Frooze Balls

Frooze Balls are a quasi-confusing named healthy snack ball from New Zealand (I say confusing because many people think you are supposed to freeze them.  You aren't.  That's just their name.  Don't ask me why.) 

The balls all use a base of dates, nuts, and coconut.  No refined sugars, no preservatives, yadda yadda.  Vegan, gluten-free, made with clean foods, etc, etc.  The only sugars come from fruit.  Basically, healthy snack bites with some protein, in ball shape rather than the more common bar form we have in the US.  This style of "bliss ball" is far more common in New Zealand and Australia.

Frooze Balls come in a dozen or so flavors, all with some kind of filling (single or double).  All sound pretty tempting: chocolate hazelnut, peanut butter & jelly, caramel choc peanut butter, raspberry dark chocolate, blueberry crumble, lemon cheesecake, "fudgetastic", dark forest, salted caramel, cookie dough, and more.  The dual filled ones have have the center with one filling, the other half with the other.

I only tried one flavor of these, but I think they are just a bit too healthy for me.  I did really like the smaller form factor, which makes it easy to eat just two for a snack before a workout, or a full bag of 5 for something a bit more substantial.

Choc Hazelnut.

"All the yum of chocolate and hazelnuts are in-froozed into one little coconut covered incredi-ball to keep your taste buds happy and your body too! These taste like a healthy version of your favourite truffles. Freshly made peanut butter and a fruit-sweetened choc hazelnut sauce are wrapped inside a froozey layer of dates, peanuts and coconut."

I wanted to find the pb&j flavor, but my Trader Joe's had only the choc hazelnut.  The balls were coated in shredded coconut, which made them pretty dry.

The base shell of the ball was definitely a healthy taste.  There was no denying that I was eating dates and coconut, with some bits of nuts in there for a bit of texture (almond, cashew, peanuts).  I didn't really taste the cocoa.  Inside was one side filled with nut butter (peanut butter, it seemed, even though these were the choc hazelnut?) and one side filled with chocolate hazelnut.  I did taste nuttiness, and sorta nut butter, but again, the chocolate aspect was minimal at best.  They were not sweet.

Overall, a miss for me: too strong of a date taste (I don't like dates), too healthy tasting, and too bitter.  But if you like healthy bites and dates, I think these could be a fun product.  **+.

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Dominique Ansel Kitchen and Bakery, NYC

Baked goods.  Desserts.  Ice cream.  Some of my all time favorite things, and all signature items at the famous Dominique Ansel establishments in New York.

If you lived under a rock in 2013, or didn't pay attention to the baked goods scene, perhaps you missed out on the most famous item produced by Chef Dominique Ansel: the cronut.  Yup, the cronut, the croissant-donut hybrid, that took the country by storm and skyrocketed Dominique Ansel into culinary celebrity status (which, to be fair, is also due to his success as a James Beard winning, work at Michelin starred restaurants, etc).  But the cronut was his big rise to fame.

Hot off the heels of the cronut was another creation: the DKA.  Dominique's Kouign Amann.  While he didn't create the glorious kouign amann, he certainly perfected it.  Like the cronut, it quickly got a cult following, and required reservations in advance.

I had many imposter cronuts and kouign amann over the years, and in the summer of 2019, I finally got to try the later.  I had mediocre expectations, given the hype, but ... well, it lived up.  And it isn't just because a kouign amann is delicious by nature (which, it is), but, well, he really did master this namesake item.

Update Review, Dominique Ansel Bakery, August 2024

My offices have a regular donut rotation, where someone brings in donuts every week, from the place of their choice (hence why I have so many donuts!).  When I was visiting my NY office, my amazing coworker decided to up the ante and go to Dominique Ansel Bakery for cronuts, not just regular donuts from any nearby shop.  I was thrilled to say the least. 

Cronut Box.

I realized when I saw the box, that I think this was my first ever actual Dominique Ansel cronut.  I'd had the DKA, and other goodies, a few years prior (review below), but not the actual signature cronut. 

"This pastry has a short shelf-life and should not be consumed after 8 hours of pick up."

I appreciate that they don't even say, "best within 8 hours", nope, its literally, "should not be consumed" when it is more than 8 hours old.  #standards.

Guava & Coconut Cronut.
 (August Monthly Flavor).

"Filled with tropical guava jam and creamy coconut ganache."

Dominique Ansel Bakery produces only one flavor each month, and it rotates monthly.  During my visit, it was guava & coconut.  Warning: those who do not like guava need to just move on.  This isn't for you.  But if you like guava, and fruity things, this certainly delivered.  So. Much. Guava.

The cronut base itself was the least interesting part to me.  As a caveat, I will say that I had it at 7pm, so definitely not as fresh as it should be.  It was well coated in sugar, and the layers were nice, but it was soft and not flaky.  Again, I suspect this was a freshness thing, as it was end of day, and had been in the fridge.  The pastry though was really not the star of the show anyway.  The other elements were the strong players, particularly the gauva, that was clearly MVP.

Inside there was a generous amount of guava jam.  Very thick, very fruity, very intense guava jam.  It was tropical and very summer appropriate.  Fairly sweet.  And on top, a thicker-than-expected coating of guava (and coconut?) icing.  It was really quite sweet, and again, very fruity and very guava forward.  A bit too sweet for me after all that jam too.  The coconut ganache was harder to find, less of it, and less strongly flavored, but I appreciated the creamy element it added.

Overall, I was very glad to try this.  The guava was a showstopper, and I wish I'd been able to actually try it fresh.  ***+.

Original Review, Dominique Ansel Kitchen, September 2021

In SF, I've tried all the "famous" local versions of kouign amann, such as the decent but average one from Starter Bakery, the much better one from b. patisserie, and the not-so-good one from Firebrand.  I've also had several from the oldest pastry shop in Paris (Stohrer), a fantastic version turned into a formal dessert at Clio in Boston, and, a memorable take home treat from an incredible meal at the (now closed) Cyrus in Napa.  I've had great kouign amann, ones that, at the time, I declared the best ever.  But the DKA ... yup, it blew them away.

Setting

The shop has an ice cream window outside to streamline those orders, and inside is the bakery counter (with everything on display!) and seating.

Ice Cream Window.

Another one of Dominique Ansel's well known creation is the soft serve.  Yup, the ice cream.  And you know how much I love my soft serve.

I was pretty excited to try the burrata soft serve, as, well, I do love burrata, and I loved the sound of the microbasil in it (I've had fabuous basil ice cream before), and the strawberry confit ... but, alas, the other flavor was What-A-Melon, which uses real watermelon, AND is served in a carved out watermelon rind, and thus ... danger, danger, danger for me, given my life threatening watermelon allergy.  I couldn't take the risk to order the other soft serve.

On another visit, they only had a cold brew flavor, and it wasn't very good, really, quite icy.  If you want great soft serve in New York, there are plenty of other places to get it, like Big Gay Ice Cream right around the corner, or my fav for the incredible ube soft serve (with halo halo toppings no less!), Soft Swerve.

Seating.

The seating area is tastefully decorated, and I appreciated all the floral touches.

Bakery Counter

Of course, most people go to Dominique Ansel Kitchen for the stunning, and unique, pastries and desserts.  All are on full display, tempting you as you want in the generally long line to place your order.

Baked Goods.

The array of tempting looking baked goods is extensive, ranging from thick cookies, to all kinds of filled croissants (including some unexpected versions like garlic confit, Nutella, and almond lavender), to the oh-so-notoriously hard to make canelé.  I honestly wanted to try nearly all of them.

More Baked Goods.

There were also some simple classics, like a plain or ham & cheese croissant for the traditionalists, and the cinnamon spun roll jumped out at me too.  Even the brownies had an interesting element to them, incorporating smoked sage.

Desserts.

And then ... the even more stunning creations, the desserts.
 

This section also showed models of the made-to-order items, like the a la minute mousse, the baked to order hazelnut madelines, nad the freshly made "Ultimate" S'more.

Beautiful Creations.

Every item was stunning, expertly made, and full of little twists.  I don't even like pavlova that much, but the brown sugar orange pavlova was gorgeous, just like the grapefruit honey tart, again, tarts aren't usualy what I go for, but these looked, and sounded, fascinating.

4th of July Religieuse.

The banana cream pie looked downright incredible, and, because it was 4th of July, the religieuse took a festive slant, decked out like Uncle Sam.  Oh, and the cheesecake?  Certainly not slouch, it was made with black truffle honey.

Retail.

The packaged retail section also includes some take-home items, like housemade granola or burnt caramel popcorn (which you know I almost grabbed, given my love of popcorn!)

Food

I would gladly have ordered a savory meal, or any of the breakfast items, or grabbed a slew of things to take home, but, alas, this visit was directly after visiting Big Gay Ice Cream one last time, and I was literally on my way to the airport from there.  Thus, I had restraint, and only got the one thing: the signature DKA.  I mean, I had no other choice, right?

Brown Sugar DKA. $5.50.

“Dominique’s Kouign Amann”: Our signature pastry made with brown sugar, similar to a “caramelized croissant,” flaky and caramelized on the outside with tender layers on the inside."

I could tell just by inspection that this kouign amann was in a league of its own.  The caramelization on the exterior was noticeable from a distance.  This is *clearly* unlike any generic bakery kouign amann.  But, I have had good koiugn amann before too.

My standards were set high.

I took a tentative bite.  Yes, wow, that was crispy.  So crispy.  So rich.  This is clearly a special item.

Bottom: That caramelization!!!!

Turning it over revealed even more ridiculous caramelized goodness.  It looked like the top of a crème brûlée!

I can safely say, on the caramelization dimension alone, this is the best I've ever had. 

At this point, I expected a good, crispy kouign amann.  Nicely layered, very rich, decadent treat.  Which it was.  I also expected, a slightly more interesting flavor, from the use of brown sugar, which isn't as standard.  And, that was there as well.

This was a good kouign amann.

But I still didn't know to expect what I found ... inside.

Inside: So gooey!

Yes, inside.  Among the crispy layers, a gooey pocket of sugary goodness.  Now *this* was unique.  I've had filled kouign amann before, usually chocolate filled, sometimes with creams or fruits, but this?  Unexpected, and I loved the quality it added to the treat.

So yes, this was an excellent treat.  Far more caramel forward than most, sweeter, and richer as as result.  While I'll eat a kouign amann for breakfast sometimes, this one I wouldn't really find breakfast appropriate.  It was just *too* much.  Actually.  

****, I still enjoyed it very much, and I think it would be lovely with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to help temper the sweet richness (they do serve it as an ice cream sandwich, but with salted caramel ice cream, which I think would be just too much).

I don't feel the need to get this again though - given my limited time in New York, I have too many other things to explore.

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Brenda's Meat & Three

Ask a San Franciscan where to get good southern food, and chances are high that Brenda's name will come up.  Particularly if you are asking about southern brunch.  Brenda's is notorious in the long-lines-at-brunch scene, even given the less than ideal location in the Tenderloin.  But the masses still line up, and although I never lined up myself, I finally got to try it.

Brenda's original restaurant was so successful they are now a mini-chain in the Bay Area, with three locations: the original Brenda's French Soul Food, an outpost in Oakland, and a slightly different second concept also in San Francisco, Brenda's Meat & Three.  It is the later that I tried.

The name is a bit perplexing if you are unfamiliar with the meat & three southern concept.  Yes, the tie in to the well known Brenda's French Soul Food is clear, but, what about the "Meat & Three" part?  The answer, per their website:

"A southern culinary tradition, meat & three diners are popular with locals who choose one meat (or entrée) and three side dishes from a daily selection of down-home favorites."

This is a fairly standard concept at southern style restaurants, which I recently discovered when I went to Atlanta (although, maybe this is the economy, or more awareness of health consequences, but "meat and two" seemed more prevalent).  

The menu at Brenda's for every meal period is fairly large, at all locations.  While they differ slightly, for the most part, they offer similar items.

For lunch and dinner, you can pick from a number of comfort food sandwiches, like pulled pork, classic muffuletta, several kinds of po'boys, a signature fried bologna, and of course a fried chicken sandwich, but they also have unique items like a vegan sloppy joe or fried veggie po'boy to really cater to a larger audience.  If you prefer more substantial entrees, you can pick from everything from shrimp & grits to an interesting pasta creation loaded with seafood.  And of course, there are platters of fried chicken, fried catfish or shrimp, ribs, pulled pork, and more.  Appetizers include hush puppies, gumbo, salads, and shrimp in a cayenne butter sauce.  And then there are beignets, both sweet and savory, offered at every location, every meal.

The breakfast/brunch menu adds in specials like biscuits & gravy, a slew of egg options (benedicts - with their southern style biscuits rather than english muffins and creole hollandaise!, omelettes, etc), french toast, hash, and breakfast meats.

I ordered for delivery, so I can't comment on the restaurant experience, but my delivery experience was reasonable - well packaged, timely arrival.

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Beignets

Beignets at Brenda's are signature items.  Available at brunch, lunch, and dinner, and in a variety of flavors, mostly sweet (chocolate or granny smith filled are their classics, but they now also have a trendy ube version!), or plain.  The sweet options definitely appeal to me, but, I actually was looking for something savory, and the idea of the savory beignet intrigued me. 

Beignet Bag.

I was a little surprised when I opened my large takeout bag to find my beignet in a smaller paper bag (but still quite sizable), with a "crawfish" stamp on it.  I suspect if you order more than one kind, this makes sense, and the bag was absolutely fine for packaging in a way that didn't make it get soggy (although it didn't really keep it warm).  It looked a little silly to have the single beignet in the big bag though.

Crawfish Beignet. $4.50.

"Spiced with cayenne, scallions & cheddar."

The beignet was covered in a messy coating (cayenne and other blackening spices I think?), much like you'd find powdered sugar coating a sweet beignet.  This is the kind of item you eat with your hands, but, yes, you'll get messy fingers, in a Cheetos kind of way (just, not quite as artificially orange).  I actually didn't care for the coating, as it made the beignet eat a bit dry.  I did appreciate the flavor, but, I'd actually prefer it without.

The beignet itself was crispy on the outside, and fluffy inside.  It didn't taste oily nor fried.  Good dough.  It was fairly dense, and ate pretty heavy.  And, as I mentioned, a bit dry.

The beignet was quite sizable, and if you want one a an appetizer before a more substantial meal, I recommend sharing.  Beignets are mostly available only in sets of 3 (of a kind), or as a flight (of all kinds), but the crawfish beignet is also available on its own at diner time for a reasonable $4.50.

Crawfish Beignet: Inside.

The beignet was very, very generously stuffed with crawfish filling.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect besides bits of crawfish, and the answer seemed to be a creamy sauce, likely much like the roux used as the base of their étouffée.  It was really well seasoned, full of classic southern flavors.  The creamy filling helped balance out the more dry exterior.  It was rich and screamed southern comfort, but didn't over power the beignet.  The crawfish were perfectly cooked, with a slight chew.  The menu mentions cheddar, which I didn't actually detect, but perhaps it was in there adding to the creaminess.

The filling really was quite tasty, and it worked amazingly well with the beignet dough.  I did end up stuffing some cole slaw and pickles into mine to make what I considered pretty perfect bites (slightly less dry this way), but it was quite enjoyable on its own too.

This was a unique and tasty dish, and I recommend it if you are up for trying something different (and aren't crawfish nor carb averse).

***+.

Sides

Given the concept, it is no surprise that Brenda's Meat & Three offers a slew of sides (at least 20 of them!), mostly all your traditional southern sides: cole slaw, potato salad, grits, cheesy grits, mashed potatoes, collard greens, red beans & rice, mac & cheese, corn succotash, okra & tomato maque choux, fries, etc, etc.  Many vegan, most vegetarian, some gluten-free.  These are available a la carte as well. 

Cole Slaw. $3.50.

To go with my beignet I got the slaw.

Ok, this looks like just any old cole slaw.  Shredded cabbage, mostly green, a little carrot, dressed in mayo based dressing.  It didn't look particularly interesting, no extra special ingredients, no interesting size chunks, not even any noticeable seasoning.

But this was excellent cole slaw.  At least, totally the kind of slaw that I like.  It was fairly fresh and crisp, although certainly a bit soft, likely was made that morning.  It was well dressed, every piece covered in dressing, but not over dressed nor soggy.  The dressing I suspect is what made it for me, besides mayo, I'm not entirely sure what was in it, but, it was creamy and flavorful.

It is hard to really pinpoint what made this so good, as there isn't anything obvious, but I really enjoyed it.  The portion was quite large (that was a large container!), and for $3.50 it was a great value.  Definitely the best cole slaw I've had in recent years, and I'd get it again in a heartbeat.

****+.

Retail Items

Brenda's offers a line of retail packaged jams, pickles, and sauces, including pepper jelly and the jams they serve at breakfast (peach cobbler or spiced strawberry), along with several kinds of pickles, and even a tomato bacon relish.

I come from a family of canners, and grew up eating homemade pickled things of all kinds, and of course, always homemade jams, so I was thrilled to see this lineup.  Grocery store pickles, even fancier ones, just don't compare.

Pepper Jelly. $1.25.

Pepper jelly is normally served with the cornbread, or chicken meals, but you can also add it on to your order for $1.25 (or get a full size retail jar if you really want to stock up).

The pepper jelly was a different style than I've had other places, no chunks, just a smooth sauce.  It was slightly sweet, not particularly spicy, and nicely pepper flavored.  I found it went well with my crawfish beignet, it went well with the slaw, and I'm sure it would go great with the cornbread or biscuit too.  Very versatile and a nice add-on.  I'd get it again.

****. 

Bread & Butter Pickles. $10.50.

First up, I opted for the bread & butter pickles, always a classic in my house.  

The top few slices were slightly mushy, but they got a bit more firm as I dug deeper.  All were a touch softer than I prefer.  Moderately thinly sliced, so less bite to them than a thicker slice.  Good level of acid.  Considerably more tart than most bread and butter pickles, which can trend overly sweet.  I had hoped for slices of onions and/or peppers in the mix, as my family has always included those in bread and butter pickles, but these were cucumber only.

Overall, good pickles, better than your average store brand, but I wanted a bit more from them.  ***+.

The pickles went really well with the slaw and savory beignet, and are a great compliment to any southern meal.

Pickled Okra. $10.50.

I couldn't resist trying a jar of the pickled okra as well.  My family pickled many things other than just cucumbers, and in particular, the dilly beans and asparagus were always favorites of mine, but I can safely say we never had pickled okra.  However, just like green beans and asparagus, it seemed like a totally reasonable crunchy green vegetable to pickle to me, so I couldn't wait to try it.  I hoped it would be crisp and not slimy though ...

I really, really, really did not like this product.  The okra sliminess was not the issue (although that was kinda there).  The issue was the taste.  It was bitter.  It was sour.  It just tasted bad.  Like, potentially unsafe to eat, not properly sealed and pickled bad.  I wonder if I got a bad batch? Yikes.

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