I love all things French. After all, this is a country where the fashion is couture, the men are romantic and the food is decadent. What I don't love is not having the money to consistently vacation there. However, thanks to the delicious desserts from Vanille Patisserie — my favorite part of France is within walking distance.
Husband and wife duo, Dimitri and Keli Fayard have two outposts of the gourmet French pastry shop in Chicago to accommodate downtown residents and their Lincoln Park counterparts. The pair is dedicated to maintaining classic French techniques and authenticity. In fact, Dimitri was born in L’isle Arne, France and he’s a member of the elite Academie Culinaire de France. However, despite a concerned dedication to traditional technique, the couple offers a variety of contemporary and surprising flavor profiles to please any palate.
As a huge fan of macarons, the beautifully petite cookie sandwiches were the first things I sampled. Vanille Patisserie offers 15 different macaron flavors per season. They create everything from classics (such as chocolate, raspberry and vanilla bean) to floral flavors (with tastes of rose and lavender) and even sinful delicacies (welcome chocolate hazelnut and peanut butter & jelly). I must shamefully admit that I sampled my fair share and was equally drawn to the refreshing lightness of their lemon macaron and the delicate nuttiness of their pistachio flavor. Everyone knows the secret to truly fabulous macarons is a crisp exterior juxtaposition with a chewy interior. Few pastry wizards can achieve this feat of culinary, textural magic. But, Vanille Patisserie did so with ease. Moreover, the buttercream, ganache or fruit paste fillings weren’t overly sweet or overpowering. In short, these macarons were au-dela parfaite.
Chances are, if you have as big a sweet tooth as mine, you won’t be able to stop at macarons alone. Vanille Patisserie offers an assortment of petit fours, entremets, tarts and croissants perfect for the wedding sweets table or gift baskets. They offer bon bons, truffles, candies and cookies wholesale for service related industries such as hotels, restaurants and gourmet markets. Visit their website, vanillepatisserie.com, for more information. And by all means, s’il vous plait profiter.
~Cathryn
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