(Photo: Davies + Starr)

• Lady M Cake Boutique

  41 E. 78th St., 212-452-2222

  Just as we’d begun to fear that the classic New York cheesecake had gone the sad, supersize way of the classic New York bagel, along comes Lady M. Her “New York–style” version with a chocolate-cookie crust is miles ahead of Junior’s for freshness and sweet-tangy flavor, but the smooth gâteau nuage (that’s “cloud cake” to freedom fryers) is even better—a lighter, smoother take with a sour-cream glaze and graham-cracker crust that, like the name implies, practically floats down the gullet.

From the 2006 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine