"Passion Rocks" truffles
$28, Payard, 1032 Lexington Ave., 212-717-5252
Your favorite mouth-tingling treats as a kid - pop rocks - get an upscale makeover with these white chocolate, passion-fruit filled and candy-topped truffles. Six sweets come packaged in a red velvet box.

In France, when the marrons glacé (candied chestnuts arrive in patisseries, you know Christmas is around the corner. At Payard Patisserie & Bistro (1032 Lexington Ave., btw E. 73rd & E. 74th sts., 717-5252, Clément Faugier's crème de marrons, imported from the region of Ardèche is the main ingredient in the Marron Glacé, a martini also made with Grey Goose vodka and homemade ginger syrup. The magic potion is drizzled with melted dark chocolate and served with a delicate spoon, which rests on the lip of the glass and holds a single marron glacé covered in 72 percent Weiss bitter dark chocolate.

Think of your three favorite restaurants. Then think of your favorite dish to order at each. Now imagine having them all at your wedding, prepared just as you'd get them at your beloved eateries. New York City brides can now get that experience, courtesy of Smart Catering. Proprietor Ben Zion and his team work with chefs from more than 100 of NYC's best restaurants to create customized menus for everything from small parties at home (perhaps a lovely rehearsal dinner) to splashy events for 500. So a wedding might start with sushi and sashimi from Sushi Samba (of Sex and the City fame) at cocktail hour, an entré like garlic-and-olive-studded lamb with vegetable gratin, right, from acclaimed restaurant Country, and a croquem- bouche for dessert from the posh patisserie Payard. With top talent creating each dish, every course shines.

AN AFTERNOON SUGAR FIX IS VERY MUCH IN NEED after hours of shopping, and at Payard Patisserie & Bistro (1032 Lexington Ave., 717-5252) on the Upper East Side, a menu of decadent dessert-inspired cocktails includes the Liquid Louvre (vanilla vodka, Frangelico, hot chocolate, garnished with a hazelnut wafer), served with its confectionary inspiration, a dome-shaped Louvre pastry made with chocolate mousse, hazelnut dacquoise, and a cake base. Payard Patisserie also offers the thoroughly classy ritual known as afternoon tea, an occasion that calls for a glass of champagne, perhaps one with Owner/Pastry Chef François Payard's own label, a brut specially bottled for him by champagne house Paul Goerg. "It's beautifully robust and the best price for such high quality." he raves.

Payard Patisserie & Bistro Francois Payard's polished Lexington Avenue establishment could be twenty spots higher, I suppose, but this critic doesn't live on the Upper East Side, and he doesn't eat many chocolate operas anymore. If you're feeling wistful about the old French traditions, this is a good place to find them. Payard's restaurant also excels in the vanishing art of high afternoon tea.

Payard, renown for its sophisticated, welcoming atmosphere, features classically finished ceilings, dark wood banquettes and Belle Epoque framed mirrors. The mezzanine, La Loge, is an intimate space overlooking the main dining room - ideal for rehearsal dinners, bridal and baby showers, small corporate meetings or a festive seated dinner for sixty. For larger affairs, the Patisserie and Bistro are available to host a 250 person reception or 140 for a supreme seated dinner and will also open Sunday for private events. The hand laid marble-tiled floor is splendid for an after-dinner dance. Executive Chef Philippe Bertineau's contemporary French cuisine receives rave reviews.. and world famous Pastry Chef and Owner Francois Payard orchestrates confectionary masterpieces second to none.

Tastings, the full-service catering arm of Payard, is the ultimate for entertaining in your home or at a location of your choice. Sublime French fare, gracious service and attention to detail assure a successful experience. From large-scale parties to more intimate gatherings, Tastings can accomodate your needs. (Also available outside of Manhattan.)

The David Rockwell-designed interior of Payard Patisserie & Bistro transports you - even before the food does - from its Upper East Side location to the Left Bank. And while the menu takes liberties with classic dishes, it does so with intelligence and creativity. The glorious result is French food for the Frenchman: Escargot fricasse with porcini and sunchokes followed by braised wild boar shank are two of the many wonderful dishes that may almost (but not quite!) make you forget you really came here to sample from one of the most deservedly praised dessert menus in the city.

"Set aside some treadmill time" and dig in at François Payard's East Side patisserie/bistro where desserts are "off the charts" and Chef Philippe Bertineau's menu is a "showstopper"; it's not cheap and service may be a bit "stiff", but its many assets draw a full house.

Philippe Bertineau must be the most criminally unheralded chef in New York, possibly because you have to get past those cases filled with Francois Payard's sugary sorcery to get to a place where you can enjoy his talents. But his gifts beautifully complement his benefactor's and every night he offers a different five-course tasting menu. One meal started with a tuna-sashimi canapé followed by Main crab with Oakwood shiitakes, Chatham cod and sweet onions with creamy polenta, roasted pheasant breast and leg confit with apple and black-trumpet mushrooms, then ended with a crepe Napoleon in a blood-orange coulis and chocolate cube filled with caramel and chocolate ice cream. Hearty and heavenly from start to finish and $68 for the whole deal. The tasting menu at Alain Ducasse is $225. Anyone daring enough these days to say it's only money?

Payard Patisserie & Bistro
1032 Lexinton Ave.
nr. 74th St.
212-717-5252
payard.com

Upper East Side with a delicious flair, Payard Bistro is known for its scrumptious pastries and chocolates (it's a patisserie too), but also makes a fantastic savory food. Prices start at $68 per person for the five-course tasting menu. Guests will happily munch on a sautéed red snapper with Sunchokes and young carrots, or a roasted filet mignon with a root-vegetable fricassee, but they'll rave about the dessert. Savor a carre Payard- a gorgeous chocolate fondant with a center of soft, salty caramel, and an upside-down bittersweet dark-chocolate soufflé that's to die for.

Tastings by Payard
530 E. 76th Street nr York Ave
212-744-4422
payard.com

Payard's sweet and savory cocktail parties make for chic, fuss-free receptions. They include hors d'oeuvre like wild-mushroom risotto cake with white truffle oil and terrific mini-pastries. ($60-$200)

There's nothing cooler than a truly great ice cream or gelato, and if you'd rather go without than stop at Mister Softee, these are for you. Payard Patisserie & Bistro (1032 Lexington Avenue, 212 717 5252) has a positively addictive pistachio ice cream.

Inspired by the grand cafes of Europe, Payard Patisserie & Bistro has a sophisticated French feel. Famous for its pastries, Payard is also highly regarded for its French bistro fare. Elaborate mirrors and blown glass lighting fixtures dot the walls, and high ceiling, wide-plank wood floors, warm colors, and mahogany woodwork accentuate the expansive, airy feel of the space. An intimate mezzanine featuring dark wood banquets and overlooking the main dining room hosts private parties of up to 60 guests. Depending on the needs of the group, a customized menu can be created by the general manager in the bistro, or by the catering company Tastings by Payard.

Established in 1997, this is Francois Payard's glamorous tribute to Paris, featuring an ideal setting for intimate breakfast meetings lunches dinner parties and large scale events. The bistro's dining room designed by the renowned architect, David Rockwell, evokes a feeling of drama and glamour with lofty ceilings, butter cream walls, and mahogany, Belle-epoque mirrors and whimsical glass lamps. Over the dining room lays a cozy balustraded mezzanine.

For those long summer journeys to the country or even for a picnic in the park a basket from Payard is filled with delectable treats (such as French macaroons and confitures) to please every palate.

"Low Cal Lunch" - A good salad is more than a bowl of limp iceberg lettuce drowned in dressing. This recipe for crab, mint and cucumber salad- courtesy of Philippe Bertineau executive chef at the renowned Payard Bistro in NYC is easy to whip up before work and scores high enough on the class-o-meter to impress practically anyone. Plus it is super healthy crabmeat is high in protein and low in fat. Lettuce and cucumbers are low cal and high in fiber. As if that's not enough the mint will de-funk fishy breath.

Here's a hot house of confectionary designs to fit any taste bud. Cake and flowers hold special stature at a wedding so these bakers designed different delectable ways to work with flowers. Ron Ben-Israel made a butter cream delight that features a sugary version of chic Harmony roses-presented at five stages of bloom, from buds to fully open. Finally master Payard Francois Payard titles his spongy, soft Madeleine cake, filled with lemon cream and raspberry, "Douceur" (French for tender). It's covered in fondant and festooned with fold and sage hue sugar flowers.

Matisse, Picasso, Van Gogh... Payard? We'll swear that Payard Chocolate's creations are so beautiful, you almost don't want to take a bite, except you can't resist. Hand sculpted and filled with liquor, fruit or nuts each sumptuous piece is named for a famous artist. The degas, "painted" with coffee beans and packed with luscious coffee Ganache (smooth chocolate and cream), is our idea of a masterpiece.

Francois Payard, chef-owner of Payard Bistro says he is "Old Fashioned" and doesn't usually use brownie mixes. Still, the chef, who was born in France and has been here 14 years had fun with this assignment. "I like a brownie that is a little fluffy and also chewy," says Payard. "I decided to layer it in mousse. We make a chocolate mousse and then layer it in brownie mousse and Rice Krispies crunch on top. When you put it in your mouth, you have a little sweetness and some crunch." The somewhat complicated elegant recipe is served in a high ball glass and drizzled with caramel.

Not everyone can appreciate a fancy French meal, but anybody can get down with dessert - which is probably why this category is so hotly contested. This year, you've given your blessing to the Upper East Side Payard Patisserie & Bistro. You don't even need to taste the sweet stuff to know that its extraordinary. The Euro-style café is flanked by two refrigerated cases holding tray after tray of colorful cakes, gorgeous chocolates, flaky tarts and more. Each creation is a delicate work of delicious culinary art: A pear tart is buttery, puffy pastry topped with extra-thin sliced of sweet, , moist pear; a mini chocolate cake is a dense, dark bittersweet wonder dusted with cocoa and crowned with a triangle of chocolate bearing the Payard logo; and a passion-fruit tart is finished with a flawlessly piped ring of meringue. Come to think of it, we just might forgive the French.

Sometimes the dress code dictates the tone of a party, sometimes the décor. But the dinner service?

"Why not?"

Susan Zises Green, a New York decorator who collect majolica by the cabinet full, sees no reason not to trot our the best for her friends. In fact, she decided that her hand painted English ceramics a minor fortune in antiques were just right for the informal gathering she gave to chairwoman of the New York City Opera; the event was a pre-benefit dinner for the benefit dinner that takes place on Tuesday.

Actually the majolica was Francois's idea," Ms Zises Green announced. Her co-host, the New York pastry chef Francois Payard was so charmed by the saucer sized plates with the leafy pattern that he built an entire meal around them.

Francois Payard must pay Philippe Bertineau in gold bars or know some dark ghastly secret about the man, because it is astonishing that this gentle mannered, unassuming yet undeniably gifted chef has remained in the kitchen at Payard Patisserie since its inception. Bertineau's sautéed rouget with Persian cucumber remoulade, potato tourte layered with goat's-milk brie, sautéed skate with curried cauliflower puree, and braised leg with trumpet mushroom stuffed loin of rabbit are first and second courses that wonderfully match the artistry of Payard's universally touted thirds. It is easily one of the best meals you can have on the Upper East Side. After toiling for others for years, Payard got to know something other restaurateurs don't about keeping staff. Or maybe he just locks Philippe up in the basement at night.

Payard Patisserie and Bistro has a problem. It is not immediately apparent because the first impression is so dazzling. You enter to find yourself in a fabulous French pastry ship filled with flittering petit fours and fruit tarts and elegantly ruffled cakes. The wood and glass cases curve around you in a warm embrace of gateaux Macarons and handmade chocolate.

Moving toward the bistro in back you discover that the ordinary French froideur of the Upper East Side is notably absent, the welcome has an accent but it is extremely gracious. The restaurant itself is new, but it has the turn-or the-century airs of a grand café, al dark wood, banquettes and high ceilings. Wading in to join the chic, sleek people who fill the room feels good. Even the air smells wonderful, part sugar, part perfume, part roasted meat.

Ah, the menu. It is confident, centered straightforward, offering French bistro fare with no apologies, steak fries, sweetbreads, even pigs' feet. The wine list is impressive too. Although it is not large, it concentrates on unsung producers who make good and fairly priced wines.

The service is as appealing as the menu. Payard Patisserie and Bistro is a joint venture of Daniel Boulad, the chef and owner of Restaurant Daniel and his former pastry chef, Francois Payard. Mr. Payard's wife makes an inviting hostess and Mr. Payard always seems to be charming his guests. "Do try the celery root, apply and endive salad." He'll urge, his French accent very heavy, "it's new and very nice." One afternoon, he watched the man at the next table agonize over his dessert choice. "I knew you'd choose the napoleon," he teased gently, "you always do." All of this makes the restaurant feel as if it's been in the neighborhood forever.

The food has the same music but polished character. It is cooked with such respect that in four meals I have not encountered a serious mistake. Confit of duck is not the commercial version sold all over town, but a leg that has clearly been prepared on the premises. The skin, a thick layer, crackles invitingly as you cut through it and the meat beneath is sweet and rich. It is served with a potent mixture of white beans, chanterelles and oyster mushrooms in a sauce so concentrated that is glistens.

The terrine of foie gras is the real thing, irresistible, pink edged and served with toast in generous slabs, Garlic mashed potatoes are smooth and silky, seemingly butter and potato in equal measures, the garlic more a shout than a hint. The steak is fine, the fries that come with it better than that the kitchen seems to have thought long and hard about the perfect shape for a fried potato. The long, square strips present the ideal proportion of crisp outside to meaty interior.

Bouillabaisse, a deep bowl of intensely flavored broth, is filled with halibut, mussels and squid, the flavors outlined by the taste of fennel, sweetbreads are modernized by being lightly caramelized in orange and rosemary, then served with a turnip confit. Pigs' feet on the other hand are resolutely old fashioned. They are boned and served in rich crisp little packets, the perfect expression of French bistro cooking.

Even lunch dishes are treated with extraordinary care. Croque-monsieur may be the most abused dish in modern France, but Payard has restored his dignity, building loving layers of crustless bread, thinly sliced ham, béchamel sauce and more bread. Topped with a thick pungent coating of grated gruyere it becomes the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich. Pan bagnat, the classic Provencal sandwich, is served on just the right bread, allowing the mingled juices from the tuna and vegetables to soak gradually as you eat. The anchovies are wrapped around a toothpick on the top to make them easy to remove, but they are essential to the sandwich.

Appetizers are terrific too. Some are crisp and light, like an updated celery root remoulade, enlivened by endive and apple, and served with a couple of shrimp. The gravlax is light, too, a sort of seafood salad with crab and avocado. But savory tarts, especially potato Tatin served with goat-cheese Brie, is richly filled with calories (and worth every one.) And then there is dessert; $15 buys a grand tasting, and if you manage to leave a single bite, you're a bitter person than I am.