Bakery: Floriole (Lincoln Park, Chicago)
Beer: Tavour Crate
We made it to March (Also known as Women’s month) – clearly a time of year close to my lady girl heart. It was a year ago that I hit up my last real-life festivity before everything shut down – Revolution Brewing’s Spirit of Revolt release. I’m hopeful there’s just as much energy centered around International Women’s day this year despite all current events – because there are so many amazing and talented women to be celebrated not only this month but year-round. This week is more bakery heavy than beer – file your complaints nowhere.
This week we’re highlighting Sandra Holl. As one of the owners of the French bakery Floriole, her history in the pastry industry is well documented for her contributions to Bon Appetit, StarChefs.com, and her award as Pastry Chef of the Year (2015) from Jean Banchet. The bakery has a huge emphasis on their commitment to sustainability as well as utilizing local farms. Here’s all the treats I took for a spin (you're welcome in advance):
Croissant: I feel like you can judge a bakery by its croissant – and standing by that – 12/10 here. So much butter. Man. Self-control came into play here heavy since I only ordered one, but I’d go back for more than one in a heartbeat.
Special S'mores Stuffed Croissant: Take said croissant & fill with chocolate cream and top with toasted marshmallow. This was a weekly special and let's hope it makes a comeback. The chocolate filling makes it all worth it. Microwave for 10 seconds for peak potential.
Black Sesame Kumquat Danish: Cream cheese, candied kumquat & roasted black sesame. This caught my eye mainly because it was so aesthetically pleasing. It has a good amount of sweet from the cream cheese and kumquat, and then the sesame seeds baked on the puff pastry give you this fun twist of roasted flavor.
Blueberry Sourdough Muffin: Made with whole grain flour, flaxseed, and blueberries (also vegan). I felt mildly responsible ordering this and it was the first thing I ate out of the box. This would go perfect alongside a cup of coffee or as an afternoon pick me up. It’s also the first muffin feature on the blog – but surely not the last.
My dream bucket list vacation has always been to take a trip to France. Outside of regular tourist attractions, the most perfect part I envision is waking up every morning and doing a bakery tour. French pastries are beautiful and delicious (no fear of butter!). I will definitely be back to Floriole in the interim of me and my nonexistent travel plans.
For the beer side of things, I have so many beers in the fridge from Tavour that I thought were worth mentioning. There’s also zero room to pick up anything new! I wasn’t originally in on the cost of Tavour for an individual can, but after my first crate things grew on me. I was curious to be able to benchmark across other breweries I normally wouldn’t have access to – and currently don’t have any beer mail setups.
That’s also a fun part of it all – picking beers you’ve never had and probably wouldn’t get otherwise and safely having it delivered to your door step. They release new beers daily, so I spend my day checking the app between breaks to see what’s available. Over the span of a month (or whatever time frame you pick), you curate your own crate. Some of the highlights in prior crates were Lost Abbey, Crooked Stave, Pure Project Brewing, and Midnight Sun Brewing (Barleywine is fantastic).
If interested - feel free to use my referral code for $10 off your first order! Code : 789663
I’ve already semi eaten through the next post’s treats – so stay tuned. Until then – cheers and enjoy the days of sunshine coming!