Ah, Popovers...

When I was a child, I ate my first popover at Normandie Farms, a rustic French restaurant in Maryland. The hot, fluffy rolls, airy and rich at once, made quite an impression on me. But it was not until this year that I rediscovered this childish pleasure, and in duplicate! There are two places that dispense this manna from heaven on the West Side.

According to Emmanuel Marais of the New York Popover Company (789 9th Ave., 1-800-POPOVER), the venerable popover was a New England creation of the late 1800's. Now, over 100 years later, Messr. Marais has altered the original popover recipe to produce many delightful variations. Today, he was serving them up in apple, chocolate chip, and banana chocolate chip varieties. Marais has also come up with fun new ways to eat popovers; he stuffs them with strawberries and cream, or apple compote, or even savory fillings like teriyaki chicken. I hope they still have some left for you; I just bought nine of them.

If you're looking for a sit-down meal to which popovers are a delightful accessory rather than the main focus, go further uptown to the Popover Café (551 Amsterdam Ave., 212-595-8555). Eat an omelette or a salad, and keep ordering more popovers with homemade strawberry butter!