I was deeply confused the first time I attempted to buy a cookie from Burrow. According to Yelp, the French pastry shop was located on 68 Jay St. in DUMBO, so I headed to the address, expecting to find a quaint and charming coffee spot.
Instead, I came across what appeared to be an old apartment complex:
Fearing I had the wrong location, I made a few more laps around the block before I finally found what I was looking for. Turns out, I just had to walk beyond the double doors of the complex.
At the back of the dark lobby on its entry floor, I found customers weaving in and out of Burrow, holding small bags of cookies.
Patissier and food stylist, Ayako Kurokawa, is the owner of the shop. Despite having no formal culinary training, she is its only baker. Her desserts are based on classic French recipes, but she also draws inspiration from her Japanese and American background.
Each day a display shelf showcases her baked collection — from perfectly buttered sable cookies to coconut snowballs. However, she is most known for her portrait cookies which were inspired by her love for stone carving and clay sculpting.
With such a unique array of goods, the shop speaks entirely for itself, despite its “burrowed” location. There are no flashy signs or inflatable mascots decorating its storefront and, perhaps, it’s best to leave it that way.
There’s a beauty to its secrecy.
