Where to Find the Best Seasonal Treats Downtown
Pick up something festive for your holiday gathering—from a box of adorable chocolate snowmen to a sky-high assorted cookie tray and more.
‘Tis the season for not knowing what to bring to the holiday party (besides a bottle of wine). Advice: Simply go downtown, and you’ll find a variety of establishments offering delicious euphoria-inducing seasonal sweets. From a legendary 130-year-old Italian pasticceria’s sky-high assorted cookie tray to a luxe chocolatier’s box of adorable chocolate snowmen, we’re here to help you decide what to unpack for the forthcoming festive gatherings.
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Lady Wong is a popular Southeast Asian dessert shop dreamt up by Malaysian-born husband-and-wife duo Seleste Tan and chef Mogan Anthony. Tucked away on East 9th Street since 2022, the cozy shop boasts a long menu overflowing with traditional Southeast Asian desserts and pastries. Options include a taro ube tart, a sesame matcha cake, and a lemon citrus sponge cake layered with calamansi (Philippine lime), passionfruit curd, and topped with coconut mousseline cream. Looking for something seasonal? Lady Wong’s festive treats for the holiday season include a highly Instagrammable Chestnut Bûche De Noël, made with Madagascar vanilla mousse, Earl Grey compote, a chestnut biscuit, and chestnut crémeux.
332 E 9th St; T. (646) 422-7189
Cannolis and cheesecakes and biscottis, oh my! This iconic, ever-bustling family-owned East Village bakery and cafe has served authentic Italian pastries, cookies, and cakes since 1894, and all their beloved baked goods are made with the finest ingredients and without additives. Celebrate the holiday season with their popular Assorted Cookie Tray, featuring their famous pignoli cookies, rainbow cookies, jelly-filled butter cookies, chocolate-dipped rolled wafer cookies, chocolate-dipped butter fingers with raspberry jam, and more. Also on the festive menu is their Christmas Fruit Cake, a rum-soaked pound cake made with raisins, walnuts, pecans, glazed cherries, oranges, dates, and more.
342 E 11th St; T. (212) 674-7070
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This blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shoebox-sized bakery is next door to the ever-buzzy SoHo institution Balthazar. On any given day, expect to find locals and tourists ordering perfectly flaky croissants, Levain loaves, lemon meringue tarts, and lattes. This holiday season, the buzzy bakery is offering everything from a Bûche De Noël (yule log sponge cake with chestnut mousse) and a traditional British holiday fruitcake made with dried figs, cherries, apricots, and dates to a Dresden Stollen (a sweet Christmas bread made with almonds and rum-soaked fruit) and a red and white wine-poached pear galette.
80 Spring St; T. (212) 965-1414
This fifth-generation, family-owned Little Italy institution and America’s first Italian bakery and espresso bar has been around since 1892. The always-packed pasticceria has something for everyone—biscotti, Italian cheesecake, tiramisu—but they’re most known for their variety of housemade cannoli (Sicilian pastries consisting of a tube-shaped shell of fried pastry dough, stuffed with a sweet ricotta cheese filling). Looking to make a splash at holiday parties? Order Ferrara’s gigantic cannoli, a massive dough tube filled with 75 mini cannoli. Also on the holiday menu is a struffoli (bite-sized, deep-fried balls of honey dough) and cookie tray combo.
195 Grand St; T. (212) 226-6150
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MarieBelle serves a mouthwatering-inducing menu of one-of-a-kind chocolatey treats. Their flagship store in SoHo doubles as a luxurious cacao bar, and is the perfect spot for indulging in afternoon high tea paired with delicious desserts. Their gourmet holiday gifts—like their 2024 Holiday Collection 100-piece box of artfully designed chocolate ganaches—are perfect for your luxury-loving loved ones.
484 Broome St; T. (212) 925-6999
Chocolate lovers will love you forever if you gift them something from this decadent boutique chocolatier. Visit their quaint and welcoming Soho store for hot chocolate and some chocolate bites, or get their incredibly cute, handmade Chocolate Snowmen online and have them shipped to a loved one. The sweets are hand-piped with dark chocolate ganache, blended with fresh clementines, topped with a roasted hazelnut for the head, and enrobed in white chocolate.
156 Prince St; T. (212) 796-0143
WORDS Alex Catarinella
PHOTOGRAPHY L.A. Burdick Chocolates; MarieBelle Chocolates