I love sesame. I love sesame on bread. I love it in sweets. I love it in sweet breads. And sesame seems to love me too, because it finds me wherever I go. Sometimes I feel like I cannot really escape its pursuit. Za'atar is what did this to me. I actually used to dislike sesame, until I had a za'atar croissant on Bliss Street in Beirut. For my own emotional state of mind, I cannot get into any details, or else I might cry out of my longing for this delicacy. Just take my word for it that a za'atar croissant is pure joy. After that, there was no turning back. I was in love, which sort of makes sense, because they say there is a thin line between love and hate. Think about that the next time someone offers you something that you know you dislike.

When I was in Turkey last month, I got to eat my favorite breakfast food- Simit. Simit is ubiquitous (can you tell I studied Latin?) in Turkey- it is sold at every bakery and you will find simit peddlars around the city in every neighborhood and at every time of day. It is a ring-like bread studded with the seeds all around, and is typically eaten with a spreadable white cheese and accompanied by the salty yogurt drink, ayran.

When I returned, I thought that I would go into simit withdrawal. However, that week I went to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and hit up Damascus Bakery, where they sell the sweeter Armenian sesame breads that are marbled with tahini on the inside. They also have a hole in the center, but it is more like a belly button, as they are much thicker than the simits. I took a couple home and ate them toasted with goat lebne (also from Damascus), jam, and marinated olives. Somehow the Eastern Mediterranean style of eating breakfast makes so much more sense to me than ours. Marinated olives with thyme and red pepper for breakfast, delish. Sweet pancakes with chocolate chips, yuck.

This month's Edible Manhattan had a feature article on the City Bakery. I was just flipping through the issue, not really paying any attention, when I caught a glimpse of a sesame studded croissant. Could it be?! A za'atar croissant in Manhattan? My heart leaped. I started to read the article to find mention of this potential piece of bliss in my life. Then I came across the description- a "pretzel croissant". My heart sunk. It was definitely not a za'atar croissant. Rather it was a starchier, more bland croissant. But then later in the magazine, there was an article with food writer Adam Gopnik, who said that the croissant was one of the reasons he and his family moved from Paris back to New York. Really? You would move out of Paris because of a croissant? That did not seem to make sense at all, but it did convince me to go to the City Bakery and try it. Yesterday morning I woke up early to try the croissant with Alice Tang of think/feel studios. It was fluffy and stayed that way even when broken into, and it was not greasy at all, which I really appreciated. I do not like it when I get oily fingers that smudge my papers afterward! We agreed that the saltiness of the topping threw us off, but then again, it is a pretzel croissant. The sesame seeds did add something, but it was nowhere near as satisfying as my beloved za'atar croissant. If Gopnik could leave Paris for New York because of the pretzel croissant, then I think I could legitimately leave New York for Beirut for my za'atar croissant. In the meantime, I will keep myself open to sesame's pursuit, because the little things he does for me make life that much more beautiful.