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Classy Dessert to bring to New Years dinner - NYC

post #1 of 46
12/29/09 at 4:41pm
Thread Starter 
Ok hello.

So this New Years Eve i will be going to a dinner party.... but here is my dilemma

The party will be hosted by a bunch of my friends from Milan, Italy. I will be the only american there. My friends from Milan are significantly more sophisticated and worldly than I am.

I was told to bring the dessert. Under normal circumstances i would bring Junior's Cheesecake or something like that. However, these Italian people are kind of sophisticated or European or something like that. I assume they would enjoy a different type of dessert.... but i dont know what to bring.

Any suggestions for downtown NYC? are there any really nice places to purchase dessert? Any type of dessert u can suggest?


and finally, i was also told to bring some champagne or wine. Any suggestions for under $100 per bottle? any brand names i should look for?

ps... this is what pasta they will be serving

the main menu will be 2 types of pasta (trofie al pesto, spaghetti al ragu) and cotechino with lentils

thank you!!!!!!!!
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post #2 of 46
12/29/09 at 6:05pm
If Dean & Deluca is too obvious, try Lady M, Bouchon Bakery, or Almondie. I once bought a raspberry yogurt torte from Demel to a dinner party, it was a huge hit. There's nothing philistine to bring a New York cheesecake from Junior's, even Demel makes it at their Vienna store, you can dress it up with homemade coulis or Valrhona chocolate souce.
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post #3 of 46
12/29/09 at 6:11pm
Desserts have a class scale? Interesting.
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post #4 of 46
12/29/09 at 6:14pm
Snickerdoodles!!!
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post #5 of 46
12/29/09 at 6:14pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by fcuknu View Post
Desserts have a class scale? Interesting.

well.... i do believe there is a difference between a twinkie and a tart
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post #6 of 46
12/29/09 at 6:14pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by von Rothbart View Post
If Dean & Deluca is too obvious, try Lady M, Bouchon Bakery, or Almondie. I once bought a raspberry yogurt torte from Demel to a dinner party, it was a huge hit. There's nothing philistine to bring a New York cheesecake from Junior's, even Demel makes it at their Vienna store, you can dress it up with homemade coulis or Valrhona chocolate souce.

thanks very much... i appreciate your help
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post #7 of 46
12/29/09 at 6:18pm
To answer the downtown question, I'd say that either Ceci Cela or Balthazar would have desserts that are sophisticated enough for your Milanese friends. That said, Italian desserts and pastries suck so what would they know?
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post #8 of 46
12/29/09 at 6:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by gdl203 View Post
To answer the downtown question, I'd say that either Ceci Cela or Balthazar would have desserts that are sophisticated enough for your Milanese friends. That said, Italian desserts and pastries suck so what would they know?

Thanks.... i forgot all about Balthazar.

Never been to Ceci Cela... will check it out
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post #9 of 46
12/29/09 at 6:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSC4President View Post
Thanks.... i forgot all about Balthazar.

Never been to Ceci Cela... will check it out

I know I may sound like a tourist recommending it but after 10 years here, I recently realized that Balthazar has in fact some of the very best pastries and tarts in the city. Ceci Cela is great too but more classic, while Balthazar always has seasonal tarts and cakes, which are usually pretty good.

With some advance notice, Laurent at Ceci Cela can make you a special dessert, e.g. a croquembouche. He made our wedding croquembouche with great choux flavors such as bitter chocolate-poire, caramel-cointreau...
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post #10 of 46
12/29/09 at 7:06pm
I would head down to Crumbs and grab a few dozen cupcakes. You could give our European guests a taste of Americana. I know Crumbs isn’t exactly the classiest dessert cuisine but the cupcakes are very good and something the guests would never expect.

Purchase a couple of bottles of Vueve Clicquot and you will be fine in the champagne department.

Good luck.
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post #11 of 46
12/29/09 at 7:06pm
I can vouch for Veniero's on 11th st...really good Italian bakery, had a great chocolate ganache (sp?). While you are in the neighborhood you can stop at Trader Joe's wine shop on 14th off 3rd. The choices won't blow any body away but they have an excellent selection of moderate wine and their champagne offerings are diverse and fairly priced...I have gotten bottles for $10 - $50 that are all very good and the staff of hipsters is actually fairly knowledgeable/friendly.

http://www.venierospastry.com/
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post #12 of 46
12/29/09 at 8:07pm
So you have to bring dessert and champagne and they'll only feed you carbs? Those Europeans are very sophisticated and worldly on how to give you short end of the stick.

And why so many Americans feel inferior around Europeans? AFAIK, there're more Europeans moving to America than the other way around.
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post #13 of 46
12/29/09 at 10:12pm
Why not make somthing yourself. Pecan Pie and and some whipped cream woudl be great! Much better wow factor if you made it yourself (and it is not all that hard)
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post #14 of 46
12/29/09 at 10:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSC4President View Post
Ok hello. So this New Years Eve i will be going to a dinner party.... but here is my dilemma The party will be hosted by a bunch of my friends from Milan, Italy. I will be the only american there. My friends from Milan are significantly more sophisticated and worldly than I am. I was told to bring the dessert. Under normal circumstances i would bring Junior's Cheesecake or something like that. However, these Italian people are kind of sophisticated or European or something like that. I assume they would enjoy a different type of dessert.... but i dont know what to bring. Any suggestions for downtown NYC? are there any really nice places to purchase dessert? Any type of dessert u can suggest? and finally, i was also told to bring some champagne or wine. Any suggestions for under $100 per bottle? any brand names i should look for? ps... this is what pasta they will be serving the main menu will be 2 types of pasta (trofie al pesto, spaghetti al ragu) and cotechino with lentils thank you!!!!!!!!
Balthazar. Italian pastries are nothing to write home about so don't feel self conscious. Also, if they are such sophisticated italians they'd probably be serving something more elaborate instead of just two pasta dishes, so this tells me that in fact it really isn't this super serious event that you're making it out to be. I'm sure that they'll be thrilled with whatever you bring. They are your friends so they respect you and I'm sure that they trust you enough to pick something that you yourself like. Trust your own intuition, and something that's just elaborate will never best something that is simple and totally delicious.
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post #15 of 46
12/29/09 at 10:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by samblau View Post
I can vouch for Veniero's on 11th st...really good Italian bakery, had a great chocolate ganache (sp?). While you are in the neighborhood you can stop at Trader Joe's wine shop on 14th off 3rd. The choices won't blow any body away but they have an excellent selection of moderate wine and their champagne offerings are diverse and fairly priced...I have gotten bottles for $10 - $50 that are all very good and the staff of hipsters is actually fairly knowledgeable/friendly.

http://www.venierospastry.com/

+1

Make sure you order in advance....it's a madhouse there.
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