Yoko Ono’s birthday cake

Von einer besonderen Gebutrstagstorte auf unserer Radreise Stadt per Rad - New York berichtet Steve Silver unser Reiseleiter in New York.

Leaving my loft the other day, I found, hanging on my doorknob, a bright, yellow plastic bag, the kind they give you at the pharmacy, which contained, much to my surprise and delight, a very big chunk of cake.  A very wonderful cake indeed; it looked like a painting by the great Wayne Thiebaud come to life, dark brown and white stripes,  devils food, chocolate fudge and vanilla icing.  It was an exceedingly pleasant cake to eat and had a wonderful texture, moist and dense, it wasn’t too sweet, in fact, it was just right.

 It turns out that this cake had been a part of Yoko Ono’s birthday cake and was left for us by our neighbor, Ellen Golden, one of Yoko’s assistants.

Ellen told me that it had come from Colette’s Cakes on Washington Street in the meat packing district below 14th on the west side, now a very fashionable neighborhood, home of New York’s newest park the HIgh Line.

Naturally I googled Colette.  And found that Colette Peters had been a painting student at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.  (Our Friday bike tour makes an extensive circuit of the Pratt campus which is the home to hundreds of sculptures).  After Pratt Colette worked at Tiffany where she discovered her aptitude for Cakes, and decided to risk it all and open her own company. A very special one.   You see, you just can’t  walk in and buy a cake from Colette.  An appointment is necessary and a meeting is arranged.  Let’s say you’re a philosopher.  Colette might design a cake for you in the form of books with the names of your most esteemed colleagues inscribed:  Heraclitus, Plato, Spinoza, Nietzsche, Camus.  Or Alfred North Whitehead if you like.  If you live in the White House she can make a replica , no problem.   Or a copy of the Pergamonmuseum.

The minimum order for one of Colette’s masterpieces is $1000.  A months notice is recommended. Among the greats besides Yoko who have enjoyed Colette’s confabulations are Al Pacino, The Rolling Stones including the inimitable Keith Richards,  Bette Midler, and Prince Pavlos of Greece (?). Of course New York is a big place and one doesn’t exactly need $1000 for a cake. 

On the very same friday bike tour mentioned above, we have lunch in Queens at the Astor Bake Shop, not only the very best hamburgers in the city, but also wonderful cakes, tasty and moist, at a much more convienient price.  Last year, I carried one my bike all the way back to my loft for the party we have for the landpartie group at the end of the tour.   Coconut!!!

best wishes from Brooklyn