Serious Eats: New York
Sugar Rush: Strudel and Kugelhopf from Andre's Cafe
A couple of years ago Nora Ephron wrote a hilarious piece for the New York Times Op-Ed page about her search for cabbage strudel. I had a bit part in the story as the person who told her where she could find cabbage strudel, namely Andre's Hungarian Bakery in Rego Park, Queens, a direct descendant of the legendary Mrs. Herbst's. Andre opened a cafe and bakery on the Upper East Side a couple of years ago, and I found myself there a couple of weeks ago. I bought a half-strip of buttery cheese strudel and a chocolate kugelhopf, which I have always described as a babka baked in a bundt pan.
The strudel was solid, though not quite as good as I remembered (the strudel dough wasn't quite as delicate as I expected). Ditto for the kugelhopf, which had a slightly grainy chocolate filling. Next time I'm ordering the cinnamon-raisin kugelhopf and the cabbage strudel, just to make Nora happy.
Andre's Cafe
1631 2nd Avenue, New York NY 10028 (at 85th Street; map)
212-327-1105