Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
torte and Sacher torte, even the exotic
chocolate-and-raspberry Hungarian con-
fection called
zserbo
. Despite the slightly
dingy look of the little shop, Lucy's des-
serts are served at top restaurants all
around the city (including its sister restau-
rant Café Marika, at 5601 Waterloo Rd.).
There are a couple tiny tables inside in
case you want to eat in—but be fore-
warned, the bakery closes at 4pm every
afternoon (except Sun, when it's closed).
Lucy's hand-baked methods and tradi-
tional recipes fit right into the area's loca-
vore farm market scene, where Lucy's stall
is a weekly fixture. It's the sort of indepen-
dent artisanal concern that Slow Food's all
about. Even more, it's a little slice of Mid-
western history, wrapped up in tissue-thin
layers of strudel dough.
2516 Buckeye Rd. (
&
216/752-0828;
www.lucyssweetsurrender.com).
(
Cleveland International (24 miles/
15km).
L
$$
Radisson Hotel Cleveland
Gateway,
651 Huron Rd. (
&
800/333-
3333
or 216/377-9000; www.radisson.
com). $$
Glidden House,
1901 Ford Dr.
(
&
800/759-8358
or 216/231-8900; www.
gliddenhouse.com).
The Baker's Best
482
Boule Patisserie
Macaron Madness
Los Angeles, California
In body-conscious L.A., a bakery's got to
offer something really special to inspire a
caloric splurge. Boule Patisserie seems to
have hit upon a winning formula: cutting-
edge pastries with exotic flavorings that
look like cunning little works of art, and
still
deliver quite a sugar rush. If they're a little
pricey, all the better—that just adds to its
luxury status.
The name is French, and Boule's severe
pale-blue-walled decor has a certain Fran-
cophile chic, but these are anything but
traditional French pastries—things like a
devilishly rich chocolate torte enrobed in a
thin shell of satiny chocolate, a pillow-soft
cheesecake made with Cowgirl Creamery
fromage blanc, or clingingly moist brown
spice cake. There's a full line of tiny hand-
dipped chocolates infused with all sorts of
global flavors like Asian limes, habañero
pepper, Lapsang souchong tea, or South
American tonka beans. The glacerie sec-
tion offers a rotating selection of delicate
sorbets and creamy, high-fat ice creams
with vivid flavors.
But the item that Boule's repeat cus-
tomers seem hooked on is the European-
style
macarons
—lighter-than-air almond
cookies sandwiched around various fla-
vored cream fillings, then colored in
intense shades to match. (They're an
entirely different thing from American
double-o macaroons.) The interplay of tex-
ture and taste can be like a symphony
when it works right, combining the faint
snap of the crust, a slightly chewy interior,
and a melt-on-your-tongue rush of sweet-
ness. The wide choice of flavors in the
glass case is a little overwhelming, a con-
stantly changing palette of tastes like rasp-
berry, rosewater, Venezuelan chocolate,
coconut, Meyer lemon, passion fruit, apple
cinnamon, lavender, or mocha. (Inevita-
bly, as soon as you discover one you love,
it won't be available the next time you visit
the store.)
Boule is the elegant brainchild of award-
winning pastry chef Michelle Meyers, a
cofounder of Sona and Comme Ça restau-
rants, and it's got both its detractors and
