Aux Merveilleux de Fred — Restaurant in New York

Stay away from this bakery. Their quality control and customer service are abysmal. I ordered a cake for my partner’s birthday from Aux Merveilleux De Fred West Village on February 4, 2023 and was charged $90. The cake was to be picked up on February 11 at 1 PM for our 3 PM party. When my partner and I came in to the bakery in person, we were told repeatedly by Tammy, the manager, that the cake had to be kept in the refrigerator immediately prior to serving. On February 11, My partner and I realized that we would not have enough room in our refrigerator to fit the cake, so we called Aux Merveilieux De Fred West Village on speakerphone, and asked Tammy, the manager, if we could keep the cake in the bakery until 4 PM so that we could pick it up and serve it immediately at the party. Tammy said that was fine. When I picked up the cake at 4 PM and brought the cake home to be served at the party, we discovered that the cake was frozen solid. 4 hours later, at 8 PM, the cake still hadn’t fully thawed and we were unable to serve it at the party, which began at 3 PM. I called the manager, Tammy, to complain and ask for my $90 back. Tammy lied and claimed that she had told us that the cake would be put in the freezer. Oh course, if she had told us that she was going to put the cake in the freezer, we would not have let her hold on to it, and we would have picked up the cake at 1 PM. She then said she would talk to her boss and get back to us immediately. We never heard back from Tammy and we came to see her in person on Sunday. Tammy said that her boss was not in on Sunday and that she try to reach her boss and would get back to us ASAP. Again, we never heard back. When I called on Monday at 10 AM, I was told by staffer Andrea that Tammy would not be in until Thursday. Andrea offer to call Tammy and get back to me. Andrea never got back to me and when I called Andrea told me that Tammy had spoken to her boss and that instead of giving my $90 back, that I could have a free...

Aux Merveilleux de Fred has all the hallmarks of an icon; a small space, with a few choice selections, each one refined into a masterpiece. No mounds of cookies by the pound, or bins of rolls or loaves covering the walls of the store, Fred's only offers a literal handful of items, and they are all delightful.

The simplest offerings are the probably the brioche. Available in raisin, sugar, and chocolate, these wonderfully airy, chewy breads are great anytime, but my advice it to get here when they open so you can have one still warm from the oven.

Still there can only be one star of the show, and here that's the Merveilleux. As you probably guessed already these little meringue cakes are 'marvelous' in English, and delicious in any language. Covered in whipped cream and delicate shavings, they have 6 varieties in a range of flavors including hazelnut, coffee, and cherry, and of course, chocolate. Three sizes are available, from the egg sized mini's, up to full sized cakes. Fred has refined these beyond their traditional form, and the ones here are so light and airy they almost vanish in your mouth leaving only a memory of their magic.

Being a European establishment they also offer excellent coffee here, latte, espresso, cappuccino, etc. as well as a few creative concoctions of their own. I'm partial to the 'Marvelous' coffee, which is espresso, hot milk, whipped cream, crushed meringue, and chocolate flakes. Sure it's sweet, but if I'm here I'm not worried about my blood sugar!

This is the kind of place that is legendary for a reason. Go back to your low-carb, sugar free, quinoa and kale lifestyle tomorrow! Go here now and taste the sweet bliss of a...

I've been a customer of Aux Merveilleux de Fred since it opened a few years ago and, apparently, I love their products. My poor review is about their service.

My recent experience is indicative of the personnel's rudeness, disrespect for their customers, and lack of professionalism.

I went to the West Village store to purchase their $45 cake and, when I arrived, there were two customers inside (who were together), so I stayed outside, waiting, as it's indicated on the door. I ended up waiting for more than 10 minutes while a line started forming outside. While we were waiting and complaining about the situation, we were able to see how the employee was enjoying her chat with the customer in the store. Finally, I entered the store, mentioning about the long wait. The employee seemed annoyed, made a face, and exchanged some comments in French about me with the other customer that she had been chatting with.

To my point about the 10-min plus wait, her response was that I don't have to buy from their store at all.

So, to a long-time, repeat customer who is willing to buy a $45 cake and has been waiting for more that 10 minutes outside while the employee has been chatting with a French customer inside, they're being completely unprofessional,...