A few days ago I hopped the R train out to Bay Ridge in Brooklyn to visit Robicelli's Gourmet Market. I've been reading about the place for months, as it is becoming a legend in the New York cupcake world. Their creations are unbelievable in their creativity. I was hoping to try an Iona, an olive oil and pear cake with blue cheese icing and candied walnuts. OMFG. Unfortunately, they were out of stock.
But I had a great time nonetheless. First I had a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich. Three kinds of cheese grilled in ciabatta, with a delicious addition of Berkshire bacon inside. Matt Robicelli, who owns the place with his wife Allison, sliced the bacon off a full slab and grilled it before constructing the sandwich. As I've said before, bacon is the new black, and Matt clearly adheres to that philosophy in his cooking and baking. In fact, he memorialized it on his forearm:
(That photo is from the excellent blog Porkchop Express which has a detailed profile of the Robicellis and their market - go read it.)
We chatted throughout my meal and I was surprised to learn he was a St. Paul boy (with family roots in Iowa farming). His dad had been a tenor with the Minnesota Opera before moving to New York to seek out fame and fortune. Matt had been an EMT until he was injured on 9/11 while evacuating people from Tower 7, and after rehab from that he studied pastry at the French Culinary Institute. After working in a bunch of New York kitchens he and his wife decided to open the store.
Getting back to bacon...since I struck out on the Iona, I had one their best-known creations for dessert. That is the Elvis cupcake, conceived from the King's well-known love of grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches. The Elvis is made of banana cake, peanut buttercream frosting, and crowning touch: carmelized pieces of bacon on top. Yes, it sounds strange. But oh so good. I would be in trouble if I lived anywhere near this place.
Matt spins off wild ideas for cupcakes as you talk with him. He has one in mind now for an upcoming event that I can't wait to see them accomplish. When we spoke it was just a concept, though: chicken and waffles. He isn't sure how to realize it yet. An eggy cake, since waffles are typically eggy, will probably be the start. But the rest remains to be realized.
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