This jewel box pastry shop in New York's Chinatown is legendary for a good reason. So are its hotdogs.
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Image courtesy of yelp.
There is one breakfast and one breakfast alone that you should bring over to my apartment if you’re ever trying to butter me up to, say, help you murder someone: the hot dog bun from M & W Bakery in New York's Chinatown. I eat an elite pastry probably once every 48 hours, so the fact that I’m even bothering to write to you about this one in particular should tell you just how intensely it lodged in my memory. Its outer layer is lightly sweet and shokupan-soft, with a golden, brioche-y exterior that reads to the eye like a very fancy hamburger bun. Inside is a supremely seasoned pork hot dog, which is split down the middle for extra texture, and which, eaten with closed eyes, evokes memories of childhood salami sandwiches. While you’re there, grab a clamshell of custard buns to steam-to-order at home later, and a chewy-crisp fry dumpling for an after-lunch snack.
M & W Bakery, 25 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002.
Location is everything—especially for LA renaissance man Harley Wertheimer. Be it the new setting of his contemporary art gallery or his revitalized Hollywood café a stone’s throw away, he sees spaces not for what they are but for what they could be.
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Traditionally served on Shrove Tuesday, this sweet, cardamom-flavored pastry never goes out of season for photographer Jukka Ovaskainen.
