Looking forward to indulging your matzo cravings – matzo brei in the morning, matzo sandwiches at lunch, matzo kugel at dinner? Handmade matzo will only heighten the experience. And while you’re at it, expand your confectionary horizons way beyond bricks of sponge cake and stewed fruit.
Blue Ribbon Bakery
33 Downing Street; 212-337-0404
Blue Ribbon will be baking a special “roundish”-shaped matzo in its 140-year-old wood-burning brick oven. “I’d love to say it was my grandmother’s recipe,” says owner Eric Bromberg, who eats his with a little butter and kosher salt, “but my brother Bruce made it up.” Order in advance ($1.50 a piece).
Whole Foods
2421 Broadway, at 89th Street; 212-874-4000
This health-minded shop carries a variety of handmade smurah (it means “closely watched”) matzos. The made-in-Brooklyn variety is lightly charred and circular ($17.99 a pound). And there’s even a wheat-free, gluten-free version imported from London ($23.95 a pound).
Eli’s Vinegar Factory
431 East 91st Street; 212-987-0885
Eli’s Pesach brownies ($2 each) taste surprisingly fudgy and crumbly. The creamy marble cheesecake ($14.95 for a six-inch cake) and chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons ($8.50 for a half pound) make flourless desserts seem like a delicacy. Eli’s offers free delivery, but there’s a $75 minimum per order.
Schick’s Bakery
4710 Sixteenth Avenue, Brooklyn; 718-436-8020
For 50 years, Schick’s, where even Zabar’s buys desserts, has been perfecting its repertoire, which includes virtually every kind of sugar concoction imaginable, from strawberry rolls with coconut topping ($8.20) to praline-nut rolls with apricot jam and sliced almonds ($8.50), to coffee cake ($7.20 each). Call ahead to order.