citylikeyou — Patisserie Tomoko — New York by Charlotte Strick

Patisserie Tomoko is a French/Japanese bakery tucked away at the base of a condo building on Union Avenue. Patrons are seated at a U-shaped bar that overlooks their busy open kitchen, allowing you to feast on their sweet delights, while you sneak peeks at how pastry Chef Tomoko and her talented staff create. Known for their Prix Fixe menu that pairs wines, teas, or coffee with three courses of sweets as divinely delicious as they are beautiful, Tomoko also offers à la carte desserts like my favorite year-round pumpkin pie (unlike any you’ve tried before), or you might choose layered yuzu or green tea cakes, divine cream puffs, and a variety homemade ice creams and sorbets. Freshly baked yuzu doughnuts appear on the weekends. And no matter when you visit, Billie Holiday will likely be singing soulfully to you as you sup.

Website
patisserietomoko.com

Address
Patisserie Tomoko, 568 Union Avenue, New York, United States

Art Director Graphic Designer

Current city: New York

strickandwilliams.com

Charlotte Strick is a principal at the multidisciplinary graphic design firm, Strick&Williams, founded in 2014 with her longtime friend and colleague, Claire Williams Martinez. The studio collaborates with cultural institutions and clients in the arts, publishing, education, non-profits and everything in-between. For 14 years prior, Strick was a designer turned art director at Farrar, Straus & Giroux, where she designed book covers for much-loved authors like Jonathan Franzen, Roberto Bolaño, and Lydia Davis. Her work has been featured in the AIGA 50 Books / 50 Covers show, the TDC Annual Exhibition, Print Magazine, and in many books about cover design. The proud owner of a coveted Silver Cube from The Art Directors Club, Charlotte is also Art Editor of the distinguished literary magazine, “The Paris Review”. Her writings on art and design have been published by “The Paris Review”, “The Atlantic”, and “The Huffington Post”. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, Charlotte lives with her husband and their twin boys in Brooklyn, New York.

More Places in New York 452

New York / Shop

Founded by a small team of film enthusiasts, Brooklyn Film Camera is one of NYC’s premier destinations for analog photographers.

New York / Theatre

The gorgeous set of the blockbuster play Hamilton, at the Richard Rodgers Theater.

New York / Shop

The operators of the Peter Pan bakery make the best donuts I've ever tasted. This place is charming to its core. Decor and presentation: circa 1971 & virtually unchanged since.

New York / Library

Somewhat off the beaten Williamsburg-track, Brooklyn Art Library is nestled on a mostly residential street. It’s home to tens of thousands of artist sketchbooks known as “The Sketchbook Project”. Over 100 countries are represented and their “collection houses books from small communities in Mongolia next to professional illustrators from New York.” You can donate one of your very own! All the sketchbooks have been cataloged for easy searching of their vast shelves, by artist and subject, and visitors are invited to browse what feels much like a hands-on museum. The Art Library also remains one of the few places to find art supplies (while limited) in the neighborhood, and if you’re in the market for a special gift (including books, totes and the cutest retro pennants) for your favorite art-lovin’ bibliophile, you might just get lucky here.

New York / Restaurant

While the current trend in noodles may well be ramen, this bafflingly-named Japanese restaurant just ten minutes from my apartment specialises in udon. Unless you are my friend Diego Zambrano it will probably take you several visits to get through all the things you need to try on the menu - the gyoza are otherworldly, the sushi 'tacos' clever enough without being silly. New York has thousands of awful Japanese places; this is not one of them. It's super nice to come in on a Sunday night and eat at the bar next to curmudgeonly old guys barking at each other in Japanese.