Taste buds happy at Taste Budd’s

Taste Budd’s Chocolate and Coffee Cafe

In the land before time the diva was a surly old hash slinger at the River Cafe in Brooklyn. To document my attitude at the time, I recall at my interview being offered a job as a cocktail waitress on the outside deck, since the manager claimed he did not have room for me in the dining room. I looked him straight in the eye and said, “Thank you, but the day I have to rely on the weather to make tips or not is the day I throw myself in that mother-*$#%!*@ river!

Somehow I got the job anyway and at that time Dan Budd was the extremely talented and very hard working pastry chef. I think he left to be a pastry instructor at CIA right around the time I quit before I got fired (long story). I could barely look at CIA in the distant views yesterday during my harrowing (vertigo induced) stroll across the Hudson, but after we were back on terra firma and I calmed down, we zipped up route 9G to Dan’s cafe, Taste Budd’s Chocolate and Coffee Cafe, in Red Hook, New York for some medicinal pastries.

Funnily enough, walking into Dan’s funky little cafe reminded me of City Cafe, the book and music cafe I used to have in Melbourne, Australia. It’s super cozy and comfy with a clutter of sofas and tables with games and books and toys everywhere, plus the work of kids art coupled with the work of real artist on the walls. Super unpretentious and inviting with fresh-faced college student looking servers who were very sweet and helpful. The sweet offerings are vast with all kinds of classic European and American desserts along with Taste Budd’s own creative pastries, cakes, desserts, cookies, bars, muffins, house-made chocolates and fudge, panned chocolates, tons of coffee, tea and chocolate beverages as well as an extensive selection of savory salads, sandwiches and more!

After much consideration, I decided to have the Chocolate Madness Cake which was a combination of three sweets they make: opera cake, crunch cake and a raspberry brownie somehow pressed together and enveloped in a luscious dark semi-sweet chocolate glaze. There is no picture of it because it was attacked and eaten before the thought occurred to me — I assure you it was good looking! It was also totally delicious and fun to eat with each component kind of surprising your taste buds with it’s individual flavor profile, but working well together. We also had a raspberry bars where the raspberry jam was super tart and kind of zingy balancing well with the rest of buttery, yummy bar. I am glad that Taste Budd’s is not near me as I might try to eat my way through the other offerings. Definitely worth a visit on your next trip upstate and for the folks that live nearby, my condolences to your waist lines.