Time loop and dynasties and repeat winners
Last year, Jeremy started watching Lost even though he had never seen it before. He did it because his coworkers would all talk about it and he wouldn’t be in the conversation. Then he got me started on watching Lost and I have no idea what’s going on this season except there’s some freaky time traveling thing going on in the first few episodes. There’s a lot of time shift going on and people are traveling back in time and then moving in time and it’s all sorts of crazy stuff. Pretty soon, I guess they’ll time travel to the future. And then back to the past, unless they get all those people back on the island. A huge time travel loop I guess. You see loops in the sports world too, albeit different kinds of loops. You have organizations and coaches and players that win and win repeatedly. Just look at Phil Jackson. All he does is win. After the Shaq and Kobe Lakers, there was a brief period of the Lakers sucking but now they’re back. I’m getting to my point, just hold your damn foodie horses already. Blogging is all about doing what’s hot, doing what someone else is doing, or doing lists or comprehensive coverage, or doing gimmicks. I know, because I want to do all those things to get more RSS readers… Places jump into the spotlight when they first come out, and then they fall to the wayside to make room for the next young buck. Well, sometimes the old veteran learns new tricks and is ready to shine again. Black Hound is that old vet.
Before I get into Black Hound and how it’s the cagey old veteran, I just need to round out my analogy. See, Black Hound is probably just as good as it used to be, but these days it’s overshadowed by the powerful dynasty that is the Momofuku Empire. When you’re on 2nd avenue and you want dessert, you’re probably thinking, “Oh… what does David Chang and Christina Tosi have up their sleeves?” You’re not thinking about cakes from Black Hound. You’re into what’s hot now. You’ve given up Desperate Housewives and now you’re all up in Gossip Girl’s grill.
I’m here to tell you that Black Hound is like the Lakers. Their cakes are saying “Don’t forget about us just because it’s been a few years since we’ve been on the scene. We still have A-game and we can rock it baby.” Their cakes are gorgeous and priced like any good East Village patisserie would. But they offer these $3 dollar delights called cake balls. The one I got was the chocolate ball, which was chocolate cake with some almond slices and chocolate frosting in the middle.
These cake balls from Black Hound aren’t super huge, they’re definitely one person servings. The cake is soft and delicious. Sure, they could be just a touch more moist, but when you hit the frosting layer in the middle, it gets better.
I guess the main difference is that people still don’t talk about Black Hound and people constantly talk about the Lakers. I hate analogies. But if there’s a dynasty now in the NY food scene, it’s definitely the Momofuku Empire. And if Black Hound was over shadowed before, they really are in the shadow now. With Momofuku Milk Bar now in the area, I’m sure the Milk Bar is going to clean up.
During the most recent trip, the corn flake marshmallow with chocolate chip cookie caught my eye. I almost feel like the cookies are smaller now than they were before but without an actual measurement, who knows. Plus it could all be in my head. When I’m hungry, I expect bigger cookies. These things are about $2 after tax so they’re just a dollar less than the cake balls at Black Hound.
The distinguishing part about the corn flake marshmallow cookie was probably the crunch factor. The cookie offered a hearty crunch, and the middle remained chewy. I didn’t really get anything from the marshmallow, but you could taste the corn flakes on certain bites. The other thing I liked was that there was some saltiness to balance out the sweetness, and it made you appreciate the cookie more.
I guess there’s enough room for both to do well, but in this economy? Who knows. The world is crazy enough for Katie Couric to interview Lil Wayne and for Adam Samberg to be in a music video with T-Pain so I guess anything can happen after all… including time travel, and old school bakeries staying relevant.
Posted by Danny on February 10, 2009 at 7:44 am
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