Feature: Honeybee Pâtisserie, French Pastry Shop Opens in Bensonhurst

While we don't often cover happenings outside of Bay Ridge, we do want to bring attention to some remarkable things happening throughout Southern Brooklyn.  North Brooklyn gets all the culinary attention, let's face it, and while there are great restaurants to be found throughout communities like Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, and Bensonhurst, it takes mass media forever to catch on.

Fruit tarts

This week, the spotlight belongs to Honeybee Pâtisserie [6514 Bay Parkway] and their grand opening which happened earlier this week, Tues 5/12.  Following a successful Kickstarter launched last year by Anna Ng, Honeybee presents southern Brooklyn one of it's first-ever, unique, modern French pastry shops.  It's certainly a breath of fresh air to an aging, yet evolving neighborhood.  To frame this in terms that we can relate to, the closest-newest pastry shops along the same vein is Colson Patisserie, a Belgian dessert shop in Park Slope, Charlotte Patisserie in Greenpoint, perhaps the best parallel, as is Cannelle Patisserie in Elmhurst (Queens).  We would like nothing more than to see Honeybee do well and be mentioned as one of the top new pastry shops of 2015.

French pastries have enjoyed a renaissance in NYC and for good reason

What can we expect from Honeybee Pâtisserie? For starters, French pastries with a modern, local twist.  As Anna Ng, owner & French pastry chef points out, "We wanted to bring French pastry to Bensonhurst. There's nothing around here quite like it."  No doubt, this is only part of Honeybee's raison d'être (Reason for being). Before pursuing the journey of opening up the shop, Anna spent time plying her trade in France, learning exactly what it takes to make classic French pastries.

From their soft opening until now, they've rolled out a small menu set and will add to the permanent menu accordingly.  For now, the focus is on quality over quantity, along with a seasonal limited-run dessert. As can be expected, Anna states, "the desserts also are not as sweet as you'd expect", and that's in-line with the tastes of the neighborhood and trends. A nice touch, since the blocks surrounding the shop has become increasingly more populated by Asians over the years.

Strawberry-Lime Sphere (limited-run)

What they'd like to do is also drive change by drawing in the younger, hip demographic by offering ambiance to go along with the experience, which is one of the reasons why French pastries have enjoyed a renaissance as of late.  A few small tables and a communal table by the entrance make for a modern, airy setting.  To further attract the local populace, matcha latte, green tea macarons and similar offerings are to be expected.  Enjoy a cup of coffee & macaron along with a good book and one will be sure to find themselves settling in.

Cassis-lime dome and iced matcha latte (Courtesy of GratuitousFoodity)

This is a good start. We look forward to seeing possibly more sweet, if not more savory items. Dare we ask for a croque monsieur? Here's to hoping!

Mangez bien!

Honeybee Pâtisserie has a Website, Facebook, Yelp, Instagram, and Twitter.