Gabriel's Dessert Boutique
Staten Island lays claim to world-class pizza and Italian ices, but it hasn't exactly been a hotbed of pain au chocolat. Which is why the locals owe a debt of gratitude to brothers Michael and Joseph Gabriel, pastry chefs and co-owners of Gabriel's Dessert Boutique, an elegant new bakery and café sandwiched between a bagel shop and a pet clinic. Sensing a confectionery void in their native borough, they pulled a Payard, leaving cushy Manhattan kitchens (Petrossian, Citarella) to open a shop and fill its marbleized display cases with chocolate-cream domes, molten vanilla cakes, and croissants and scones worth missing the ferry to linger over. At first glance— and taste — the pair's repertoire seems très français, but judging by the mascarpone cannoli and the "Staten Island cheesecake," the Gabriel brothers haven't forgotten their roots.
941 Manor Road, at Lincoln Street
Staten Island
718-477-1414
· Cuisine: Bakery and Cafe