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Admiring the contents of a pastry case may be one of a food lover's favorite pastimes—and chef Eunji Lee totally gets it.
The Korean-born pastry chef, classically trained in France, just opened a new dessert destination, Lysée. Pronounced lee-zay, and inspired by the French word for museum, musée, Lysée allows Lee to celebrate pastry as edible art, in a boutique-style pastry shop. The treats are all inspired by the cultures and flavors of New York City, Korea and France, and, of course, are as wonderful to taste as they are to look at.
"I could not be more excited to open my own pastry boutique and celebrate French, Korean and New York City flavors," says Chef Lee, who formerly worked as the executive pastry chef at Jungsik. "I have always been inspired by the beauty and creativity of pastry so for me, a dessert gallery is the best way to invite guests into this world of sweetness."
The opening all-day menu includes Lysêe Signature Mousse Cake with Korean toasted brown rice mousse, pecan praline and sablé, brown rice caramel; Corn Mousse Cake with corn sablé, corn cremeux, corn mousse and grilled corn cream; Strawberry Tart with Harry’s Berries strawberries, Catskill’s honey curd cream, Harry’s Berries strawberry jam and almond cream tart; V.I.C. (Very Important Chocolate Cake) with Chocolate cremeux, dark chocolate sponge cake and Timut Pepper caramel; Corn Brioche with corn cremeux, corn crumble topping and grilled corn; Full Moon (croissant) and Kouign Amann with Butter AOP Isigny from France. The Experimental Shortbread Cookie changes monthly with June’s Maemil (toasted buckwheat) flavor featuring a shortbread cookie with buckwheat caramel.
In addition to the patisserie, Lysée’s seasonal drinks include Lysée signature milk with toasted brown rice infused milk, French sea salt and Madagascar vanilla bean; Herbed Calamansi Juice with calamansi juice, honey, lemongrass, Thai basil and lime; Lysée Chocolate Drink with Valrhona dark and milk chocolate and French sea salt. Chef Lee has also partnered with Coffee Project to create espresso drinks to pair with the sweet treats.
Designed by Chef Lee herself, the dessert gallery is two floors, with dozens of cakes and cookies on display, with open seating and views into the kitchen. Upstairs, a full espresso bar, plus a curated selection of Korean teas is inspired by Korean decor, with gallery walls lined with Ja-Gae, a Korean traditional mother of pearl intricately crafted by Korean artists to reflect the natural light from the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Lysée is located at 44 E 21st St. and open Tuesday - Sunday, 11am-8pm.