To celebrate Macaron Day in New York this past Saturday, we clung to the back of Francois Payard's 1000 GSXR Suzuki to tour participating bakeries specializing in that delicate French combination of light meringues sandwiched by ganache, or sometimes buttercream. Check out stops at La Maison de Chocolat, which won best macaron in Paris three years ago (and where every flavor of shell is sealed by chocolate) and Butterfield Market, where Payard is doing all baking until his downtown stop opens in four months. At, Bouchon Bakery, Executive Pastry Chef Sebastien Rouxel (who's been making macaron for Thomas Keller Group for 11 years) recalls his earliest macaron memory. For one day only, wholesaler, Mad Mac (short for Proust's famous sort of Madeleines, and Macarons) staged a pop-up at Bernardaud on Park Avenue. Finally, we ended at Payard's own Francois Chocolate Bar upstairs at Mauboussin jewelry shop. You can get a feel for the exquisite desserts he serves uptown, but don't expect a similar array at his forthcoming cafe on West Houston Street. The $2 million will turn out cakes, but desserts and breads served in the 26-seat space will be more rustic. There will be macarons, however. Payard hopes that the beautifully colored sweet that Parisian ladies nibble over tea will take on the popularity of the cupcake, just don't call them "cookies."
