My business trip took me to Detroit, and I don’t remember the last time I was in Detroit… The city has grown, and still is growing, with more business and improvements throughout the city. This was a very short trip, but I still managed to visit one café for a breakfast one morning. The inside was nice and bright with lots of large windows on a corner lot. Many table seating, especially for a bakery café. It was not busy on the morning of my visit.
They had a café station with food menu on chalkboard all the way in the back, and the cash register towards the front entrance. I assume it will make sense if there was a line, to have the back of the line to be by the coffee station, where you can decide on what drink and food to order. And then, you will walk by all the desserts and other baked goods, so that you can add whatever else you want to add to your order by the time you get to the cashier.
And the desserts… So many of them, looking bright and beautiful, all neatly lined up in a long glass showcase! This is not just a bakery café, but a French patisserie, so they have marvelous selection of French pastries! My goodness, you have no idea how difficult it was for me to just choose one…
After some quick review of the tasty looking jewels of desserts, I went with something I thought was perfect for me. A pistachio Paris Brest ($6). I love pistachio, and I love choux… One I put in an order, the staff asked which table I will be sitting. Each table had a number sign, so I picked a table by the widow. She told me that they will bring me the order one it is ready. She brought me the Paris Brest on a plate, and look at this, how pretty with a shiny crown on top! Not an ordinary Paris Brest for sure.
Pistachio Paris Brest had strawberry compote on the bottom, which was a surprise. It did make sense, since the pistachio cream was bedazzled with bits of dried strawberry pieces. It was creamy and quite rich, but didn’t feel heavy. Another thing I notices was that there were small pieces of chocolate chips mixed in with the cream, adding a little crunchy texture. The cream was not very sweet, which was nice to balance out the sweet strawberry compote. The cookie on the top was really nice too. Soft and moist, with lots of pistachio. Then, I found a huge strawberry in the middle of the tower of cream! Wow! How creative, I really liked the fact that it was not just cream in the middle. It would’ve been way too much cream if there was not for the huge, fresh, juicy strawberry in the middle.
For drink, I ordered a Hazelnut Coffee ($4.50). It was much sweet than expected, came nice and hot!
I did have some real food too. They had a few sandwiches to choose from, with choice of baguette or croissant. I absolutely LOVE croissant, so that was an easy choice. I ordered Jambon Gruyere ($7/half). I am not sure if the croissant automatically accounts as “half” sandwich? Anyways, it is made with ham, tomato, gruyere cheese, and dressing. Even thought is says “half” but it was a nice big size to me! It was buttery and flakey, just the way I like it. Tomato slices were nice and ripe, adding extra refreshing flavor. Generous amount of gruyere cheese, and tasty fresh ham. The dressing was really great too! Had a nice sweetness to it. I really enjoyed the sandwich.
It was very filling, to the point I could say I didn’t need the dessert… But I knew I could NOT resist… I am glad I got to try at least one of their fancy pastries! The staffs here were friendly, professional and polite. Welcoming and relaxing. I wish if I was able to visit them again, but I just didn’t have time. Next time I am in Detroit, or if I ever get to visit Birmingham, Michigan, I would like to visit them again for more desserts and baked goods!
Cannelle by Matt Knio – 45 West Grand River Avenue, Detroit, MI 48226