Favorite Dishes #52: Amarena Cherry Merveilleux

Move over, pavlova. There’s a new confection in town, recently imported from France by way of Belgium — the merveilleux.

Merveilleux resemble cute, confetti-dusted snowballs, but they’re actually marvelous treats, built delicately, but not too fussily, of wafer-size meringue cookies and a mound of whipped cream. Aux Merveilleux de Fred (37 Eighth Avenue; 917-475-1992), the solo U.S. outpost of a small European chain, turns out six different flavors of merveilleux out of a petite shop in the West Village.

While you’d be equally rewarded if your taste veered toward the original, dark Belgian chocolate version (chocolate whipped cream, rolled in shaved chocolate), it’s the L’Eccentrique — amarena-cherry-flavored merveilleux — that stand out. One or two all-in bites of this assemblage deliver a pleasurable mixture of fluffed, sweetened cream and bits of crunchy-to-caky textured meringue, laced with the grown-up, almond-like essence of Italian amarena cherries. The garnish, a candy-crunch shower of Pink Panther-colored sprinkles, brings everything together like a bouquet of tea roses in Marie Antoinette’s updo.

The Village Voice is counting down to our Best of New York City issue in October. We’re combing the city every day, one dish at a time, to guide you to the most delicious food in NYC. These are our 100 Favorite Dishes for 2015, in no particular order, save for the top 10. To read about previous dishes, browse our 100 Favorite Dishes page.

Here’s our countdown up to now:
#100: Laminated Blueberry Brioche at Dominique Ansel Kitchen
#99: Egg Shop’s Golden Bucket Fried Chicken
#98: Ramen Lab’s Torigara Shoyu
#97: Cannoli at Ferdinando’s
#96: Breakfast Sandwich at Dimes
#95: Banana Royal at Eddie’s Sweet Shop
#94: Fletcher’s Burnt Ends
#93: Almayass’s Mante
#92: Empellon Taqueria’s Fish Taco
#91: El Rey’s Sardine Tostada
#90: General Tso’s Pig’s Head at the Cannibal
#89: The Vegetarian at Meat Hook Sandwich Shop
#88: The 21 Club’s Creamy Chicken Hash
#87: Deep-Fried Olives at Via Carota
#86: Pougi at Loi Estiatorio
#85: Pearl & Ash’s Smoked Bread with Chicken Butter
#84: Gluten-Free Pizza at Rossopomodoro
#83: Perry St’s Chocolate Pudding With Candied Violets
#82: Whit’s End’s ‘Fuckin’ Bluefish Dip’
#81: Morgenstern’s Salt and Pepper Pine Nut Ice Cream
#80: Levain Bakery’s Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie
#79: Delmar Pizzeria’s Pizza
#78: Cafe Cluny’s Avocado Toast
#77: Brooklyn Star’s Cinnamon Bun
#76: Pork Belly Cotton Candy at Carnem
#75: Ippudo’s Pork Buns
#74: Mission Chinese Food’s Oil-Cured Anchovies
#73: Johnnycakes at LoLo’s Seafood Shack
#72: The Starving Artists Steak at Belle Reve
#71: The Spotted Pig’s Gnudi
#70: Xi’an Famous Foods’ Tiger Vegetable Salad
#69: Crème Brûlée Truffle at Kee’s Chocolates
#68: Pok Pok’s Muu Paa Kham Wong
#67: Cacio e Pepe at Upland
#66: Pulpo at Toro
#65: Junior’s Something Different
#64: Duck Carnitas at Cosme
#63: Banana Miso Ice Cream Sandwich at Neta
#62: Breads Bakery’s Chocolate Babka
#61: Braised Lamb Neck at the Gorbals
#60: Dough’s Passionfruit Doughnut
#59: Uncle Jesse Bao at Baohaus
#58: Patatas Bravas at El Colmado
#57: Lupulo’s Razor Clams
#56: Bar Masa’s Spicy Dancing Shrimp
#55: Underwest Donuts’ Halva
#54: The Virgola Platter at Virgola
#53: Noreetuh’s Monkfish Liver Torchon