If you’re always casually trying to live a little more like lifestyle maven and host extraordinaire Martha Stewart, listen up. maman, a café and bakery of NYC fame, has a delicious ongoing collaboration with Stewart in the form of a special menu that changes seasonally. It always features a signature drink, a few savory lunch items and, most importantly, drool-worthy desserts and pastries.
The limited-time winter collection is the third iteration to hit stores, and the vibes are supremely cozy this time around. (Trust me: I reviewed the summer and fall dishes, so I’d know.) To see how the cold-weather bites compared to their predecessors, I headed to the Ardmore, Pennsylvania maman location to sample the new lineup.
Sip like Martha
Once I settled into a corner window seat in the light-drenched eatery, I whet my appetite with the Pomegranate Punch, a mix of pomegranate and blood orange juices, ginger syrup and sparkling water, garnished with fresh mint, a dehydrated orange wheel and pomegranate seeds. I find it intriguing that Stewart hasn’t opted for a signature latte yet, as past bevs have only included berry-filled iced tea and spiced apple cider. But hey—Martha does what she wants!
Anyway, back to the punch. I loved how fresh the ginger tasted—spicy, sharp and vibrant. The fruit juices offered just enough sweet-tart splendor to cut through the ginger’s intensity. The sparkling water kept the consistency light with its barely detectable effervescence. The only con here was that the pom arils occasionally got stuck in the straw, but I had no notes on the flavor or presentation.
Cozy, but make it savory
Consider the Golden Potato Gratin Tart an impossibly chic cousin of the French fry. It delivered the same salty, starchy satisfaction, along with a supremely buttery crust, sharp-and-sweet cheeses (Comté and Gruyère, to be exact), creamy béchamel, roasted garlic, jammy red onion and a touch of Dijon mustard. The potatoes were sliced uniformly for the ultimate crisp-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside texture. I appreciated that the other components amplified and complemented the spuds without overpowering them. That said, this simple side was rich and heavy, so I suggest pairing it with a salad and a light drink rather than a sandwich and pastry. (Better yet, take a pastry home for future noshing.)
Speaking of sandwiches, I will never turn down a triple-decker—and the Chicken Club Sandwich was no exception. While I wouldn’t have minded more of the tender, fresh chicken, this sammy was impeccably balanced between the buttery avocado, savory extra-sharp cheddar, sweet-and-salty candied bacon and punchy pickled onions. The third slice of bread offered additional bulk and stability to the handheld, while Stewart’s mustard sauce brought an impressively sharp kick to every bite. The cornichons on top merely gilded the lily.
Save room for this
I was a *huge* fan of the original Crème Brûlée Sugar Bun on the summer menu (the cream filling tasted like vanilla gelato, and the salty, caramelly burnt sugar topping was plain revelatory), so I was especially psyched to taste the Lemon Créme Brûlée Sugar Bun. Unfortunately, the location I went to was sold out of this citrus-season delight by the time I arrived. But in case you’re curious, it’s a croissant bun that’s filled with lemon and vanilla cream, then rolled in lemon sugar and crowned with a caramelized, torched-sugar crust, hence the name.
Still, there was plenty of dessert to sink my teeth into. The Ultimate Pecan Streusel Cake had a sour cream coffee cake base, along with a double helping of cinnamon-pecan streusel and a generous drizzle of sweet vanilla glaze. It was served to me warm, so it had a toasty crispness that countered the interior moisture of the crumb. But knowing there was sour cream in the mix, I wondered if it would’ve been less dry had it been served at room temp, and consequently even more enjoyable. My favorite part was no doubt the streusel, which was the definition of sugar, spice and everything nice. Its crystalline, almost gritty texture was a delightful foil to the inner stripe of gooey cinnamon filling.
The Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie unites two holiday sweets that you may feel don’t go together, but allow me to set the record straight. This cocoa-laced cookie, teeming with freshly grated ginger, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and semisweet chocolate chunks, was straight-up heavenly. The interior was chewy and thick (courtesy of molasses), but a coarse sugar-coated exterior imparted some contrasting crunch. The chocolate’s complementary bitterness added much complexity to the confection, while the ginger took a nuanced backseat rather than center stage. If you think you don’t like gingerbread, this tasteful pairing just might change your mind.
So, while I technically didn’t get to try one of the pastries, I wholeheartedly recommend ordering whatever piques your interest on the Martha Stewart x maman winter menu. If I’ve learned anything in my time as a food writer, it’s that these two icons never miss. But for the record, my favorite items were the punch, tart and cookie, in case you’re looking for guidance.