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Pain D'Avignon
Categories: Food Specialty Food Food Bakeries Specialty Food, Bakeries [Edit]
Essex Street Market120 Essex St
Manhattan, NY 10002
Neighbourhood: Lower East Side
(212) 673-4950
- Nearest Transit:
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Delancey St (F)
Essex St (J, M, Z)
2 Av (F)
- Hours:
Mon-Sat 8 am - 7 pm
- Price Range:
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$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
26 reviews for Pain D'Avignon
Review Highlights
26 reviews in English
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Review from Sylvia K.
New York, NY
4/6/2012
Their mini 7 grain loaf is so delicious that
1. I ate the last half of it right now by noon, when I meant to save that half for a snack eaten one slice at a time throughout the entire day.
2. It doesn't need any spreads. It's delicious completely on its own.
Bread this good makes me hope that my suspicions are true and that carb-hating Atkins believers are full of bullshit. Didn't he die of a heart attack in his 50's, anyway? -
Review from Otis M.
Saratoga Springs, NY
4/11/2012 1 Check-in Here
The baguette picholine is what other olive breads want to be when they grow up. Not a lot of visible olive bits yet the flavor permeates... sheer mastery. Team it up with a couple cheeses from the cheesemonger down the aisle in this amazing market and you are good to go.
Also had a ciabatta and the levain (I believe they call it country french). Solid loaves though not as good as the picholine. Prices are very reasonable for the quality... a nice plus that just makes me want to buy more bread! -
Review from Ro N.
New York, NY
4/30/2012
Their Pain au Chocolate was a bit hard....sigh!
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Review from Alexandra C.
New York, NY
1/29/2012
Good cranberry-pecan roll and pain au chocolate -- this could have used more chocolate inside. This was more like real bread and chocolate, not the overly buttery and flaky croissant like pain au chocolates at other city bakeries. The girl at the counter said she couldn't heat it up for me. I think it would have tasted better and softer warm, or even better when it was first baked as we were there at closing time. Definitely worth a try though.
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Review from Bjorn P.
New York, NY
1/16/2012 1 Check-in Here
Somehow you Americans don't know how to make a decent bread. So thank god there are bakeries like Pain D'Avignon. The place is very small; so small you might overlook it. The girl behind the counter seemed to have a bad day. Or maybe she adopted the French's structural crankiness. The fact that it is located in Essex Market is a plus: you can get all sorts of great cheeses and hams and what not to dress your baguette at the spot.
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Review from Darwin G.
9/26/2011
A quaint little stall in Essex Market. The walls crowded with standing delicious baguettes and ficelles transported me to boulangeries in Paris.
I went easy on myself as I had a lot of eating ahead of me going through the LES, Hester Street Market, Chinatown, and San Gennaro Festival as my jowls chomped on many morsels along the way. I had a sourdough roll and a cheese brioche.
The sourdough roll was incredible and I wish every dinner came with a basket of these. The cheese brioche was soft and buttery. I would suggest bringing them home and heating them up.
I'll have to return for their baguette. They're also quite cheap compared to Balthazar's bakery so that's a huge plus. -
Review from Eddy B.
1/16/2012 1 Check-in Here
My mini french baguette was pretty hard, but some whole grain mini loaf I bought was fantastic and fresh. Prices are high. The workers seemed upset that I came in to do business with them. Apparently they make stumptown espresso, which is rad.
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Review from Jackie P.
2/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
I spent my last trip to New York trying to visit as many bakeries as I could and I can safely say, Pain D'Avignon has the most beautiful breads in New York. Walking into the store, I almost mistook it for an art gallery. The attention to the shaping and scoring on their breads is breathtaking. I'm in the midst of working towards a bread baking certificate. which may explain my enthusiasm.
The store front holds a tiny nook of the Lower East Side market. It's black interior and walls of breads make up for the lacking of square footage since they are loud enough to get attention by passerby's. The ladies working were very friendly and let me spend some time staring at the breads answering any questions I had. They probably thought I was very strange. I tried their brioche, which had a gorgeous dark golden hue. It was moist and dense but not overwhelming in that typical buttery flavor. They make their breads off site at their bakery. This is their only retail location.
If you're looking for a bread to show off at your next party, or want a taste of France Pain D'Avignon is the place. -
Review from Shoshana S.
Bronx, NY
6/10/2011
Pain D'Avignon has some wonderful breads I love buying.
The baguette with green olives has a satisfying crust. Just enough hardness to enjoy biting into it and to tear off a piece. The inside is airy and delicious. The onion baguette is yummy. The bread itself is infused with the taste of onion, which is a promise not many onion breads can keep.
The best find is the seven grain Pullman bread. It's hearty in flavor. When you bite into a slice, you do NOT feeling like you're fighting to chew the bread and it's not like eating a piece of Wonder bread either. It's just right; the way bread should be. it's a great sandwich bread too.
The help behind the counter is friendly, which always makes the experience nicer. -
Review from Lauren L.
New York, NY
10/24/2010
deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelicious
All the breads I've tried here have been phenomenal: baguette, the sourdough, wheat pullman, assorted rolls, all delicious. Good prices too. Not made on site, but made less than 10 miles away in Queens. Tastes good to me. -
Review from JP B.
Updated - 11/12/2010
Bouncing them up to 5 stars - not only are the baguettes superb, the ciabatta is a work of art. Prices are fair. That large work of art costs $3.50. They even have an espresso machine. And I just conducted my business there today entirely in French. That's right. French is spoken there as well. What more could one expect from a place named Pain D'Avignon?
Nothing.
The fact that it fills a gaping need in the neighborhood inspires more love. Bread is life. Bread is love.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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3/6/2010
Good bread found here! This small stall is packed with a variety of specialty breads, from… Read more »
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Review from Ceci G.
11/28/2010
I'll miss and cry for the bread I found in this place!! It's been sooo long since I've tried this texture and mix of grains and all made into a perfect small size and not those huge pieces of bread. Living in PHX, you can't find this kind of bread at all! regardless if it is a fancy bakery!
Not expensive either...definitely a place to come back more often! -
Review from Jennifer-Ann M.
Manhattan, NY
1/20/2012
While I generally like Pain D'Avignon bread and have been buying it from Whole Foods for years now, I am very disappointed with the fact that their 7 Grain Pullman bread seems to be smeared with oil all over either to help oats stick or give it color. Because of this, the crust has a very unpleasant, oil taste and seeing that the list of ingredients does not include any oil, I really wonder if it isn't some palm oil that the bread is being dabbed with. The bread used to taste a lot better without that oil on the crust.
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Review from Susan s.
10/23/2010
A little too close from my apartment!! I shop here every Saturday for chocolate croissants! Just put them in the oven for five minutes when you get home, its the best!!
I plan on making some paninis with these breads very sooN! -
Review from Amanda C.
4/7/2010
Holy hell... I cannot believe I'm the first person to review this bakery! You can thank me later.
Luckily, a friend of mine recommended subscribing to Tasting Table's daily emails, which give tidbits about the NY dining scene. Today, their spotlight was on Pain D'Avignon, it sounded intriguing, and off I went.
Be warned: this isn't really a free-standing store. It's within the Essex Street Market, which is a whole other review in and of itself. But if you wander through the randomosity that is Essex Market, you will stumble across a bakery outlet called Pain D'Avignon.
The bread and other baked goods are made elsewhere (look at their website for all the fancy details I'm too lazy/busy to list). Actually, where it's made is of no consequence once you take a bite of whatever deliciousness you wind up buying. I could talk about the natural yeast process, the hours upon hours it takes to make such baked pieces of heaven, or the history of Pain D'Avignon... instead, I will just say one word: SUBLIME!
As a natural foodie (pig), I bought nearly one of everything; market research, of course. Luckily, things come in small sizes for people like me. I tried the whole grain roll, cranberry walnut roll (f-n' life changing), picholine baby roll, brioche (touted as the best brioche ever by Tasting Table), and the mini baguette. I didn't looove the brioche, but that just makes me pretty positive that brioche isn't my gig.
What I wanted to propose to and make babies with was the baguette. Oh, the baguette. Not since France have I had such baguette-induced ecstasy. The crust is ridiculously perfect in its crunchiness, that "je ne sais quoi" that all Parisian baguettes have was present, and it was sublimely fresh. If it had been hot out of the oven... let's just say I would have made out with it in public. This is inappropriately good bread.
Please come and try Pain D'Avignon. I'm a bread snob- a woman who chooses her carbs VERY wisely (like, I'll spit em out if they don't make the grade), and I was extremely impressed. This little nook in Essex Market is bread heaven... and you don't even have to be good to get in. -
Review from Phoebe J.
New York, NY
3/9/2010 1 photo
New to the Essex Street Market- THIS is the place to find a phenomenal baguette ($2.75).. Perfectly crisp, chewy, fresh baked- reminiscent of Paris. They offer a wide range of breads- from bubbly round walnut raisin buns (perfect for your purchases from Saxelby Cheesemongers!) - to fresh, soft loaves of white and wheat pullman breads (perfect for your fresh cold cuts from Jeffrey's Meats!). They also carry a slew of ornamentally beautiful breads- from round sourdoughs with beautiful patterns slices in, pre-baking- to wreaths of crisp, seeded dough.
Initiate Carbo-Loading.. What a great find!!! -
Review from Franny A.
4/15/2010 1 photo
FORMERLY only wholesale, now in a tiny kiosk in Essex Street market...........
Bread HEAVEN........
Decent prices for the quality of bread here.
Pefectly darkly baked.
If you want top of the line............
Baguettes, pecan cranberry, onion rolls etc.
As close to the continent as we get.
........CARB addicts- steer clear as the temptation is overwhelmng. -
Review from Sara E.
Brooklyn, NY
8/6/2011
Fantastic bread. Sourdough, wholewheat, and their sweet pastries are just perfect. Perfect crust, soft inside. Fresh. I'm going back to try the other varieties recommended in the other reviews.
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Review from Charity D.
New York, NY
7/24/2010
I'm a regular at Essex Market and have long lamented that the only thing missing was yummy fresh bread. Thankfully, Pain D'Avignon arrived on the scene. I've tried a wide range of their breads, and they are delicious, crusty and reasonably priced. Their chocolate croissants are also quite something.
The best part is that--after shopping for groceries in the market--I can quickly pop in and grab a loaf to pair with a crispy salad or some delicious soup. -
Review from Cindy T.
New York, NY
4/3/2010
Pain D'Avignon, the Long Island City bakery that supplies bread to some of the best restaurants in the city, recently opened up an outpost at the Essex Street Market. I was first introduced to this bakery's incredible bread at the Amsterdam Market at the South Street Seaport last year. (The Amsterdam Market is a cool thing to do in the city. Check it out if you haven't been there before.)
Let me start with a disclaimer: I do not like bread. I don't know why, but it's never held an appeal to me until I was introduced to Pain D'Avignon's cranberry-pecan bread. This bread is a flavor explosion in your mouth. It's sweet, but not sugary sweet. It tastes great plain or toasted. I cannot rave enough about how great this bread is. I want to be a spokesperson for this bread. Seriously. At the Essex Street Market location, you can buy the cranberry-pecan bread as a boule or a small loaf. Buy the boule--you'll finish it within 12 hours of buying it.
Pain D'Avignon also makes an olive bread that is really tasty. It would be the perfect companion to Italian or Greek food. The French bread deserves high marks too. But I am all about that great cranberry-pecan bread.
Credit cards accepted. $10 minimum. -
Review from Bethany P.
New York, NY
10/22/2010
Amazing bread, I had a perfectly made baguette from here. Crunchy on the outside fluffy on the inside. I can't wait to try more!
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Review from F C.
New York, NY
8/14/2010
Hands down, one of the best bakeries in the city. And very good prices, I must add.
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Review from Steve B.
New York, NY
8/5/2010
Agreeing with the quality assessments and descriptions of the other reviewers to date - I would like to suggest that an even higher rating should be available to this baker if they would only install a bread slicer on premises. Get rid of the superfluous coffee equipment in favor of this amenity. Now if the next few dozen shoppers to read this would mention this to the staff.....
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Review from Andrew T.
New York, NY
2/26/2010 1 Check-in Here
Before Pain D'Avignon came along, the LES was stuck in the backwaters of bread-yness. You couldn't find a good roll without searching far and away from home. But now we're finally on par with other parts of Manhattan; crusty baguettes, rich raisin+nut loaves, delicate cheddar brioches, hearty and filling foccacias, I could go on and on and on! Don't let the shop's small venue fool you, just ask and you'll get what you need.
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Review from James V.
New York, NY
2/24/2011
Pain d'Avignon, you are a magical beautiful oasis in an arid breadless desert. Magnificent baguettes, wonderful texture and flavor, probably the best I've ever tried in NYC. Awesome!!
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Review from Jazzy J.
New York, NY
1/11/2011
Pain D'Avignon is the best bakery in Lower Manhattan. The Breads, natural and made from wonderful ingredients, are fresh from the bakery's ovens in Long Island City. I recommend the baguettes, the cranberry pecan loaf (perfect for a French toast), or one of their croissants. Also great for the espresso. Go. Now.
