Hot bakery concepts in New York City

The Arcade Bakery is situated in the lobby of the historic Merchant's Square Building in Tribeca. Customers at this modern day bakery sit at fold-down tables. As soon as you enter the building arcade the delicious smell of bread, butter and coffee hits you. Their pastries and coffee are considered among the best in the city. They serve baguettes, sandwiches and even pizzas.

As a pastry chef, you can get a lot of inspiration here. Check out their chocolate hazelnut Danish, their perfect croissants, lemon brioches, chocolate babka’s or cranberry white chocolate bread pudding.

Founded by pioneering brothers Rick and Michael Mast in 2007, Mast brothers introduces chocolate to the world with an obsessive attention to detail, meticulous craftsmanship, ground-breaking innovation, and inspirational simplicity. They make their signature chocolate bars, beverages, and confections with an emphasis on clarity of flavour. And they take pride in their pairings and process.

For chocolatiers it’s very interesting to take a tour around their Brooklyn flagship facility, where they guide you through their bean-to-bar production process. Visit them to discover what lies behind the sourcing, process, and packaging at Mast brothers, and explore how locality influences their work.

Fluffy, nutty, seedy, or sweet: Hot Bread Kitchen has a roll for everyone. HBK bakes over 75 different multi-ethnic breads according to traditional baking techniques from around the world and using only natural and local ingredients. These breads are inspired by the women they train on their ‘Bakers in Training programme’. On this programme women facing economic insecurity are given the chance to launch a career in breadmaking.

For bakers there’s a lot of inspiration to be had at Hot Bread Kitchen. You might try one of their eclectic flatbreads, like the slightly sweet Persian nan-e qandi, buttery Moroccan m’smen or crispy Armenian lavash. You can also enjoy their iconic onion and poppy seed bialy, traditional braided challah and babka. And besides all these inspiring breads, there’s another interesting lesson to be learned from HBK. They sell subscriptions: you can subscribe and get their signature breads delivered to your door every month.

Pastry chef Dominique Ansel has shaken up the pastry world with his innovation and creativity. He has won many awards throughout his career and was named the World’s Best Pastry Chef in 2017 by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards. He’s probably most famous for his creation of the Cronut©, his signature croissant-doughnut hybrid pastry that was first launched at his Bakery in New York and subsequently went viral worldwide. There’s only one unique flavour of the Cronut pastry each month, with deliciously sounding names like Mirabelle Plum and Brown Sugar, Fig Caramelia and Morello Cherry with Toasted Almond Cream.

Besides the Cronut, Dominique Ansel launched many other famous creations, like the Cookie Shot, Frozen S’more and Gingerbread Pinecone. No wonder his bakery still attracts queues averaging 100 customers every morning before opening.