A Dispatch From Macaron Day

As if I needed another reason to proclaim New York City the Best Place To Live Ever, on Sunday various macaron shops throughout the city banded together for Macaron Day, handing out free macarons. (This is also known as The Best Day Ever.) I’d already been on a macaron tasting spree earlier this year, but the chance to do so without having to shell out $3 or so for every cookie was very exciting.

After the total fail that was my own attempt at macarons, I decided I needed to experience the best in order to regroup. So Desi and I met up in the afternoon, armed with a map full of places to go to. But of course, just when its time came to shine, the Maps feature on my phone wouldn’t work. So we went to Macaron Cafe, hoping that once we got there, they would be able to direct us to the next point on our scavenger hunt. We got there just in time to nab the last free macaron, which was apricot-flavored, and ended up buying a gorgeous, gold-embossed dark chocolate one also.

A very nice person, who was in line right behind us and therefore got no free macaron, told us that the Francois Payard in the Plaza Hotel was giving away macarons as well, so we headed there next. (If I had missed out on a free macaron and the people in front of me, who had taken the last one, asked me where to go after, I probably would have punched them. And then taken the macaron. Just sayin’) The woman was handing out perfectly domed vanilla macs, and I seethed openly with envy.

We packed the vanilla macs with the other ones in a little bag, saving them to eat later in a true taste test. Then we decided to make a quick pit stop at Anthropologie before heading to the Jacques Torres at Rockefeller Center and well, one thing led to another and one very cute summer dress later, Jacques Torres was closed. Our last stop, Bouchon Bakery at Columbus Circle, was out of the goods, so we ended up with two places to compare.

And the verdict was … Francois Payard makes the most amazing, perfect macarons. They were light and subtle, with a crisp shell and a chewy interior. While Macaron Cafe had the more interesting flavors, they didn’t have the texture of Payard’s. I suppose I should be very excited that his recipe is on Food & Wine, but mostly I’m just daunted. Will I ever be able to recreate these masterpieces?

(Short answer: no. But I’ll blame that on the fact that Payard requires a candy thermometer for his macs and I am too broke to buy one after spending way too much money on a dress.)