PrintLady M Cake Boutique Cheesecake: The Last Cut Is The Deepest
[Photo: Robyn Lee]
I walked into the Lady M Cake Boutique with an open mind. I really did. Its quintessential hoity-toity address didn't turn me off, and neither did its silly name (cake boutique?), or its bizarre display style that presents food like showcased jewels that are clearly not meant to be eaten. I was on the prowl for some serious New York cheesecake, and none of Lady M's aforementioned foibles were going to stand in my way.
I asked if they had any cheesecake. The women behind the counter pointed to a plate under a glass dome that had a large-ish wedge of sour cream-topped cheesecake. I asked how many slices were in that wedge. She said three. I asked how much each slice cost. She said, "Seven dollars." I gulped, and said I'd take all of them.
Ever so carefully, the woman sliced the large wedge into three smaller ones. Each slice looked so pretty, downright perfect. Apparently not, to my ever-so-precise friend behind the counter. She looked at the third and final slice and—this is where it gets really weird—apparently decided that it was too large, because she proceeded to cut a quarter-inch off of it, so that the slices would all be the same. In a final affront to serious eaters everywhere, she took the extra tiny slice back to the kitchen... where they must stash all the tiny leftover slices of cake to be disposed of properly.
I was dumbstuck by what I had just witnessed. What could have possibly possessed her to repossess that extra quarter of an inch of $7-per-slice cheesecake? What was she going to do with it? Was she going to sell it as remaindered cheesecake for $3.50? Couldn't she have somehow found it in her heart to just leave it on the slice and allow me to walk out the door with some semblance of good feelings?
I guess not. Maybe to do so would be against the rules. On the other hand, as far as I'm concerned, she had commited a tiny crime against humanity.
Lady M Cake Boutique
41 East 78th Street, New York NY 10075 (b/n Madison and Park; map)
212-452-2222
ladymconfections.com
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30 Comments:
All I have to say is: "Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!"
Cupcake819 at 11:46AM on 10/19/09
That *is* shocking
Zach Brooks at 12:02PM on 10/19/09
Why didn't you say something? I would be interested to know what her response would of been.
raw60 at 12:05PM on 10/19/09
lol, this is a ridiculous story. Better be damn good cheesecake!
teenagefoodie at 12:23PM on 10/19/09
Yikes. Quite the slice of WTF!
It makes me wonder if this is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to you at a bakery/storefront?
For me La Maison Du Chocolat was similarly weird/pretentious (Does everyone you hire have to have a French accent? Really??)
dbdtron at 12:23PM on 10/19/09
there is something nice about her trying to make all 3 slices equal, so that there would be no fighting back at the office! however it may have been more polite (or just less weird) to ask if you minded if one of the slices had a little extra and offered to cut it down.
j at 12:52PM on 10/19/09
we see it as a waste of food (really, who the hell eats a 1/4inch slice of cheesecake) and they see it as just perfection? who knows, i'll just stick with eileens or billys or juniors and try the 2 little redheads soon.
muffintops at 1:13PM on 10/19/09
They probably sliced off a wee bit of the whole cheesecake, then compared the last wee bit left to see if the taste changed over time after exposure to light, air and customers.
finewinendine at 1:18PM on 10/19/09
Terrible. Not as much of a dis as my experience at Café Creme in Bath, ME. The owner was having problems with her free wifi and I found out it was the fact that she had no DSL filter on her phone. Every time she picked up the phone, the DSL blipped, and for ten minutes and the customers went without internet. Customers had complained about this for two years. As I was online, I said that she could call her internet guy using my cell phone, instead, she picked up the phone forced all the customers off the internet. Guess that has little to do with generosity and more to do with customer service, but I digress.
The Wandering Foodie at 2:15PM on 10/19/09
that's f*cking crazy. they need to really check themselves.
foodinmouth at 2:21PM on 10/19/09
Dude, you really should have said something.
whereintheworldisben at 2:22PM on 10/19/09
Oh my goodness! That's horrible customer service. Really, what would you do with that sliver of cake? Does anyone else find that sometimes the high-end stores really lack in customer service? I wonder if they think that since they're so unique they can get away with poor service because no one offers what they have?
(To be fair, I do love their signature cake...I just wish it wasn't $7 a slice!)
Gastro888 at 2:22PM on 10/19/09
Wow.
I would've loved to be a fly on the wall for that one.
avaryne at 2:31PM on 10/19/09
this makes me wonder what the owner would say
14japonica at 2:57PM on 10/19/09
Hysterical. Thanks for the laugh and the unimplied warning to steer clear (even if Martha does love it).
bessfour at 4:25PM on 10/19/09
Empires have been won and lost on a 1/4 inch slice of cheesecake.
redfish at 5:20PM on 10/19/09
oh my, ed. were you able to keep a straight face while witnessing this?
rebeccadiamond at 9:03PM on 10/19/09
I did keep a straight face, rebeccadiamond. But I still can't believe I didn't say anything to the woman who did the extraneous slicing, whereintheworldisben. It's not like me. I usually would squawk. I should have said, "Have you no shame, gentlewoman?" That would have been appropriate for the neighborhood.
Ed Levine at 10:34PM on 10/19/09
I have to say Ed, if you have never tried their crepe cake, I suggest marching right back and spending whatever it takes (a lot!) My brother and I got one for my mom's 60th birthday last year. I was thinking, "Come on, there is NO cake in the world worth $75 for 9 inch cake." Boy, was I wrong. I still drool thinking about it. It's just that ridiculous.
Big B at 10:57PM on 10/19/09
Ben and Jerry's first ice cream shop was in a converted gas station in Burlington. And although they did offer free ice cream once when the temperature dropped below (I don't remember what) they also weighed the ice cream cones. They had little spring scales rigged so the cone would sit upright, and if it weighed too much the server would take a little scoop out of the cone. I swore I wasn't going back. Clearly, they eventually saw the error of their ways. Let's hope that will be true of Lady M's too.
lemonfair at 6:19AM on 10/20/09
Assholes should never be allowed to serve baked goods. I would have said, "Sweetie, darling come back here with that NOW, you said that wedge is 3 slices at 7 bucks and that bit you just loped off better go in the box." This is an grand faux paux on all that is holy about serving of baked goods. More is better than less and stealing something after you have quoted the damn price is unforgivable. Total bullshit I am calling on Lady M.
JerzeeTomato at 9:17AM on 10/20/09
Maybe it was for cheesecake "starter?"
bookscooks at 1:09PM on 10/20/09
Ed, you didn't get what you were promised. She said the large wedge was three slices. You bought that and then were given less than you bargained for. That would make me feel like I got ripped off!
Soup2Nuts at 1:57PM on 10/20/09
Let me start by saying, I agree that this is bullshit, especially since she said it was 3 pieces.
BUT.... I can sorta understand a little bit, if I look at it from the standpoint that a $75 per cake baker is an artisan that may want to set certain standards for integrity's sake. If it came out to be 2 medium slices and one that was too small, you certainly wouldn't argue if she took the small one away and said "Sorry, these should all be the same size!" and cut you a 3rd medium slice. Maybe she thought it would look unprofessional to have one obviously uneven slice. Or maybe the remaining cake was slightly less than 3 of their "standard" slices. I would have said something, regardless. And gotten a crepe slice. Fo sho.
Big B at 6:59PM on 10/20/09
Here's the kicker - Ed, would you go back? Is the quality of the food worth the horrible customer service?
Gastro888 at 8:14PM on 10/20/09
the Mille crepes cake isn't hard to make. Recipe on internet. I made it last Christmas, after cleaning off the rust from my long -not -used crepe pans.
Not every crepe has to be perfect, you can bury the less than good ones in the middle layers.
and very much cheaper than buying it!
judithuk at 9:13AM on 10/23/09
I go to school right by there, and once I stopped in out of curiosity. I ordered a slice of something or other, and after it was cut, on it's way to being transferred to a place, it fell on its side rather than staying upright. The woman behind the counter actually threw the slice away and tried again to be sure I would be presented with a slice standing up!! Seriously. So I don't know that we can blame the people behind the counter. I think it must be policy, and it's not their fault if they have to follow it.
cookingbooks at 9:14AM on 10/23/09
As perfect as we'd all like our food to look, in the end, it is for EATING, not for SEEING, unless your eyes are inside your BELLY.
I would have estimated how much it was she took off (2%?) then reduced my payment by exactly that much.
"Well, looks like you took away about 2% there, so I'll only be paying 98% of the agreed upon amount. Have a great day, and I'd advise you that what you did there was not only illegal, but rude."
On another matter, PLEASE describe that crepe cake! Is it, as I imagine, stacked sugared crepes?? Sounds like that could be amazing.
galadiman at 5:07PM on 10/27/09
(Actually, looks more like 5%, if the pic is accurate!!)
galadiman at 5:08PM on 10/27/09
Perhaps it would have been okay if you had just asked her not to slice it. Then done it yourself.
That is really bizarre. I suppose they eat the extra slivers themselves. I can't imagine what else they might do. Maybe collect enough slivers to start making full slices? Yeah right.
wunami at 5:45PM on 11/05/09