Park Slope Is Home To The Finest French Pastry In NYC
Great French pastry is hard to come by in New York City. Lucky for Brooklynites, Park Slope is home to a two of the finest patisseries in the city. These bustling neighborhood spots have brought us flaky croissants, exceptional tarts, and cozy nooks where we can read and write to our hearts content. Both founded by immigrant chefs who brought recipes straight from France, we are lucky to call Park Slope home to these authentic eateries.
Colson Patisserie
Colson Patisserie, on the corner of 6th Ave and 9th St in Park Slope, is a neighborhood institution. Local writers tuck themselves away in the corner with a coffee as regulars shuffle in and out with their daily breakfast usual. If you are lucky you may catch certain city council members or local celebrities getting their daily latte and pastry.
In 2006, Parisian filmmaker Yonatan Israel moved to New York and turned his passion for baking into Colson. Through collaboration with the shop’s namesake Belgian chef Hubert Colson, the two brought a great pasty shop into the world.
“Some of these people have been coming here since 2006,” said Natalie Alexander, Director of Retail at Colson. “We try to support community events in Park Slope. We are doing our best to make Colson part of the neighborhood.”
Colson is a Park Slope staple, but they are expanding, having recently opened a second location in Industry City.
The patisserie serves typical French pastry fare like croissants, brioche, and eclairs as well as more American treats including jelly doughnuts, muffins, and their beloved chocolate chip cookies. Colson is known for their skilled, friendly baristas and their lattes, which are the most popular accompaniment to a tart or pastry. Alexander’s personal highlight from the menu is the Apple Calvados Brioche.
“I probably eat more of them than I should in a given week,” she admitted to me.
The brioche tart lives up to the hype. The bread is a sweet cloud-like base for the lightly spiced apples and delicious calvados cream to rest. Each bite was a perfect mix of each ingredient and can be easily eaten on the go, with a latte in your other hand, as you rush off to work or your next destination.
Colson offers friendly atmosphere, sharp espresso, and tasty speciality pastry. But if you want a mind-blowing croissant, look no further than Le French Tart.
Le French Tart
When you walk into Le French Tart you are immediately struck by the wall to wall assortment of imported French products. Sweet snacks and strange candies line the walls. Savory meats and fruity carbonated beverages lay in wait in the fridge. Walk in a little further to the deceptively deep store and you will find yourself faced with the best croissant in New York.
Located at 5th Ave and 16th St in South Slope, Le French Tart is a pastry shop offering croissants, crepes, desserts, and of course tarts. The fresh fruit tarts are a great option, but you are missing out if you don’t try the croissant – especially the pain au chocolat that defies reality. Room temperature, flaky and buttery, yet the chocolate filling melts in your mouth every time.
“It’s all about the butter,” Le French Tart Owner and Head Chef Laurent Chaverent told me. “You can’t rush a croissant. You have to take the time to do it right.”
Before coming to America, Chaverent had been working at a Michelin 3-star restaurant for a number of years. 17 years ago he came to America and opened the first Le French Tart location in Staten Island. In 2017, Le French Tart opened their Park Slope location.
In addition to the traditional pastry offerings, Le French Tart has a line of gluten free pasty.
“We import our gluten-free flour from France,” said Chavarent. In addition to expanding to gluten-free offerings, Chaverent recently opened Italian Bakery Pane Caldo just south of Park Slope.
Bryn Gelbart
Bryn Gelbart is a journalist and writer who recently graduated from NYU. His musings on movies, TV, and music have been featured in New York Observer, Indiewire, Business Insider, and Brooklyn Vegan. You can him writing at a South Slope coffee shop or in a dark Brooklyn movie theater in the middle of a bright, sunny day.