French Baker Eric Kayser Fights Anti-Bread Forces in his New UWS Fortress

by Maria Yagoda

Maison Kayser parades elabroate bûches, boules, and tarts for the holidays.

          In a time of health zealots deriding bread as the enemy, fifth-generation baker and surprisingly reluctant pastry mogul Eric Kayser is on a personal mission to defend the inevitability of bread, even as pre-marathon training food.

The front display case at Maison Kayser is where diets go to die.

          “We need to eat bread in the morning,” Kayser told me at a preview breakfast of his new Maison Kayser location on the Upper West Side, which is slated to open tomorrow morning (after a three-day construction delay). The celebrated Parisienne baker, very slim and unassuming, even delicate, said he ate a simple breakfast of bread with raisins before running the New York Marathon Sunday, finishing at 3 hours and 40 minutes. “I was going to get 3:15, but those last ten kilomètres…mon dieu. The wind was too strong.”

Kayser and his head baker show off the new line of holiday breads like proud parents.

          The latest Maison Kayser -- bright and squeaky new -- with terrace dining on West 76th Street is a celebration of carb splendor. A Radio City Music Hall chorus of traditional French pastry and cakes line up behind glass -- sugared, frosted, caramelized, gleaming. Behind the counter, the wall is paved with breads: tall baguettes, chewy chestnut bread, whole wheat loafs with quinoa, and new for fall, cider-pumpernickel boule and rich dinner rolls made with brown butter and grainy mustard. I tasted them all.

          Given my choice, would I grab a pain au chocolate on my way to the office or the heel of his classic baguette? I took them both. I’ll be back on no-fat yogurt next week.

The chestnut bûche, a fetish in French homes during the holiday, has its own Kayser look.

          The new bakery, across from Red Farm, will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, starring bread in all its iterations -- tartines, especially: topped with smoked salmon, soft scrambled eggs and asparagus, house-smoked ham, and more. Paleos be warned. Carbophobes not wanted. Gluten-avoiders? No comfort for you here.

          Bread can be a platter or a saucer, Kayser insisted, slicing templates from the holiday loaves, then showing a boule bursting with several rolls.

Stuffing bread in bread is actually quite practical – and delicious.

          I grab a roll and smear on butter. Delicious and chewy, yes, but I don’t feel that boost of energy Kayser promised. Pampered is more like it. I’ll be watching to see how quickly old-time West Siders trade their bagels with a schmear for a smoked salmon tartine.

 2161 Broadway Ave between 76th and 77th Streets. Open 7:00 am to 11 pm.