Here are 5 of the best pastry-makers in Columbus
I’m as patriotic and capable as the next star-spangled glutton and yankee-doodling decent home cook. But when asked to bring something sweet to a Fourth of July gathering, I almost declined.
Then I realized something obvious to anyone not traumatized by the six-mile torture-hike in muggy weather I’d recently endured: If you can't stand the dessert-making summertime oven heat, get out of the kitchen and visit professionals who can — and who actually excel at baking.
As a corollary, if you want to be a star at your next party, too, or just want some terrific treats, I suggest targeting the following can’t-fail pastry purveyors. One is an elite, very French-inspired, long-running confectionary that helped establish Columbus as a location for world-class pastries. All of the others are making a big splash in a new wave of recently launched, outside-the-cardboard-box dessert experts. Every shop listed will do the hot oven work for you with skills that even superior home cooks can only dream of.
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Pistacia Vera
541 S. 3rd St., 614-220-9070, pistaciavera.com
Founded nearly two decades ago by siblings Spencer Budros and Anne Fletcher (whose father, Jim Budros, helped launch City Barbecue), stellar Pistacia Vera has always been ahead of the curve and yet a bastion of French classicism. Its duly famous, multi-flavored macarons — delicate but intense meringue sandwich cookies that are as impressive as their esteemed Parisian forebears — are a must, especially for newcomers. But all of Pistacia’s wares, which gleam like fine jewelry in the sophisticated German Village shop’s pastry case, taste as good as they look. Some other notable treats: the classic eclair, lemon tart, pain au chocolat, raspberry passion fruit dacquoise and the lives-up-to-its-name chocolate bombe.
Three Bites Bakery
999 Mount Vernon Ave., 614-372-5930, threebitesbakery.com
You don’t run into many Filipino-Italian-leaning bakeries. Let's hope Isabella Bonello — a Pistacia Vera alum and the owner/pastry chef of year-old, Three Bites Bakery in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood — is starting a new trend, then, with her hip little shop. Bonello, who has an Italian father and Filipina mother, creates great Italian treats like doughnut-esque bomboloni, lemon-almond cakes and Nutella cornetti, as well as Filipino palate-pleasers like the tropical brownie-evoking, must-try biko, and goodies featuring ube (purple yams), like crinkle cookies and pandesals (cheese rolls). Bonello knows her way around French pastries beautifully, too, as laminated-dough showpieces like her fantastic kouign-amann demonstrate.
Tulip Cafe
2926 Hayden Run Plaza, 216-394-6849; tulipcafecatering.com
Like many cuisine overachievers these days (including Three Bites Bakery), Tulip Cafe got its pre-brick-and-mortar feet wet at farmers markets and pop-up gigs. Unlike myriad local eateries, two-year-old Tulip was launched by two Turkish women — Hatice Kucuker and Hanife Evliyaoglu — in a two-table space whose cute interior, warm hospitality and excellent food belie its tiny, Dublin strip mall setting. Yes, this Turkish bakery offers Turkish delight, but it's the best I’ve ever tried: aromatic jelly candy, similar to French pate de fruit, fortified with toasted hazelnuts and high-grade pistachios. Among Tulip’s many other knockouts are wonderfully nutty pistachio baklava and “semolina nut-free baklava,” which is textured, syrup-soaked and similar to the irresistible treat that’s popular in Middle Eastern eateries called namoura.
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Qamaria Yemeni Coffee Co.
3221 Hilliard Rome Road, Hilliard, 614-742-7110, qamariacoffee.com
The coffee sold at this February-minted, Hilliard link of a Michigan-based chain is made with rare, highly prized beans from Yemen, a West Asian nation near Africa, whose exalted coffee-drinking culture is among the world’s oldest (try a cup of Qamaria’s cardamom-scented mufawaar and/or its equally fragrant, tea-like “sheba” brewed with coffee cherries). The pastries from this charming shop co-owned by chef/restaurateur Najmeddine Gabbar — he operates terrific Yemeni Restaurant, too — are likewise lovable. Qamaria’s honeycomb is a must: sesame-sprinkled, attractively bumpy-surfaced, toasty yet soft bread anointed by honey and with pockets of tangy cream cheese. Tres leches-style delights called milk cakes flavored with crowd-pleasing caramel or, say, roses and pistachio, are deeply soothing, only moderately sweet and highly recommended, too.
Parable Coffee
149 S. High St., 614-636-0341, parableparable.com
Year-old, one-time pop-up Parable Coffee also showcases refined cafe beverages, but the selection at this stylish and hip Downtown spot leans more modern. So while you’ll get an excellent cappuccino, you can also enjoy a house tonic (fizzy, fruity, iced espresso) and a caramel-flavored sesame miso latte. The confections of star pastry chef Aaron Clouse lean modern as well. Relatedly, Parable is the only place in town offering the current “it” pastry — hefty, round, cream-filled “supreme” croissants, which the New York Times touted as a “viral pastry.” Sporting add-ons like scorched marshmallow and oatmeal-pie segments, and filling flavors like butterscotch and yuzu custard, Clouse’s buttery, multilayered supremes are destination-worthy beauties. Other multi-textured creations include the brilliant brioche-based “fancy French toast” (it’s closer to a Danish than actual French toast) and crazy-good cookies enhanced by matcha, raspberry and ruby chocolate.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: These are some of the best pastry-makers in Columbus
