Out Last Night: Beard Papa's Sweets Cafe @ Broadway, NYC

This is where it all began for me - my long awaited reunion with a first love...

Bearded Papa's Cream Puff: Dulce de Leche

It was here on Broadway and 76th street, right where I was born and raised that my one and only true, sweet dessert embarked upon our shores and landed into my mouth... It was this chubby nugget of french confectionary ever present in my childhood memories in Japan, and now it was here right in my back yard.

And now being back in New York, it was on my list of places to go back and show Rick; we've actually been going to Breaded Papa's in San Francisco and LA, but NYC was the best....

Now, for those of you that haven't tried Beard Papa's yet, it should be on your list of must go to places, it is simply too good to pass up! The Cream Puff here is actually unique: most places will display their's with the cream already inside which, has a tendency to soak the puff shell. Here, they actually fill the Cream Puff to order, so you will never have a problem with a soggy Puff. As well, you have a variety of Cream filling and Puff shells-with a continuous rotation of Daily specials.

Click below to read more...

The interiors of Beard Papa's is always in a little tiny space that is quaint, a little French country with a communal farm table in the center, white marble counter tops and reclaimed wood floors.

The great melting pot of Japanese and Western food, culture and design is at the cornerstone of Bearded Papa's where you get the Japanese take on French Confectionary here in the U.S., we've become an International community with fewer borders to define our cultures and to limit our boundaries for culinary identities.

While the primary product of Beard Papa's
(formerly called Beard Papa's Bread Sweets- an interesting translation and quintessential example of Japanglish) is Cream Puffs, they also have a line of Doughnuts with different glazes available as well as Mochi Ice Creams. Way back in the day, they used to serve long rectangular shaped layer cheesecake and Green Tea stick items, none of which has interested me in the past (never detract from the primary objective!!). I must say, I go straight for my Creamy, Puffy delights.

I just love the whole process of ordering, once you've decided on your outer puff shell and cream filing, they pick out the puff, and then with a Steam Punk like contraption, they pierce the underside with a nozzle and press down to fill the inside with your cream selection.

Then like an assembly line, it's placed in a wooden box to be wrapped and taken home.....YUM!

So our selection of the day: Two Chocolate Puffs with Chocolate Cream Filling, One Regualar Puff with Deulce de Leche Cream Filling and One Eclair Puff with Chocolate Filling!!

This is the Elcair Puff:it had a had Chocolate Shell that makes it sometimes hard to bite down on without having creme squishing out from the sides and covering you mouth and lap...delectably good tho...

The Dulce de Leche was exquisite: with the Vanilla creme filling, there's a layer of Sugary, slightly burnt Caramel that's over the top!!! Hands down my favorite of all time-it transcends any other Cream Puff to date!

Now a little tutorial about eating Beard Papa's Cream puff: due to the fresh crispy shell, it's easy to bit down and have the filling come out all over the place. What you have to do is try to find a bitable area on the puff that you can tug off with your teeth to create an opening, this will help keep the cream inside...

Once you made an opening into the shell, you have to suck the cream while you attempt your next bite, it's clearly a Varsity move, so be careful! It's definitely a shame to waste any of the luscious filling and I cry when it's spilled all over the wax paper.... It's all easy breezy once you reached the halfway mark, from there it's free for all! Chow down and lick your fingers, cuz that the best part of the Cream Puff!

Above is the Chocolate Puff with Chocolate Cream Filling, a double powerhouse of Cocoa Comatose!

You always have to have two, one is never enough because you miss out on the other combinations!

Another outer shell that is also our favorite is the cookie shell, which looks like a lot of square craters on the top, it's super crunchy so take extra care when consuming (see above for eating techniques)!

Definitely a must for who love desserts, you can even eat one while you're walking home, which I frequently did from school and what not! And while you can enjoy this Japanese import on both coasts, you never forget your first love...and mine is in NYC!

Ratings (Out of Five Stars)