Crust & Crumb 96, a Taiwanese-style bakery chain, has brought a gorgeous array of house-made pastries to Great Neck. It’s the first United States location of an international bakery chain called Huafengheshi, Great Neck assistant manager Nicholas Yuen said. The spot opened in November inside the space that used to be Croffle House.
Crust & Crumb 96 in Great Neck has a stunning selection of Asian pastries. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
Yuen said the chain was formed by Taiwanese bakers in 1996, now has around 300 stores mostly around Southern China. It differentiates itself from other Asian bakeries by using less sugar in its products, and baking everything on-site. Bakers arrive at 5 a.m. daily to prepare about 50 different types of pastries, what doesn’t sell is discarded every evening rather than being saved for the next day.
“Our pastries aren’t as sweet, you don’t want to overload yourself on sugar,” he said. “We try to keep that in mind for most people. We try to keep things as fresh as possible.”
Yuen said specialties are pull-apart bread, which he described as similar to a croissant but not as buttery, as well as the matcha and chocolate wands, which are buns with cream in the middle. On a recent afternoon, the glass case was brimming with whimsical delights like chocolate doughnuts and snow mountain cheese buns with white frosting. Yuen was right, none of the pastries were very sweet, but all of them tasted fresh, like they’d been prepared that day.
Crust & Crumb 96, 42A Middle Neck Rd., Great Neck, 516-570-0066, Instagram: crust_and_crumb_96. Open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.