Fritz Pastry

After some months, I finally found myself walking past Fritz Pastry on Diversey just west of Southport, and ambled in. I had come across this press release back in the spring--"pastry chef Nathaniel Meads (Blue Water Grill, Brasserie Jo, Everest, Tru), his wife, Elaine Heaney, and partner Jared Nance (both Nacional 27 vets) are opening this pastry-centered Lincoln Park cafe in late April"--and had been curious to try the place every time I drove past, which has probably been at least 1200 times since then.

Anyway, I took home a slice of the apple cake, and enjoyed it last night. A lot. Very moist, very buttery, with a flavor akin to burnt caramel going on somewhere in it, if my taste buds don't deceive me. This random sampling of Fritz Pastry's offerings convinced me that the place is the real thing.

Fritz Pastry
1408 W. Diversey
Chicago, IL 60614
773 857 2989

I've been introducing everyone I know to the fruit tarts at Fritz. They're the best around, with buttery, flaky crusts and seasonal, local, height-of-ripeness fruit. They'll custom-make any fruit variety you want, as long as it's available from local farms.

Fritz also makes croissants, French macarons, and other things, all of which are good but not exemplary, in my opinion. But those fruit tarts...

Slice of Peach Tart:

I had a very mixed experience with Fritz.

I should have steered clear of the macarons because the cookie portions looked slightly rounded and barely risen (they should rise vertically but be flat on top) and very unappealing. Nonetheless, I gave two a try (chocolate and pistachio) because of the mere $.75/macaron charge and I was very disappointed. Dry, dense, overmixed and not very pleasant in flavor, particularly the pistachio. The only element of a proper macaron achieved was in terms of cookie to filling.

The croissant I had was also disappointing - not very nicely layered and a tad sloppy in shaping in my opinion.

But not all was lost. I liked the rosemary shortbread. It might not have been as light as I would have liked, but they did a wonderful job of achieving the perfect ratio of earthy rosemary to sweetness. I always appreciate a bakery willing to marry herbs and sweets.

And the Gateau Breton, while not as flaky as I believe it should be, was very tasty and buttery and just the right amount of sweetness. But even these latter two items did nothing to make me want to run out of my way to try more of their offerings, unless you're telling me that these fruit tarts really surpass what I might find elsewhere.

I stopped in a few weeks ago and tried a bunch of different things. I liked everything I tried. Fritz is a welcome addition to our pastry scene!

There was one real "don't miss" item - the bostock. Bostock is a bread-like almond pastry and it's just wonderful. I don't know anywhere else in Chicago that sells it. If you're at Fritz, get it!

nsxtasy wrote:There was one real "don't miss" item - the bostock. Bostock is a bread-like almond pastry and it's just wonderful. I don't know anywhere else in Chicago that sells it. If you're at Fritz, get it!

Sweet Cakes bakery on Damen also does a bostock.

I ended my morning run today at Fritz.



I liked the openness of the space and the dark wood, and Elaine greeted me very warmly. Given Kennyz's post (and not being a big fan of apple cake), I was on the lookout for fruit tarts. The two fruitiest things available today were a pear-frangipane tart (made with pears from Seedling) and a peach Linzer torte (Elaine couldn't remember the source of the peaches). I got a slice of each.





I liked the pear tart quite a bit. I was taking tiny bites and didn't get pear with every one, but when I did it was surprising in a great way. I'm still on the fence about the Linzer torte. The texture caught me off guard in perhaps a less positive way. It kind of looks like it should have the texture of a Fig Newton, so I expected it to cut smoothly, but there are actually largish pieces of peach in there which make the whole pastry kind of crumble when pulled away with a fork. The peaches were fine but not special.

I then tried an almond croissant, which was disappointing.



I ate a lot of almond croissants growing up in Montreal, and I still eat croissants much the same way I did when I was 5. I like to pull it apart with my forefinger and thumb, feel the stickiness of the almond filling between my fingers. There was no doing any of that with the Fritz croissant. It was dense and hard with no stickiness, no air.

I also picked up one of every kind of macaron they had and a springerie.



The macarons were fine. I did think they were a little flat in volume, but that may have been because I had read BR's comment before my visit. I would buy macarons again from them. I couldn't recall if I'd had a springerie anywhere before my visit to Fritz. I liked the idea of an anise-flavored meringue-like cookie, and I especially liked the stamps--they remind me of ancient Mesopotamian seals that I adore, especially the monkey stamp of the springerie I was given today. The texture was funky, not in a good way, like meringue gone wrong--uneven, crunchy, not enough gooey-ness. I wish the anise flavor were stronger.

I ran out of stomach room, but the brioche looked very good and will be among the items I try on my next visit.



I also should have left room for the pine nut tart, which Elaine compared to pecan pie (in that the filling was primarily whole pine nuts, not like, say, the pine nut cake at Pasticceria Natalina). I'm curious to see what they'll do with fruit and pastry come winter.

I guess my experience was a mixed one, though Elaine was so nice that I'd go back to try other items. I think the prices are reasonable, and Fritz's is easy to get to from my house by running (can't say the same for the Diversey bus, which I took home). Elaine told me that they're going to be on the Hungry Hound tonight, so I imagine they'll be getting a lot more traffic. During my visit, I was the only one who ate in--everyone else seemed to be just picking up coffee (Intelligentsia) and/or taking away pastries for the office.

The texture was funky, not in a good way, like meringue gone wrong--uneven, crunchy, not enough gooey-ness.

I think this is typical of springerle. They tend to be hard, not gooey

rickster wrote:

The texture was funky, not in a good way, like meringue gone wrong--uneven, crunchy, not enough gooey-ness.

I think this is typical of springerle. They tend to be hard, not gooey

But are they supposed to be hollow or solid? It collapsed like meringue when I bit into it and had an oh-so-slight softness/gooey-ness.

My experience is with homemade springerle, so I may not be correct in how they're supposed to be, but they're supposed to be long lasting Christmas cookies, even lasting for weeks. They dry out and get harder the longer they're out of the oven. So a fresh one might be a little soft. It can be hollow at times. My recollection is that the dough is rolled out and stamped and the unbaked cookie is supposed to dry overnight before being baked, so a harder crust forms on the top, which helps preserve the imprint.

rickster wrote:My experience is with homemade springerle, so I may not be correct in how they're supposed to be, but they're supposed to be long lasting Christmas cookies, even lasting for weeks. They dry out and get harder the longer they're out of the oven. So a fresh one might be a little soft. It can be hollow at times. My recollection is that the dough is rolled out and stamped and the unbaked cookie is supposed to dry overnight before being baked, so a harder crust forms on the top, which helps preserve the imprint.

Thanks so much. I'm intrigued. Do you have a recipe you can share? (I've found a few online.) I'd like to try making my own (and, no, not just as an excuse to buy cool molds ).

happy_stomach wrote:everyone else seemed to be just picking up coffee (Intelligentsia)

Perhaps they were out of it and using Intelligentsia as a replacement during your visit, but Fritz actually uses a custom coffee blend made by Sarica, a gourmet foods company started by José Lagoa of Café Iberico fame. The beans are available at Fritz in 12oz bags, and they make a rich, balanced cup of coffee.

Kennyz wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:everyone else seemed to be just picking up coffee (Intelligentsia)

Perhaps they were out of it and using Intelligentsia as a replacement during your visit, but Fritz actually uses a custom coffee blend made by Sarica, a gourmet foods company started by José Lagoa of Café Iberico fame. The beans are available at Fritz in 12oz bags, and they make a rich, balanced cup of coffee.

It's very possible they had that coffee when I visited. I'm a tea-only drinker, and all of their teas appeared to be from Intelligentsia (at least the tea menu on the counter), and I think I noticed another Intelligentsia sign in the space--I wrongly assumed that the coffee was Intelligentsia, too.

Thanks so much. I'm intrigued. Do you have a recipe you can share? (I've found a few online.) I'd like to try making my own (and, no, not just as an excuse to buy cool molds ).

I made them twice using a recipe form Rose Levy Beranbaum's Christmas Cookie book. No one liked them so I would find it hard to recommend.

Coincidentally, Steve Dolinsky did a story yesterday on the morning ABC news about Fritz and they demonstrated the springerle recipe. I was too drowsy to pay attention.

rickster wrote:Coincidentally, Steve Dolinsky did a story yesterday on the morning ABC news about Fritz and they demonstrated the springerle recipe.

I'm glad to know of this. Even though it took me a few months to go in and try Fritz, I would think, everytime I drove past, "I sure hope they make it." From the credentials of those involved (and, yes, superficially, even just from the design of their sign), I sensed that they were shooting for something above the ordinary, but feared that these difficult economic times might imperil them. This is not a neighborhood known for extraordinary food, so our places that are shooting higher need all the help they can get. That's why, once I'd actually gone in and sampled something and found it to be excellent, I was very eager to start a thread on Fritz. Reading Kennyz's take on the fruit tarts, I'm looking forward to going back.

Happy_stomach introduced me to Fritz today and I'm glad she did. I tried a "spudnut" a cake donut made with potatoes. The texture was interesting - moist and with a bit of chew. I liked it, but didn't get much in the way of flavor apart from the sugar coating.

The real treat was the browned butter apple cake. Incredibly moist and with a bit of tang - like maybe there was some cream cheese in the batter? Very much a departure from most apple cakes I've tried (and liked) that were big on cinnamon and nuts. This one just let the butter and apples come through beautifully.

Hellodali wrote:The real treat was the browned butter apple cake. Incredibly moist and with a bit of tang - like maybe there was some cream cheese in the batter? Very much a departure from most apple cakes I've tried (and liked) that were big on cinnamon and nuts. This one just let the butter and apples come through beautifully.

Browned butter must be the taste I noted at the top of the thread, when I commented on "a flavor akin to burnt caramel." I didn't know the apple cake was actually called "browned butter apple cake," or that would have been a tipoff! Hey, at least I get credit for noting how incredibly buttery it was, and for picking up a delicious note of burntness from somewhere, in my stumbling, not-at-all-qualified-to-be-a-food-critic way.

Nice article about Fritz Pastry in the Trib today. Can't link to it because, as usual, the Trib website lags behind the print edition, and/or their search engine is useless, but I was happy to see it in the paper.

I only discovered FRITZ PASTRY in early January, just when I was craving for a piece of "Galette des Rois" (Kings Cake) that marvelous buttery Epiphany Cake filled with an almond creamy paste (Frangipane).
Il loved the place, the gracious and well-informed lady behind the counter, and appreciated the quality of their own version of "la Galette des Rois" and their croissants so much that I immediately posted a piece about the origins of the traditional French "galette" and Fritz Pastry on my blog (French Virtual Cafe) on January 3. I will certainly return in the very near future to try some of their very good-looking savory daily creations.

riddlemay wrote:Nice article about Fritz Pastry in the Trib today. Can't link to it because, as usual, the Trib website lags behind the print edition, and/or their search engine is useless, but I was happy to see it in the paper.

For anyone who is interested - I do not think this article is currently accessible through the Tribune website without paying a fee, even though it was within the past 30 days when a fee should not be required. My local public library provides free internet access to articles from many newspapers, including the Tribune. If you want to search for this article, here's the relevant information:

Sweet home Chicago - Bakeries of all types rising in Chicago area with breads, fine desserts
Chicago Tribune (IL) - Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Author: Susan Taylor, SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE

It's actually about several bakeries, including Fritz Pastry as well as Bake, Cook au Vin, Rugelach Man, and Le Flour Bakeshop, with a short blurb about a bunch more.

nsxtasy wrote:For anyone who is interested - I do not think this article is currently accessible through the Tribune website without paying a fee, even though it was within the past 30 days when a fee should not be required. My local public library provides free internet access to articles from many newspapers, including the Tribune. If you want to search for this article, here's the relevant information:

Sweet home Chicago - Bakeries of all types rising in Chicago area with breads, fine desserts
Chicago Tribune (IL) - Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Author: Susan Taylor, SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE

The unavailability of the article may be due to the fact that the author is a freelancer/contractor as opposed to an employee. Not sure about the Trib's contributor agreements, but it could be that the Trib does not have rights to publish the piece in any format other than the printed paper.

The article in the Tribune you speak of was the only page in the entire food section omitted. I'm sure it was a technical error and I notified the editor of the Food section that day but it was never remedied. The article's author has plenty of online Trib articles, including another one on the same day.

buckteeth wrote:The article in the Tribune you speak of was the only page in the entire food section omitted. I'm sure it was a technical error and I notified the editor of the Food section that day but it was never remedied. The article's author has plenty of online Trib articles, including another one on the same day.

Good point.

One of the best things I've eaten lately: the Olive Oil Cake, at Fritz, the other day. It's so named because it uses olive oil instead of butter, but the result is even more interesting than that would lead one to think. It has a lot of "savory" flavor going on while at the same time is unmistakably a dessert cake. Savory and sweet not quite even, because sweet wins the day, but savory making a darn good show for itself. Each bite made me want another.

I came on here to post about Fritz Pastry and was surprised they already had a thread. Then I was surprised to learn that they had a thread but it hadn't been updated for years. Fritz has been through a ton of changes since the last post. They were bought by the people who own the Wormhole Coffee and the business began to shift away from European-style baking toward a more inclusive program with vegan and gluten-free options, including vegan doughnuts. In chatting with the Fritz staff I'm told that this is because people were coming into the bakery in search of vegan stuff. I think the current split between classic French/vegan pastry is currently about 50-50. For a couple of years now they've had brunch on both Saturdays and Sundays.

Recently, the bakery was bought by Jaime, who's been running the kitchen since November 2012. They moved from Diversey to Lincoln near Webster and have expanded their opening times and are in the process of expanding their brunch options. I live practically adjacent to the old spot on Diversey and have been coming in since 2009. The thing that keeps me coming back, and will keep me coming back now that they're a bit father away from me, is the crew that works here and the vibe they maintain. These are the loveliest people and they've worked their asses off the create a space that's warm and friendly and a great place to chill. This is important to me, at least, because I do a huge amount of reading, writing, and editing in my work and I've done a fair bit of it at Fritz.

There are a couple of standout items. The Soul Bowl, a brunch option, is a biscuit smothered with gravy, bacon, and cheese and topped off with a fried egg. I don't know that this is difficult to pull off but they pull it off so I can't argue. I think danishes are one of those things that are easy to make mediocre and hard to make excellent but I love the ones at Fritz. The doughnuts are mostly cake-style with a crisp exterior and a soft interior, not terribly sweet on their own but they get all sorts of toppings. I like the basic vanilla sprinkle but earlier in the week I had a cherry-iced doughnut. This was a pretty red-pink color and it had a bit of tart and genuine cherry taste. I don't often go outside of the basic sprinkle mold with the doughnuts but I was pleased with this one. Today they had a sweet potato pie variation:

[Okay, apparently the "dimensions of the image" are impossible to "determine," so here's a link: http://i4.minus.com/ibocl9CIrNNkOe.jpg]

This reads a bit like a press release but I guess I've just been coming for long enough that I feel like I have a stake in it. They do a lot of experimenting and not all of it necessarily works out. They tried a vegan danish once, I remember, and it wasn't bad but it was definitely missing some essential quality. Tasting it against the regular danish was a pretty stark contrast. No idea if it's possible to engineer a perfect vegan danish but if you're not a vegan I'd recommend sticking with the regular milk-and-egg stuff, with the exception of the doughnuts and a couple of the brunch items which are naturally vegan, like a tofu scramble. For the record I have taken vegans friends and they were perfectly happy with what they got, so this might just be a consequence, for me, of eating animal products.

Anyway, I'm clearly biased because Fritz is a part of my life but I genuinely believe these are awesome people who are thinking really hard about what kind of business they want to run and how they want to continue evolving. If anyone out there is still missing some of the vegan stuff at Bleeding Heart they should check out Fritz, which is without a lot of the flair of BHB but also without the, er, other issues. They also do some vegan and non-vegan renditions of old-school snacks like Twinkies and Pop-Tarts, so this is a possible option for people looking to fill the gap left by Angel Food.

My final endorsement is this: I've been lurking on this forum for actual years without saying much, but my enthusiasm for Fritz finally coaxed me to post something legit.

Fritz Pastry
2233 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 857-2989

Welcome nrs--and a timely first post because I just drove past the Diversey location this week and seeing that it was close, wondered if it was for a new location or forever. I've never stopped in but lincoln /Webster is a more frequent path for me so I'll try to visit soon. That Soul bowl sounds pretty interesting! Thanks for posting!!

nrs wrote:I'm clearly biased because Fritz is a part of my life but I genuinely believe these are awesome people who are thinking really hard about what kind of business they want to run and how they want to continue evolving.

All opinions are welcome, especially ones that are heartfelt like yours. Whenever you love a place (or hate a place), feel free to let others here know!

(And those who agree will let you know that, just as those who disagree will also do so.)

nrs wrote:My final endorsement is this: I've been lurking on this forum for actual years without saying much, but my enthusiasm for Fritz finally coaxed me to post something legit.

I liked Fritz best in its first incarnation, but I still enjoy the baked goods they supply to Wormhole -- especially things like muffins, banana bread, etc.

Whenever you love a place (or hate a place), feel free to let others here know!

I may do that, depending on whether I feel I have something to add, as here. Thanks for the welcome!

The very simple sugar raised donut that they supply to Gaslight Coffee (and probably elsewhere) is my favorite donut in Chicago. The texture is perfect--puffy, dense, with a good 'Stretch Armstrong' feel when you pull a piece off--and the flavor is yeasty, fresh, and not too sweet.

Mmmm...donuts...

geli wrote:The very simple sugar raised donut that they supply to Gaslight Coffee (and probably elsewhere) is my favorite donut in Chicago. The texture is perfect--puffy, dense, with a good 'Stretch Armstrong' feel when you pull a piece off--and the flavor is yeasty, fresh, and not too sweet.

Mmmm...donuts...

And vegan