I mentioned in yesterday’s ginger-molasses cookie post that I was in New York City last weekend. 
That’s the view from my friend Julie’s rooftop in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Pretty awesome, right? Her building is a weirdass artist’s haven in a neighborhood of hipster warehouses. Truth for real
First dessert stop of the trip? momofuku milk bar for some of Christina Tosi’s infamous crack pie. Mmm. 

And after some late night partying in Brooklyn, we remedied our hangovers with some bagels from Tompkins Square Bagels in my friend Vikram’s East Village neighborhood. Despite my love for Portland’s Bowery Bagels, nothing can compare to the real thing:
FYI, bagels make a great hangover food, especially when they’re stuffed with bacon, egg, and cheese. My friend Julie also bought an awesome pistachio muffin after some cajoling from my end:
Unfortunately, I think that bright green comes from food coloring. No matter, the muffin was delicious — expect a copycat recipe on this blog soon.
This is a picture of the coffee and ice cream shop that Vikram lives next door to. Not to mention that his apartment itself is beautiful. Yep, be jealous:
Afterwards, I dragged Julie and Vikram to Columbus Circle in Midtown (much to their dismay; New Yorkers apparently hate Midtown) so I could finally have a taste of the baked goods from Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery.
 
And I proceeded to have the best violet cassis macaron of my life:
A couple of things — the macaron was huge. It was about the size of my PALM. And if you look at the above pictures closely, you’ll realize that in the middle of the buttercream, there’s a dollop of the freshest blackcurrant jam I’ve had. Perfectly tart, it balanced out the buttercream’s sweetness. 
Well done, Mr. Keller. Well done. Glad to see the hype was worth it.
On my last day in New York, Julie and I went to the Brooklyn Flea in Williamsburg and proceeded to celebrate our mutual Texas upbringing by eating a barbecue brisket sandwich at Lonestar Empire:
Lonestar Empire specializes in one thing, and one thing only: really damn good brisket sandwiches. All chopped and served by the hipster lady you see above. Oh, Williamsburg.
And because I wasn’t satiated by my brisket sandwich, I dragged Julie to Dough, a dessert cart that serves nothing but huge, awesomely-flavored donuts. Think passionfruit-cocoa nib, dark chocolate-earl grey, etc. Behold my beautiful hibiscus-flavored donut:
And yes, that was as tasty as it looks.
That’s all for now. Special thanks to my friends Julie and Vikram for being excellent hand models, as well as showing me around the city. And of course, for more pictures, be sure to follow me on instagram!