Longing for a taste of Budapest , or Vienna ? Can't get across the pond quite yet ? This NY Times article will help assuage your desires ! - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/21/t-magazine/hungarian-pastry-shop-new-york.html?action=click&module=Features&pgtype=Homepage
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7053 posts
I love these types of articles, they make me nostalgic. I don't live in NYC but have been to the Hungarian Pastry Shop several times when in that neighborhood. It's a great place to hang out. Also, the restaurant/ cafe at the Neue Gallerie is a real throwback to Old Europe, but much more expensive than the Hungarian Pastry Shop. Generally speaking, you can find many (if not most) things "Europe" in NYC.
Posted by
WA State
3961 posts
Yes, longing for a taste of Budapest. We left for Budapest 8/25/19. It seems like yesterday. Thanks for the memories.
I’ll take one of each of the delectable pastries!
Posted by
Sioux Falls, SD, USA
3100 posts
Unfortunately, since the influx of Europeans to the USA has slowed to a trickle, the numbers of such places is very small. Now our immigrants are Mexican, Central American, Indian, Chinese. So we have restaurants, bakeries, etc from those traditions. But no Hungarian, Polish.
In St Louis, there was an influx of Bosnians in the 1990s-2000s. There are a number of Bosnian restaurants there, along with a Bosnian Mafia.
In Milwaukee, there used to be a thriving, vibrant community of Germans, Polish, Balkan-nations persons. Today, almost all of these are gone, as 3rd generation USA residents have only a modest connection to the source country. Only Mader's remains, and it's much pricier than previous. Ratsche's, John Ernst, etc are all gone. The Serbian Hall is not very Serbian. There is the 3 Brothers restaurant in South Milwaukee. But that's it.
There are a variety of "European" flavor towns in the USA, but they are mostly no more convincing than is EPCOT. New Ulm, MN, has 2 German shops and a restaurant. Disappointing. There is a Swedish town in Kansas, also a Czech town. There is Solvang, CA, which is a Danish town, also kitchie and disappointing. There is Orange City, IA, a Dutch town with an annual tulip fest in mid-May (not this year, sadly). There is a town in Freeman, SD which is populated by "Germans from Russia" and has an annual Schmechtfest where German-Russian food is served. Tabor, SD, has a Czech festival.
The incidence of "Backerei-Konditerie" stores in the USA is smaller and smaller. Too bad.
Posted by
Niagara, Ontario
1671 posts
I do miss a good konditorei, especially my breakfast coffee in Germany. My primary school years were spent in downtown Toronto, amongst mainly Polish, Ukrainian, Italian and Portuguese families. There once was a very popular Hungarian café on Bloor Street, Sweet Gallery, which has since moved to a more industrial location and now caters to other cafes and stores. Depending on which pocket of the city you are in, there are still delis and cafes belonging to the above, a fairly influential Greek community to the east of the city centre. However, it’s not as it was and never will be again.