I am honestly super duper in loooove with Pinisi Bakery. It's a serious, passionate, truly head over heels love. The for real kine love. I was swooned by a slice of the tender red velvet last night. And tonight, Shann, Justin (who came in from Yale to visit! :) and I made another short trek back to this East Village gem.
Now let me set the record straight. The quality of goods are highly impressive, but it's the owners/bakers that elevate one's experience at Pinisi Bakery from awesome to super-incredible-awesome. And in this city, where you've grown accustomed to the surly girls at Sugar Sweet Sunshine and the I-could-care-less-hipsters at Magnolia's, service with a smile is a true treasure.
We popped in around 9:30pm tonight to say 'hi' to the owners and share a couple slices of cake. Oh man. I super, super love cake! Justin really wanted the red velvet, but I wouldn't let him get it cause we just had it less than 24 hours ago. (I am sorry Justin, I promise you a slice next time you visit! :) But in place of the red velvet we found something just as, if not even more delicious! A pistachio cheesecake with chocolate mousse! Oh darling, isn't this just fantastic?! Combining a bunch of my favourite flavors and textures into one fabulous dessert...it was truly meant to be. A based of creamy pistachio studded cheesecake, so cozy and inviting, with an equally high layer of milk chocolate mousse lighter than foam. A thin layer of silky dark chocolate ganache, sprinklings of chopped pistachios and the three of us were positively moaning with every bite.
We moved on next to a duo of little cookies, raspberry rugelach on the right, and a cocoa-pistachio round to the left. Justin enjoyed the rugelach more, while I took a greater liking to the cocoa cookie. It was intensely chocolatey with a little well of dark chocolate in the middle and a dash of pistachios. A super crumbly cookie that melted on your tongue with gracious ease. Would pair perfect with a cup of tea as an afternoon treat...which is exactly what the owner's wife was thinking...cause before you knew it, she handed us three cups of green tea over the counter! Could anyone ask for nicer service?! Why are some people in this city so incredibly nice!!! I don't know, but I'm really loving it :)
Cookies savoured, we moved onto the Chocolate Decadence, a tall simple creature composed solely of chocolate mousse on a thin base of moist chocolate cake. A dusting of cocoa powder over the ridged surface, and one should be content to call it a day. It's straightforward and honest as it appears, and proved to be a favourite with both Shann and Justin. (My personal favourite was the pistachio cheesecake / chocolate mousse. And we all loved the one you see below. So I guess all were favourites with us all. Haha. That made absolutely no sense�)
But oh baby, we're not done yet! Justin, with those clever eyes of him, spotted pecan pie at the very back of the bottom of the dessert case and quickly asked the deciding question, "if I get it, will you eat some?" The answer to that question will always and forever be a confident, YES YES YES. Oh man.
My god, how do you describe this pie? Lush? Love? Comfort? Or perhaps all of the above? Yes indeed. It's...argh, I dunno where to begin. First off, this was an extra generous slice. I don't normally like pecan pie cause it's often sickeningly sweet and gives me a horrid toothache. However this is a pecan pie like no other. A crunchy surface of pecans happily gives way to the most sinfully delicious butter-brown sugar-molasses. This whole, brilliant, wonderful golden mass rests on snappy crisp pie shell, just buttery enough, not overly decadent. Pinisi gets it right where all other bakeries go wrong: at the butter-sugar-molasses mix. Far too often, that mix is ridiculously sweet, ruining any potential for a good pie. But they do it right at Pinisi, playing up the flavours just so, cutting down on the sugar high, and working with quality ingredients.
We were done in. And pretty darn full considering we had only planned to split two slices, but somehow ended up with three slices and two cookies! Bwahahah. (Wonderful) accidents happen. We got set for the short walk home to the Lower East Side. We threw away the plastic plates, picked up our bags and said 'bye & thank you' to the owners, when he motioned to a plastic bag on the counter. A plastic bag filled with SURPRISES!
Andy said, "breakfast for you!"
And I was never so happy in my entire life.
Why?
Cause he really did not need to do that. It was so unnecessary, yet incredibly kind and completely unexpected. I don't know if I said thank you enough, my head was somewhere floating in the clouds. Clouds composed of mousse, cookies and cake!
Two of his perfect danishes. Will be breakfast tomorrow. :)
P.S.
Just thought you'd like to know: I joined the GYM a few days ago!!! Bwhahahaa. It's kinda the funniest thing in the world. I cannot get the treadmill started for some reason or another. I refuse to lift weights. I'm intimidated by the yoga classes. And the only this I can operate is the elliptical. So. We're getting in shape baby! Bwahhahaha.
Goodnight & have a super duper weekend! :)
Pinisi Cafe & Bakery
128 East 4th St
NY, NY 10003
(212) 614-9079
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