Sarabeth's Bakery

Chelsea Market 75 Ninth Avenue New York, NY 10011. www.sarabeth.com.

I learned of Sarabeth’s from a good friend who introduced us to this lovely bake shop and restaurant at the Upper East Side. Since then, Sarabeth’s has become one of my favourite brunch places here in New York because of the consistently good service, charming ambience and sumptuous dishes. Long lines are quite common, but my husband and I try to go early to enjoy brunch while seated by the large open windows overlooking Madison Avenue.

Sarabeth with husband Bill Levine opened a tiny bakery-kitchen to make and sell her preserves and baked goods back in 1981. Becoming a success, Sarabeth’s eventually opened at the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side, serving full meals and her delicious baked products. Today, Sarabeth’s is also located at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Central Park South and Key West, with a bakery at the Chelsea Market.

While the Chelsea Market location does not quite have the charm and variety of Sarabeth’s restaurants (as well as the usually friendly staff), the baked goods are still consistently delightful and offers her best selling preserves, said to have the reputation of being “the finest fruit spreads and jams in the gourmet industry”. Must try’s I recommend are the Ginger Pecan Tart (a yummy nutty tart made with gingerbread crust), the crusty Rugelach (made from cream cheese based dough rolled with raspberry jam, ground walnuts cinnamon, chocolate and raisins), the Budapest or Lemon Buttermilk Bundt Cake, and of course, the very delicious jams. My personal favorite is the Orange Apricot Marmalade which I usually have with Sarabeth’s airy and buttery croissants or soft and crumbly scones.

While there is no question that Sarabeth makes one of the most delectable breads, cakes and pastries (not to mention brunch dishes too) for the most discerning palate and that Sarabeth’s restaurants rarely disappoint, the Chelsea Market Bakery could certainly have more of the ambience and good service of Sarabeth’s restaurants as well as a better assortment of freshly baked products. It was unfortunate that I, along with tourists who were dining at Sarabeth’s bakeshop at the Chelsea location who also wanted to take some pictures, was waved away with a curt “no pictures!” by the staff. Will I be back there? Probably not. But I will definitely continue to frequent the Upper East Side location where we always enjoy every dining experience.