Laduree received a huge welcome to NYC when they recently opened their first US store on Madison Avenue. Macaroons have been quite the rage for some time, and judging by the length of the queue when we cycled past on Saturday, Laduree macaroons must be particularly delicious. There were at least 50 people waiting on the street to join the queue inside, but there were just as many people taking photographs of the queue, or of themselves in front of the shop. So the fun of it took over from the slightly crazy aspect of waiting an hour for a sublime sweet flown in freshly from Paris. Not that we waited – but of course we will go back ( they were sold out of coffee and framboise ) at least to show solidarity with the company mantra that declares ‘a weakness for sweets is a noble approach to everyday living ‘ …..
TheFitzyreport 
You must try Lady M – Upper East 78th I think. Visited a couple of times while on holidays earlier this year in NY. The cakes are delicious. Not sure why but the Asian flocked there. It was the only place where I could get a decent cup of tea. Not a tea bag in sight. Only down side to the experience was the set gratitudes 22% I think. I struggle with the tipping and taxes in the US as here in Australia the price in inclusive of taxes. Love your blog and the ABC radio segment. With the East coast of Australia now on daylight saving for the next six months, here in the West I hear you an hour earlier at 12 midnight.
Many thanks. I will definitely have a look at Lady M, although the set gratuity is off-putting. Normally we would just double the tax to equal about 17%, but that’s only if the service is good…. Proper tea is hard to find in NYC – next time try ‘Tea and Sympathy’ in the West Village. It’s a tiny space ( almost impossible to get into during the winter with hats and coats etc ) but they have a great selection of ( real ) tea and delicious homemade cakes.