

You know, just to balance out the carbs.

 

Nutella Butter

They called it Nutella butter. It was more like Nutella bologna. But when Ben and I ordered the Stuffed French Toast at the Four Seasons, we were quite sure it was going to be delicious, no matter what the menu read.

At $24 a plate, it's decadent in more ways than one. Some might say, not worth it. But the texture of that Nutella butter-bologna has been haunting me ever since...

Breakast Club at Doughnut Plant

When was the last time you had a doughnut for breakfast? 

Or... five?

For me, it had been much too long. So I was very happy when Ben agreed to meet at Doughnut Plant, the newer Chelsea location, for Breakfast Club.

Even though they just do doughnuts, the choices are not easy.

But we did well.

Peanut butter and jam.

Vanilla bean.

Tres leches.

 Oatmeal.

And, for good measure, a wee creme brulée doughnut.

So good. So gluttonous. If I had to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat.