Floriole Cafe and Bakery

I was delighted to hear Floriole had opened a cafe as they have been one of my favorite bakers at the Green City Market. I stopped in yesterday to fuel myself before a road trip to Grant Park, IL.

While not huge, they had a much greater selection of treats available than at the market. I remember macarons, brownies, cherry oatmeal pecan cookies, chocolate coins (cookies), croissant (chocolate, ham and cheese, and plain), scones, sticky buns, a rustic tart that I can't remember, quiche and canneles. They also had sandwiches, soup and a salad, I think, listed on the board. I had the impression from reviews that they would have more extensive sandwich offerings, but didn't see any other menu other than what was on the board. Maybe they add more later in the day?

I was there for breakfast and stuck to my usual Floriole favorites, quiche and cannele. The quiche was delicious as always, but I do think they've changed their crust. At the market, I thought the quiche crust was made with phyllo as it was so flaky? The quiche at the cafe had a traditional crust, though it too, was very, very flaky. The cannele, one of my favorite sweet treats in the city, had an even darker and more caramelized exterior than I remember and was all the more flavorful for it.

The space is sparse, light, airy - very white. Intelligentsia coffee was good. One of the reviews mentioned snooty service, but I found the staff warm, friendly and efficient. I sat at one of four sidewalk tables. A perfectly warm, sunny May morning, good coffee, flavorful quiche and an intensely caramelly canele on a quiet stretch of Webster made for a lovely start to the holiday weekend. I'm not in the neighborhood very often so I don't know how much I'll frequent the cafe, but it's nice to know I can get my cannele fix even if it's not a Wednesday or Saturday.

Floriole Cafe and Bakery
1220 W Webster Ave
(773) 883-1313

Hellodali wrote:I had the impression from reviews that they would have more extensive sandwich offerings, but didn't see any other menu other than what was on the board. Maybe they add more later in the day?

Yep - a substantial lunch/ sandwich menu, along with loaves of bread - appear for sale later in the day.

I've stopped in to Floriole twice since they opened. The first time, about 3 weeks ago, my wife and I stopped in to grab a few treats in lieu of lunch before driving out to the burbs. We loved the sticky bun and brioche bun, but the highlight was the lemon meringue tart! Perfect balance of sweet and tart in the creamy filling. Nice, flaky crust and just the right amount of meringue -- no over-the-top mountain for show at the expense of taste. We found the staff to be quite friendly on the first visit.

We went back yesterday to pick up a number of the lemon tarts for my Dad's birthday brunch, since lemon meringue pie is his favorite dessert. I called ahead to make sure they were open over the holiday weekend and asked if they had any of the large tarts. The woman I spoke to said they did not, but offered to have one made up--only it'd take a little while (didn't ask specifics, but got the sense of within the hour). Because we were only 10 minutes away and in a hurry, she offered to pre-box a few of the smaller ones. Arrived to pick them up and everything was ready to go, and the couple staff members we dealt with were all super friendly and helpful. The lemon tarts were a huge hit at brunch. My Dad loved them and even people who don't normally have a thing for lemony deserts devoured them.

Everyone should drop what they're doing and head to Floriole for their almond cream croissant. I can't even begin to describe how good this was! The grapefruit tart and milk chocolate hazelnut tart were also wonderful! Can't wait to go back!


Almond cream croissant.


Grapefruit tart.


Milk chocolate caramel hazelnut tart.

Based on the recommendation above for the almond cream croissant, we headed out early to Floriole for our first-ever visit. The almond cream croissant is phenomenal, easily rivaling some almond croissants I've had in Paris. They don't skimp on the almond paste, and it's integrated beautifully into the interior of the croissant, producing a luscious almond-y, even eggy taste. Floriole itself is quite lovely, a sophisticated bakery that is such a nice departure from all the ooey gooey cupcake places around the city (and yes, I love a good cupcake). But this bakery certainly signals to me that there's some serious pastry work going on. Husband had the ham and cheese croissant and daughter had the pain au chocolat, both of which were very much enjoyed. The stand-out, still, had to be the almond cream croissant.

I visited Floriole over the summer and thought it was great. Here's what I wrote at that time:

I tried another new bakery yesterday, and it too is excellent, one of the best around. Floriole just opened three months ago, and they are doing some very nice work! Floriole is in the west end of Lincoln Park, four blocks east of Vanille Patisserie. Every bakery seems to have a different mix of products, and Floriole's is a bit different from some of the others. They aren't big on the entremets (mousse cakes) like Vanille, or the exotic pastries like Alliance, but the things they do, they do extremely well. Their French macaroons are excellent, as good as the ones at Alliance, so they're among the very best in the city. (The flavors I had were lemon lavender, chocolate, and I think the third was caramel.) They had a buttermilk panna cotta topped with blackberries, which was really good, almost as good as their amazing pots de creme. There aren't many bakeries selling pots de creme, although you can get it in many of the French bistros around town. Pots de creme is usually a very rich, dense pudding, but Floriole's is significantly lighter than others I've had; the caramel pots de creme was extremely light, whereas the chocolate pots de creme was not quite as light as that one, but still a bit lighter than the typical density. Both were creamy and delicious. Another thing they're really great at is puff pastry; I had a galette that was puff pastry with fruit filling and it was marvelous. They do a very nice fruit tart with fresh passionfruit and blueberries, a great peach fruit crisp (they have a sign showing the sources of their produce, all local), very nice croissants - hey, I tried a lot of stuff! They also have sandwiches and pizzettas. I had the bacon and arugula sandwich with a date spread on it and loved it. The pizzetta (Italian sausage) was also good. They show caneles on their website menu but I didn't see any there yesterday. Oh yes, one other thing I liked is that they have a big window at the back looking out on the kitchen so you can watch them preparing and baking all their masterpieces.

They have a few tables inside as well as more seating outside on the sidewalk. Thanks to the sandwiches, this is a great place for a light lunch as well as a sweet snack. They have evening hours and if I'm not mistaken, I think they had a sign saying they hoped to be able to serve beer soon.

Beer and wine are on display today. They have three beers from Goose Island: Matilda, Pere Jacques, and Sofie.

I've been very pleased with the croissant, the almond croissant, and the baguette, plus the coffee is pretty good. I like Floriole a lot.

They don't skimp on the almond paste, and it's integrated beautifully into the interior of the croissant, producing a luscious almond-y, even eggy taste

It's eggy because eggs are a standard ingredient in most almond fillings. Maybe they use more than the norm in their recipe.

Thanks - I wasn't sure if the eggy taste was typical of almond croissants... In any event, this was a luscious eggyness (sp) that I could devour over and over again.

I never miss Floriole when they're at Green City Market, but I only made it to the cafe for the first time yesterday. (spiffytriffy's photos were the push I needed.) I had a cup of lentil-bacon soup, which was delightfully slick with bacon fat and very satisfying. There might even have been too much bacon except that the soup also had a lot of tomatoes, the acidity of which helped balance the pork.

In my perpetual hunt for places to work while eating and drinking, Floriole Cafe also gets my seal of approval. The space is large and, as mentioned upthread, very airy, and there are two levels of seating. The tables upstairs are very spread out, and the acoustics are excellent. I think it was a whole DePaul class that convened upstairs while I was there, three or four tables of students clustered and talking, but the space overall remained very quiet. I almost forgot they were there. Wi-fi is free (password: croissant). The only challenge I saw is that the space is vast, and there are few outlets for the gadget-dependent like me. Plus is that I quit working and finished my book.

I do'n't have pictures, but the grilled cheese on brioche is divine. It comes with a forkful, maybe 2 of greens dressed lightly in vinaigrette.

Having purchased some excellent desserts at Floriole, we returned and time our visit to be around lunch time. We just wanted a lite bit, so my wife had a quinoi salad and I had the quiche. Both were excellent, and the quiche, especially, was one of the better ones I can remember having.

Floriole is not, in my view, destination dining, but it is a destination bakery, and I highly recommend having a bit while you are there.

Jonah

Agreed with everything that's said so far about their food, my only gripe, no free coffee refills. It'd be fine if their cups were large enuf for a heavy drinker like me, but they are not .

Thanks to Floriole's recent nomination as a GNR, I paid my inaugural visit the other day, and I'm glad I did! There's a lot to love about Floriole!

Floriole Cafe & Bakery


Situated in the heart of Lincoln Park, Floriole is a haven for the local spa girl set to catch up on neighborhood gossip and enjoy a croissant or pastry while discussing the latest diet craze. At least that's what you see on the surface when you walk in. In reality, Floriole is turning out some masterful baked goods and light sandwiches that I haven't found equaled in very many places in Chicago.

If I were a pastry chef, I couldn't think of a nicer place to work than in the open, natural light filled kitchen of Floriole.

Spa Girls Meet and Overlook the Kitchen at Floriole


I was there for lunch and ordered their B.A.D (Bacon, Arugula and Date) on house baked brioche.

Floriole Cafe B.A.D.


This was a great sandwich, served with a small salad lightly dressed with an excellent vinaigrette. The combination of B, A & D is inspired and one I had never thought of. Using the date spread instead of out of season tomatoes is a great solution to the mealy winter tomato issue. The real star of the sandwich, however, is the brioche. I enjoyed every bite of that bread. I kept thinking about how this bread would be ideal for French toast or grilled cheese. I was a little disappointed that they didn't have any loaves for sale, because I really wanted to take one home. Instead, I settled for some of their excellent croissants (best I've had in Chicago) and a couple of pastries as a to go order.

Floriole Cafe & Bakery Caneles


Floriole Cafe & Bakery Chocolate Meringue Tart

A bunch of us -- mostly the Dessert Exchange crew plus a few others -- greatly enjoyed Floriole today. I was pleased to see that the March special pastry, the Kouign-amann, was still available after everyone else raved about it.

Great place, they're the absolute champions when it comes to custard-based dishes, both the tallest quiche I've ever seen (light and fluffy eggy custard) to the various fruit and chocolate tartes. Nice sandwiches too -- the B.A.D. (Bacon, Arugula and Date) is on my list of top sammys in the city now. Compared to, say, Avec's little appetizer of bacon-wrapped dates, this is a bargain with much the same taste profile.

The stuff below was ordered by the whole group -- by no means did Sue and I eat all this, although I think I got a taste of almost everything but a pairsforlife's salads.

(all photos by Sue Finkle, I just uploaded 'em)


Floriole - Lentil, Apple and Kohlrabi Salad


Floriole - Quinoa Salad


Floriole - Quiche
Look at how tall this is: It's a very light, eggy custard, very different from most quiches I've had.


Floriole - Turkey Sandwich


Floriole - BAD Sandwich

Great savory stuff, but you want to know about the pastry, right?


Floriole - Chocolate Pot du creme
Deep chocolate flavor, heavy whipped cream on top. Fantastic.


Floriole - Chocolate Tarte
One of my faves: Another dark chocolate item, rich soft meringue


Floriole - Kouign-amann
Crispy topped, sweet croissant-like pastry. The top reminded me of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, in a good way.


Floriole - Brownie
Saved for later (just had a taste of it)


Floriole - raspberry torte


Floriole - Chocolate Souffle
Souffle? More like a flourless chocolate cake, very rich.


Floriole - Grapefruit Tart
Nice, but I'd have liked a little more tartness.


Floriole - Lemon Tart


Floriole - Passion Fruit and Chocolate Tarts


Floriole lunch group
Happy full stomachs.

I had the Kouign Amann after dinner with Mr. Pie, because I figured by the next day it would be stale or otherwise icky. This thing is evil and deserves all the raves it's been getting. I'm going to have to learn how to make these...does anyone have a recipe for individual ones? I might try to make them to pass out at Easter. And I'm thinking, if mom wants to cook for Post Easter, I will drop by and pick up that lemon tart for dessert. Those two things, along with the BAD sandwich, were standouts.

Unfortunately, the house yogurt was inedible.

Here is a link to David Lebovitz site. I think his is a big cake but it does have useful pictures.
Also there are links at the bottom of the article to other recipes, one using American ingredients.

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2005/08/long-live-the-k/

PieLady,

I think I have a recipe for these in my copy of PASTRIES by Pierre Hermes, which I was planning to bring to the dessert exchange, if you want to take a look at it.

I sure would! Thanks!

JoelF wrote:
Floriole - Kouign-amann
Crispy topped, sweet croissant-like pastry. The top reminded me of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, in a good way.

Wow, just wow! Right up there with Old Fashioned Donut's Apple Fritter and my new bakery crush Harner's Bakery Butter Pecan coffee cake.

G Wiv wrote:

JoelF wrote:
Floriole - Kouign-amann
Crispy topped, sweet croissant-like pastry. The top reminded me of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, in a good way.

Wow, just wow! Right up there with Old Fashioned Donut's Apple Fritter and my new bakery crush Harner's Bakery Butter Pecan coffee cake.

I know right, even though I'm still on dessert sabbatical I'm hoping we can convince the Holls to make Kouign Amann available year round.

pairs4life wrote:I know right, even though I'm still on dessert sabbatical I'm hoping we can convince the Holls to make Kouign Amann available year round.

Kouign Amann was supposed to be a March special, but due to popular demand will around at least through April, possibly longer.

I think its a crime there would be no permanent K. Amann in Chicago. We are a world class city so we should have this. I demand it.

Toria for president!

Thanks!! Vote for me...a chicken in every pot and a kouign amannn in every bakery!!

Maybe I'll try making these over the weekend. If they work out, would they be appropriate to make again for the dessert exchange?

tgoddess wrote:Maybe I'll try making these over the weekend. If they work out, would they be appropriate to make again for the dessert exchange?

Yes.

I just tried my first kouign amannn from Floriole. What a great dessert! While eating it, I couldn't help thinking that it was a (very) upscale cousin of the butterfly cookies sold in most Chinese bakeries.

stevez wrote:I just tried my first kouign amannn from Floriole. What a great dessert! While eating it, I couldn't help thinking that it was a (very) upscale cousin of the butterfly cookies sold in most Chinese bakeries.

Floriole's kouign amann was one of the 10 best things I ate in 2011. I hope they make it permanent so I can have it after the anniversary of my dessert sabbatical.

Hells yeah!!!