Top 5 Friday: Top 5 Macarons in Chicago
By Staff in Food on Dec 10, 2010 5:00PM
Welcome to the first installment of Top Five Friday, where we will unveil the best of the best in Chicagoland. Every other week, we will search out the best and brightest in a wide array of unique, quirky categories - no boring burgers or pizza for us! If you have any suggestions for things to list, post them in the comments. The wackier the better!
This week, we’ll be tackling the American macaroon (think ball of shredded coconut) as well as the French macaron (think classy, little meringue-based cake with edges that look like they’ve been neatly caulked). You’re probably more familiar with the Americanized version, because, well, we’re in America. As for its French counterpart, the macaron is usually made by sandwiching buttercream or jam in-between two cookies. Words cannot express the delicacy of the cookie exterior or the way when you bite into it, you feel like you’re biting air. They come in many different colors and flavors, but who makes the best? Let’s find out.
1. Pierrot Gourmet (at the Peninsula Hotel - 108 E Superior St, Chicago, IL 60611)
Skip brunch and head straight for the take-away counter. At $2 each, these French macarons will knock your socks off. The overall consistency on size, shape, and texture makes you think these soldiers came out of the classiest assembly line ever constructed. Try the pb&j and/or the cupcake with rainbow sprinkles.
2. Fritz Pastry (Lakeview - 1408 W Diversey Pkwy, Chicago, IL 60614)
The perfect place to get a latte, grab a macaron, and set up shop with your thesis on post-secular philosophy. This cozy coffee shop showcases a rainbow display of macarons on the top shelf of their counter. From lemon to orange to blueberry, at 75 cents each, grab a bunch. They aren’t necessarily uniform size, but your taste buds won’t know the difference.
3. Bittersweet Pastry Shop (Lakeview - 1114 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL 60657)
Bittersweet boasts not one, not two, but THREE kinds of macaroons. They usually have 2 different flavors of the French-style, a regular and chocolate-dipped American-style, and a third variety that are half the size of the French with shortbread-type cookies. The French-style are solid and comparable to Fritz Pastry, while the American-style are decent, albeit small. The American macaroons are the size of an extra large tater tot or a genetically-engineered cherry, depending on which one you get. That leaves us with the mutant third variety - just say no. The cookie is too hard; when you bite into it, the innards ooze out of the sides and all you are left with is an almost stale-tasting cookie with goo on your pants.
4. Bent Fork (Highwood - 333 Waukegan Ave, Highwood, IL 60040)
We know this bakery is a trek from center city but it’s WORTH it. Everything is dynamite from the polka dot painted cakes to the homemade pies to the ooey gooey chewy cookies. And oh yes - the macaroons! These chocolate-dipped chocolate chip macaroons are almost the size of a tennis ball and they’re only $1.50 each. Thank us later.
5. La Farine (Noble Square - 1461 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60642)
Rounding out the top five is a bakery that supplies freshly-baked bread to many top local restaurants including Hot Chocolate and Takashi. They don’t have much selection, but they DO have a killer coconut macaroon. Depending on the week, they switch from American to French, but I wouldn’t trust their cocoa-dusted French macaron. Stick with the coconut ball of buttery goodness that’s the size of a comically-large golf ball.
By Taylor Malloy