Products are independently selected by our editors.
We may earn an affiliate commission from links.
As the moon swells to full rotundity at this time of year, I think of cake.
More specifically, mooncake.
A strong focus on interiority also describes owner Yiming Wangs approach, from decor to design to dining.
We float upstairs to the celadon-clad serenity of the top floor.
From left to right: red bean, pineapple, black sesame, and lotus paste baked mooncakes from Cafe China.
She begins with her parents.
Based in Harbin, Wangs parents were professors of Russian, Japanese, and Chinese literature.
They were very strict about what we ate growing up, she recalls.
From left to right: emerald pandan and melon seeds baked mooncake; moon bunny milky pandan paste and rose lychee mung beanbingpimooncakes; and hae bee hiam savory sambal baked mooncake from Kuih Cafe.
But there was one place they brought me to called Huamei Canting, a Russian restaurant.
They baked their own bread and pastries, which left a very deep impression on me.
Decades later, Wang would revive the same philosophy with Cafe China.
From left to right: durian mung bean baked mooncake; honeydewbingpimooncake; coconut pork floss, tiramisu, vegan thập cẩm trứng muối, thập cẩm trứng muối, preserved plum, and pink guava baked mooncakes from Ăn Xôi.
We make everything from scratch.
And our chefs work in an old-fashioned way, which we appreciate.
The attention to quality shows in their lotus paste mooncake, a fine example of the pastrys classic roots.
From left to right: Tangerine and caramelized white lotus baked mooncake; sumo mandarin and white lotus, pistachio and matcha, hazelnut paste and butter, pandan custard, yuzu white chocolate and lotus, and raspberry white chocolate and lotusbingpimooncakes from Lady Wong Patisserie.
It was a snowskin mooncake that first stopped me in my tracks.
Some dont make the cut.
One that does: a snow-whitebingpiwith a blooming floral design.
From left to right: red bean and egg yolk, mung bean and black sesame, and taro and chestnut mooncakes from The Foundry Bakery.
She packs it into a square wood box.
Let me tell you, she says, my mooncakes are big.
Its only me and my husband, she says.
From the back of the kitchen, her husband beams.
I just want to make something special for them.
Yet she agrees to meet me mid-mooncake delivery in Manhattan.
I am brandished with a box of cakes crafted with the utmost precision.
I think I ate maybe two of them total growing up, she says.
They were too sweet for me.
I looked into the history of our cuisine, read about the ingredients, learned the processes.
She started her pop-up then, but fell sick shortly after.
I thought about my life a lot after that.
Did I really want to go back to my old corporate job?
She asked me one day, should we try making mooncakes?
Bui overcame her hesitance.
The times have changed, and our food has too.
My mom told me mooncakes can come in all sorts of different flavors.
We can do whatever we want.
The Mid-Autumn Festival holds a special place in Tans heart.
Kids used bamboo sticks to hang lanterns and ran around the neighborhood.
Anthony chimes in, And we still do that with our kids.
The neighbors might be like, What is this family doing?
But we want to pass down as much as we can.
Tucked behind a glass display, each cake andkuihsparkles.
We get a lot of younger customers from all Asian backgrounds, Anthony says proudly.
The result: mooncakes that actually look like the moon.
A former molecular geneticist, Yeh tackles baking challenges with methodical precision.
For this launch, Yeh advanced the technique to produce a hypnotically swirled and laminated shell.
Im especially entranced by the lavender-hued taro mooncake.
Meanwhile, the cross-section reveals an autumnal surprise: a sprightly roast chestnut at the core.
Theyre just beans, seeds, and roots from underground, Smith says of the ingredients.
But transformed into a cake, theyve ascended.
