French People Are Nice, n’est-pas?

By Anonymous in Food on Jul 23, 2005 3:29PM

So after a week at work spent like a mother of 5 Ritalin-addicted kids, with every salesperson doing the working-world equivalent of poking our shoulder and yelling “MOM! MOM! MOM! MOM! MO-OM! MOM!” Chicagoist needed a little quiet time (unless our sales staff is reading this, then we love your high-maintenance ways! Hugs!) and was looking for something different to serve friends at an upcoming brunch. Sweet Thang was just the place for both. We walked into Sweet Thing after actually being able to find parking on North Avenue (who knew?) to find a counter full of French and American pastries, café chairs and tables, a chaise lounge covered in red velvet, and an employee who hugged a co-worker, then came out and hugged a customer. In Chicagoist's own special way, we whined, “How come we don’t get a hug?” We did. Sometimes this is why we lurk around Wal-Mart, for the greeting that comes with every trip. But we digress (and we sound pathetic).

Hugging us and telling us all about the pastries was Coco, an extremely friendly and vivacious true Parisian who loves her job and Chicago. We told her we had never been there before, and she walked us through all the goodies...croissants filled with turkey & cheese, spinach & feta (both $2.15), Danishes ($1.90), and brioches (plain for $1.35). And it doesn’t stop there...they do quiches, cheesecakes, tarts, pies, wedding cakes, and novelty cakes for kids (we are SO getting the Blue’s Clues Dog one for our birthday, hint hint).

They have different kinds of mousse filling for their cakes, including peanut butter, passion fruit, and orange chocolate...which, if you’ve never tried a mix of orange and chocolate, you are missing out bigtime! We opted for plain croissant – be sure to pronounce it “qua-SON!” through your nose, which never gets old no matter what our friends tell us – and one filled with chocolate, because duh, yum. To drink, hot chocolate, which may seem like an odd thing to order during the heat wave, but we were already buzzing like the hummingbird from the two cups of coffee earlier in the morning. What capped this visit off was talking with Coco, and one of the things that makes Chicago so great...here’s this woman from Paris, with Moroccan and Nigerian parents, and her real name is Fatima. A French Muslim of North African descent living in America. I know I don’t write a political column, but is there anything better than that? Get over to Sweet Thang to choose some goodies for your guests or yourselves, and be sure to get a hug from Coco. It’s a great way to start your weekend.

Sweet Thang
1921 West North Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622
773.772.4166
www.sweetthangcakes.com

Hours: M-Th, 7am to 8pm
Fri/Sat, 7am-10pm
Sun 8am-8pm