Jacques Torres made his name in New York creating showoff desserts at Le Cirque. The mandate was clear: dazzle the customers by whatever means necessary. Hence the now-famous chocolate stove, with moving parts. The fun and the showmanship often gave a false impression of Mr. Torres, a classically trained pastry chef with a strong sense of tradition.

The second Mr. Torres is on display at Jacques Torres Chocolate, a small factory and retail shop that Mr. Torres opened after leaving Le Cirque and recently expanded, adding retail space. The main business is chocolates, which the shop supplies to restaurants and retail shops, but Mr. Torres added a small counter and a couple of tables so that customers could enjoy a hot chocolate and a pastry before getting down to the serious work of choosing their chocolates.

The pastries are more than a mild diversion. The croissants and petit pain au chocolat, which are sold every day, are scrupulously executed classics, with the crunch, the flakiness and the mouth feel that even the French have a hard time finding nowadays.

Best of all is Mr. Torres's pithiviers, the classic puff pastry, filled with almond cream, named after the town of the same name near Orléans. It's available only on Saturdays, when Mr. Torres turns out a few cakes and brownies, almost by whim.

It is better, in fact, than any pithiviers I ate in Pithiviers, butter-rich with a crackling crust and a smooth almond cream inside with just the right balance between sweet, salt and good, clean almond flavor. It requires a trek to the Brooklyn waterfront. As the Michelin Guide likes to say, it's worth the trip.

Jacques Torres Chocolate, 66 Water Street, Brooklyn; (718) 875-9772. Pastries, $2.50; chocolates, $43 a pound.

Photo: Jacques Torres with a pithivier, puff pastry filled with almond cream. (Andrea Mohin/The New York Times)