Les Desirs Patisserie

This is a tough entry to write.

The story of New York is the story of rapid expansion, a ceaseless bulldozing of the old to make way for the new. Unlike, say, Boston, New York isn't full of old buildings that shout secrets about the past. Here, histories of particular corners are kept by those who walk by them day by day, until they too are no more.


Which brings us to Les Desirs Patisserie, an old-fashioned bakery along a rapidly changing strip mall in Chelsea. We ate a pretty good cinnamon bun and passable chocolate croissant, as well as a too-sweet, fluorescently frosted cookie that took us straight back to bake fairs of our youth. We experienced the headache-inducing buzzing of a neon sign and watched as two old men eyed each other warily, clearly staking out a certain special table that happened to be next to an older woman (the restaurant is a hang out for the elderly who live nearby).


Rumor has it that both Txikito and Co. / Sullivan Street Bakery are expanding. Our feelings about Co. have been well-documented, but there's a reason why we've never written about that other place, which serves very expensive, very salty, very tiny portions: our meal there sucked.

We accept the constant change that comes with living here, and we understand that not every bakery or bodega or dry cleaners or store is worth saving. But we still signed the petition to Help Save Les Desirs Bakery.