113485 Sat Aug 16 09:43:55 -0700 2003 6 7 Chicago Area 0 617094 First, the grain of salt you need to take this with: I'm a pastry snob. I don't like pastry with shortening in it (lard, yes; butter, yes), I don't like artificial, bitter-tasting colors in my food, I've eaten pastry in France and Italy, and I don't like my sweets overly sugared. So understand where I'm coming from. I'm setting out looking for the best croissants that Chicago has to offer - a true croissant in the French style, crispy outside, supple inside, buttery flavor, ingredients: butter, flour, sugar, yeast, salt. So I made a list of bakeries to try (see list at link below) and set off Friday on my bike to check out the first bunch. Rolf's Pastisserie: Croissants were closer to brioche than croissants, and were fine but bland. But they had some cream pastries that looked tempting - napoleons, opera cakes, etc. Wasn't impressed with the brioche/croissant, but perhaps that's not their specialty. Artificial colors were on many of their products, though. Vienna Bakery: Very friendly staff, croissants marked "butter horns", and the most bready of the day's croissants. Admittedly, Italy and Vienna's take on croissant is more bready than I prefer, and this fell into that category. Not very buttery, though. But their cheese kolachky was excellent - tender dough, good dairy flavor, not too sweet. I would get these again. They also came in 2 fruit flavors. They also had some very intriguing crusty breads there - add them to the chow bread tasting? Fake colors on some of their stuff, too. Reuter's Bakery: I was happy to see the staff busy cutting fresh strawberries as I walked in, for different cakes, they said. They were whitish and not too ripe, but they certainly weren't from a can. Their croissant had to be from a pre-made dough - nearly devoid of butter flavor, but crispy/flaky in that hydrogenated fat sort of way - flavorless and lifeless. Their cheese square (like a cheesecake on crumb crust) was pleasant, but far too sweet for my preference. The flavor of the crust reminded me of the frozen crumb crusts (Sarah Lee?) my mom used to cook with, it had that salty...???...flavor. Very friendly. As I left, the teenage worker sneezed, covering her mouth, then served something to another customer in front of the older workers. Worried me a bit. Artificial colors on items here, too. Leutitzia's Bakery: No croissants, this is more of an earthy-crunchy coffee shop where they actually make their own stuff, more along the lines of muffins and mini fruit tarts. Was trying to stay focused on croissants, so didn't try anything, but would hang out here. No fake colorings noticed. Alliance Bakery: Coolest looking bakery, I wonder how old it is? I felt like I'd stepped back a few decades, it was great. I hope this place doesn't get gentrified out of this up-and-coming strip of Division. Unfortunately, no croissants to try, so I got a sandwich cookie. Many would like this, I didn't: supersweet, filling made of crisco-n-sugar. I know it lasts longer, is cheaper and easier to use, but it tastes so bad and leaves that coating in your mouth for me. Still, I only tried one thing here. Fake colors on items. Red Hen: I've been here many times and like what I've had, though their croissants, besides being too big for my taste, tasted great but didn't achieve croissant-ness in their texture. Found the same thing again today - butter galore, but too soft, too spongy. Still, I'd rather have one of these than any I'd tried so far this day. No fluorescent colors. Sweet Thang: Wow, two bakeries within a block of each other! Their croissant, even though I had it around 12:00, was excellent - still fairly crispy on the outside, layers and layers of filmy, buttery heaven inside, and not the size of a cantelope. This place I will get to early in the morning. They make the finals. No fake colorings. Vanille Pastisserie: In case you were wondering, I'd just been taking one bite of each item during this day, but when I sank my teeth into their pain aux raisen (they were out of plain croissants), my willpower melted. Now this is what I've been looking for! Buttery, flaky, flavorful, soft-chewy raisins, yum. He also makes incredibly elegant desserts, truffles, macaroons in 3 flavors, and pate de fruit (passionfruit/pineapple and raspberry were yesterday's). The pate were superior, the macaroon just as perfect. This has been talked about on this board and in the Trib, so I don't go into details, but this place is what Chicago needs and I hope they do well. Also, both husband and wife were incredibly friendly and helpful. I still have more to try, but of those I visited today, Sweet Thang and Vanille Pastiserie had the best croissants, and I'll be going back to them some weekend morning! Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/113461#616951 Sat Aug 16 09:43:55 -0700 2003 0 Michael M. 1 617101 Ambrosia bakery, see ad in local palate for address etc, it’s in barrington. Their croissants are amazing! They run out early!! Gephardts in lake forest. Excellent also. They also make homemade doughnuts. I think both bakeries use plugra. They take their pastries very seriously and it tastes like it!! Enjoy! Sat Aug 16 16:35:34 -0700 2003 617094 0 tony 2 617115 Tony, I think you meant to refer to: Gerhard's Elegant European Desserts 720 North Western Avenue Lake Forest, IL 60045 847-234-0023 I've bought pastries there, but never the croissants ... something to add to the list! Sat Aug 16 23:16:10 -0700 2003 617101 0 Cathy2 2 617128 I just had a cake from Ambrosia and it was wonderful. Also had a pecan roll when I picked it up. Was great. This place would be a treat in Paris. What more can one say? Sun Aug 17 21:18:54 -0700 2003 617101 0 ALbert the eater 1 617120 Making your own is not terribly hard; the recipe I use (and deviate from slightly) is from an old edition of THE JOY OF COOKING, but many more recent cook books have a similar reipe. Home made croissants (and brioches, too) freeze well. Sun Aug 17 09:34:45 -0700 2003 617094 0 ljbs 1 617228 Sounds like a great day of sampling! I admit to being a pastry snob as well, and although I've only tried the croissants at Bittersweet once (a plain one), it did have the requisite texture, layers, and butter. My only caveat was that it was slightly sweet, but in a forgot-to-add the salt way, not in an artificially sweet way. Also, some of their other pastry is just wonderful: their cookies, particularly their sables, are excellent. Pure butter. Bittersweet 1114 West Belmont Avenue Chicago, IL 60657 773-929-1100 Tue Aug 19 13:06:53 -0700 2003 617094 0 Naomi 1 619996 Weber's Bakery on Archer Ave near 55th Street on the southwest side of the city has great croissants. This first-rate German bakery does just about everything deliciously. The croissants are flaky, buttery, never dry. Get there early, because after noon, they're hard to get. And did I mention they're huge? They're also famous for their whipped cream birthday cakes. Some people call them "atomic" cakes. Weber's calls them tortes. Sun Oct 26 00:38:35 -0700 2003 617094 0 bread freak