Pontikaki, or How I Learned to Love Mice
Plus an Invitation For Paid Subscribers for a NYC Mixer Next Friday; and a Cocktail Recipe
We’ve got some catching up to do!
There is a lot happening at The Mix, as usual, but time truly goes by so fast. It’s hard to believe the Fourth Anniversary of The Mix is coming up on Jan. 19!
We’ll be in DC mid-week and then NYC at the end of the week, which has been happening about every two weeks. That’s a good thing, because there are so many new bars to visit, as well as the OGs to to catch up on. But one of the things that we miss is catching up in person—something the Martini Expo and The Bar Regular Mixers were so good for. The Martini Expo drew hundreds of folks and the Bar Regular Mixer drew dozens. But what both events had in common were people talking about cocktails in person. Our favorite thing.
So, we’ve gotten together with Meaghan Dorman of Raines Law Room/Dear Irving fame to plan a Martini Party for our paid subscribers next Friday, January 16. It will be at Dear Irving on Hudson from 5-7 p.m. What better way to toast the upcoming anniversary of The Mix.
Attendees will receive a welcome Martini and some gratis snacks. There will also be a Martini menu planned by Robert himself with specially priced $15 cocktails. A fine way to support one of the best cocktail bars in NYC during Dry January! (None of the proceeds will go to The Mix.) We can’t wait!
There are only thirty spots available, so if you are a paid subscriber, please RSVP below—and we’ll see you next Friday.
The Story of Pontikaki
As February draws near, one dusty old thought begins to wake from its dormancy: “Where can I find a chocolate cake for my birthday?”
Just a piece of plain chocolate cake. Is that too much to ask? Growing up, my mom had me convinced that strawberry shortcake was my favorite cake, so every birthday that was what I had. When I was much older, my son and I returned to my parent’s home to celebrate my birthday, and I said, “Why don’t we have chocolate cake?” She replied, “Because strawberry shortcake is your father’s favorite.”
Jesus take the wheel—my mom had been lying to me all those years. You see, I share my birthday with Dad and this was her way of making sure he got his favorite.
So, this past year, with my parents both gone, I was celebrating exactly as I wanted to. I had no time to bake my own chocolate cake, so I asked for a slice of purchased chocolate cake.
We found chocolate mousse cake, chocolate cake with raspberry filling, German chocolate cake, chocolate cheesecake, vanilla cake with chocolate icing and more, but, other than at the supermarkets, a regular piece of chocolate cake with chocolate icing was truly hard to find at New York City bakeries.
But it turns out the winner (for me) was in my own backyard, at Betty Bakery.
Betty Bakery at 448 Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn takes its name from the mid-century “Betty” vibe. They specialize in the desserts your Gram used to make, and they deliver with eye-closing and “mmmmm”-provoking results. The slice is a three-layer Valrhona chocolate cake with mocha cream cheese filling, at $9.50 a slice.
Cut to the Mice
As you know, for the past few years, Robert and I have been exploring Queens. And, due to an apartment fail (of the large rodent variety), we found ourselves temporarily without a home last autumn and staying with my generous college roommate Kathleen in Astoria.
This gave us the opportunity to wander new streets. Except, I’m not sure how many un-wandered New York streets Robert has in him. We passed by a bakery and he said, “Let’s go in here, you’ll love this.” It was La Guli Bakery on Ditmars Boulevard. It was originally started in 1937 by Paolo Notaro from Palermo, Italy. Notaro had two other bakeries with his brothers in Manhattan, but the wilds of Queens called and he opened La Guli. Still in its original condition, the interior of this bakery is a beauty.
When we arrived, Paolo’s granddaughter Maria was present (she grew up in the apartment upstairs.). My attention was drawn to the fresh-baked pumpkin and apple pies on the counter as we entered. Then I saw them, “Mousse Mouses,” and had to have one. As we ate the little whiskered guy, I was amazed at how moist the cake was and how perfectly soft, yet firm, the mousse was, like your favorite pillow. I thought I had found the most adorable and delicious dessert ever.
Then, a couple days later, as we walked to another bar in Astoria, we stopped at a Greek pastry shop to buy a coffee. There they were, staring at me from the cold haze of the refrigerated display. Mousse Mice. I had to try one. I was happy to see there weren’t sprinkles, I’ve never been a fan of their bothersome crunch during my creamy custard or cake experiences.
Unfortunately, these treats are not at all created equally. This cake was dry, the mousse disappointing and the shape was too oddly bulbous to be cute. I felt sorry for this little guy.
Two mouse cakes within a mile of each other? I thought I had a mystery to solve.
I googled chocolate mousse mice cakes, and after I skipped over the usual AI slop and scrolled past the people who were acting as though they recently invented the Mousse Mice cake, finally, I saw something in Greek: Pontikaki.
I looked it up. It’s a small uninhabited island near Crete. So small in fact, it is named Pontikaki, which translates in English to “little mouse”. But there were also little images of mouse cakes, like mine. So I clicked on the photos and some were connected to articles, like the one in:
It was a link to “Pasta Pontikaki,” a recipe translated as, “Mouse Paste: Our Delightful Childhood Memory.” So I kept looking. More recipes. More mentions of nostalgia, childhood, memories and a Facebook page that lists an entry by Yiannis Aggelakos in Matt Barrett’s Greece Travel Guide which talks about a well-known Greek delicacy from the ‘80s called the Pasta Pontikaki or the mouse cake.
Next, I went to the experts. I called my sister, Betsy, whose husband is from Cyprus. She said she used to buy them for her daughter, Fi in Astoria in the late ‘90s/early aughts, but she didn’t remember seeing them in the late ‘80s when she and her husband would shop together while first dating.
Then I spoke with Ektoras Binikos, who together with Simon Jutras owns the bars Sugar Monk and Bitter Monk and Atheros Spirits. Ektoras was born on the Greek island of Ikaria and spends much of his time in Athens. I asked if he could remember seeing these little mice cakes in Greece and he said, “Oh yes, they are everywhere in pastry shops, of course!” In fact, Ektoras will be in Athens this week and promised to report back on the Pontikaki situation.
That’s it. I don’t have anything else for you, except, if you want a truly delicious Pontikaki, please go to La Guli. And if it’s just a slice of chocolate cake you want, Betty Bakery has you covered.
I have to get going now—time to find a piece of chocolate cake in Milwaukee. It’s just a month before my birthday!
—Mary Kate
UPDATE:
At the time of this posting Ektoras sent this delightful photo of him having a Pontikaki he bought from the bakery next door to his apartment in Athens. He said he saw them at many bakeries in Athens. And this one in particular was delicious—made with dark chocolate and very moist.
Oh, that NYC was infested with these kinds of mice instead!
Because it wouldn’t be Friday without a cocktail, we went looking for a mouse cocktail and found this delicious drink on Martin Doudoroff’s Total Mixology App, a cocktail app you should buy! We couldn’t find any cocktails named after mice—with good reason—so we went with the next best thing, the creature’s tail. Bacardi Carta de Oro rum is extinct. Martin suggested as a substitute, “any decent gold or lighter (in body) brown rum,” a rum that “tastes like rum.” Martin also consulted tiki and rum expert Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, who suggested Don Q Anejo or Bacardi 8.
Tail Spin
Eddie Woelke. From The Barman’s Mentor. Stafford Bros. (New York). 1936. p. 61.
1/2 to 3/4 oz lime juice
1/2 oz apricot liqueur
1/2 oz Cointreau
1 oz Bacardi Carta de Oro
Fill a cocktail Shaker with ice, add ingredients and shake until cold. Strain into a cocktail glass.
I can attest to how hard it is to find a simple, good slice of chocolate cake in NYC. I went in search of one last year, for MK's birthday, and came away empty-handed. Thank goodness for chocolate mice!
It is so Astoria that it's the Sicilian bakery that makes the best Greek mice. The mixing and influence of different cultures is what makes the neighborhood special.