Les Gateaux de Marie

On our list of the best dessert spots in New York.

A bakery between 82nd and 83rd on First Avenue, opened in March 2022 by baker Maria Simic and her husband Dejan. Simic grew up in Belgrade and trained in Paris and Italy, and says she bakes from memory rather than written recipes, drawing on stints in Serbia, Austria and Montenegro along the way. Panna cotta and layered fruit tarts share the case with a triple chocolate mousse cake, and the gluten-free chocolate and coconut cakes have their own following; Simic also takes custom orders for weddings and birthdays.