We are living in a golden age of croissants in Chicago. So much so that you could have a different flaky and buttery pastry every day, but never taste them all. Please note, I prefer the phrase “butter croissants” over “plain croissants,” because there’s nothing plain about a beautifully brilliant crust with tender layered crumb within.
I tasted 33 croissants at 15 bakeries, cafes and restaurants. Starting with the ones I knew to consistently rival the best I’ve had around the world (including France and Japan, that other French pastry mecca), I then went where bakers sent me. In the end, our guide includes not only some of the city’s best croissants, but also work startlingly unique to our culture.
Here are eight of the best croissants in Chicago right now.
No. 8: Chicharron croissant at Pan Artesanal. $4.50. Soft, spicy pork skin filling with queso fresco cheese topping, available weekends only. Sisters Lizette and Marisol Espinoza opened their French- and Mexican-inspired bakery and cafe just last year in Logan Square. Marisol, a French Pastry School graduate, beautifully interprets their shared Mexican culture into big, bold baked statements. I can’t stop wondering what my stuffy French pastry chef instructors in Paris would think about this riotously fatty creation. Do note the bakery breaks my standing butter croissants recommendation rule. I don’t recommend them here, where they’re more bready than flaky. No matter. The elusive chicharron, and a lovely cajeta croissant ($3.50) available daily among others, more than make up for them. Preorders are possible and highly recommended because they always sell out at this charming yet chaotic shop. 3724 W. Fullerton Ave., 312-286-5265, panartesanalbakery.com
No. 7: Almond croissant at Floriole. $4.75. A twice-baked butter croissant, split then soaked with rum syrup, filled and topped with almond cream plus sliced almonds and powdered sugar. You may know Sandra and Mathieu Holl from back in their Green City Market days when they started out selling her organic, rustic French pastries. It’s hard to believe the wife and husband owners opened their light-filled, lofty cafe and bakery nine years ago in the Sheffield Neighbors neighborhood. Now, a team of bakers keeps the cases filled with sweets and savories — including five kinds of croissants one recent morning — from butter to pain au chocolat, pain au raisin, ham and cheese, plus an especially tempting almond. Often, the almond cream gets hidden inside, but here it’s literally over the top, baked with an edge begging to be bitten. Preorders possible. 1220 W. Webster Ave., 773-883-1313, floriole.com
No. 6: Pain au chocolat at Somerset. $5. Chocolate pastry with chocolate filling, topped with chocolate drizzle and cacao nibs, available weekends only. Pain au chocolat, here or even in France and Japan, usually means butter croissant dough rolled around a bar or two of chocolate. Even armchair bakers who only follow “The Great British Baking Show” know that chocolate dough can be hard to work with, since you can’t go by color to know when it’s done. But chocolate in the croissant dough itself is a sign of a superior baker. At Somerset in the Near North neighborhood, that’s not only pastry chef Meg Galus, but her impressive team. The mesmerizing whorl beats that first black hole photo because here on Earth your notions of the heights that chocolate can achieve will be shattered. Do note that the online menu is not current. The print menu offers a pastry board ($10) with your choice of three pastries, which is a deal. I highly recommend ordering the trio of croissants, butter (available daily breakfast and weekend brunch), chocolate and almond (the latter two available weekend brunch only). Preorders possible and recommended because they do sell out. 1112 N. State St., 312-586-2150, somersetchicago.com
No. 5: Red mole sourdough chocolate croissant at Loba Pastry + Coffee. $4.75. Naturally fermented croissant dough layered with red mole butter, filled with dark chocolate, available weekends only. Four years ago, head pastry chef and owner Valeria Taylor was on the hunt for a new life, so she took over the shop where she once worked for free and made it her own. “It’s a punk version of a bakery,” said Taylor last Saturday morning behind the counter in Roscoe Village. “There’s no rules here.” For someone with no rules, the Mexican American baker fiercely follows some. Taylor makes all the croissants herself, weekends only, all by hand, including the mole, traditionally a sauce for savory dishes. The result is a slow sunrise of subtle spice. In addition to the red mole that day, she planned green for the next, and tortured me by sharing that she sometimes makes a black mole too. Preorders possible and highly recommended. 3422 N. Lincoln Ave., ?773-456-9266?, lobapastry.com
No. 4: Kaya croissant at The Bakery at Fat Rice. $5.50. Butter croissant filled with kaya, topped with pandan sugar, weekends only. Pastry chef Elaine Townsend has just left the bakery opened by Fat Rice owners Abe Conlon and Adrienne Lo next door to their restaurant in Logan Square. The signature items will continue including Conlon’s Chicago-style hot dog bun and Townsend’s Ceylon snickerdoodle, the cookie filled with a salted duck yolk custard. The kaya croissants also hide a surprise center. Modest in size, you will notice they’re heavier than they appear. I strongly suggest either carefully slicing them in half, revealing the massive core of herbal coconut pandan leaf custard, or go ahead and eat with abandon. There’s enough to spread on a side order of papo seco, the Portuguese bread with pork fat. Preorders possible. 2951 W. Diversey Ave., 773-661-9544, eatfatrice.com/menus/the-bakery
No. 3: Ham and Comte croissant at Cafe Marie-Jeanne. $4. Butter croissant filled with ham and Comte cheese. It’s hard to pick just one favorite croissant at the restaurant in Humboldt Park, partly because they sell out so fast. Chef, co-owner and sometimes baker Mike Simmons opens at 7 a.m. with baked goods that are not dainty French rides, but American muscle-car counterparts. Butter croissants are available daily, and usually chocolate too, which are actually filled with house made gianduja, his take on the Italian hazelnut spread with bracingly bitter chocolate and fruity olive oil. Simmons may tease cheddar sausage croissants on Instagram, stuffed with glorious house-made fatties, but will only bake three. They make the ham too, of course, the delicately pink jambon de Paris, which no one does for a croissant in France. By the way, Simmons mentioned seasonal roasted asparagus croissants, so keep an eye out for those and set your alarm. Preorders not possible. 1001 N. California Ave., 773-904-7660, cafe-marie-jeanne.com
No. 2: Strawberry rhubarb croissant at Lost Larson. $6. Twice-baked tebirkes croissant, filled with strawberry rhubarb preserves, topped with poppy seeds and chocolate shard. It’s not fair to have chef and owner Bobby Schaffer in a croissant quest, because he and his team make so many, so exquisitely, so abundantly. You could just go to his cafe and bakery in Andersonville, then say game over. The former pastry chef at the dearly departed Grace restaurant and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York also worked for the pastry chef and chocolatier Oriol Balaguer in Spain. If I had to choose just one croissant, I say get Schaffer’s seasonal creation every time. Recently, it literally had me staring speechless at the counter, so striking was the modern piece of chocolate work meets pastry meets farmers market. The tebirkes croissant is his homage to a traditional Danish pastry, in a neighborhood known for its Swedish roots. Get the chocolate croissant, with chocolate pastry plus a touch of cardamom too. It was among nine croissants with many other pastries in the case daily. Preorders possible. 5318 N. Clark St., ?773-944-0587?, lostlarson.com
No. 1: Croissant at Cellar Door Provisions. $4. Naturally fermented croissant, available Thursdays through Sundays. Lead pastry cook Erin Koroll makes not only the croissants, but everything in the tiny case right now at the small destination neighborhood restaurant in Logan Square. The sourdough croissants are the result of a four-day process. They’re not sour at all; that just refers to the naturally fermented dough. I’ve had the croissants before, but this time, maybe it was my extra attention that reminded me of what the monk Dom Perignon allegedly said when he invented Champagne, “Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!” The croissant crust more than crackles; it sparkles. The crumb reveals what seems an infinity of tender layers. The depth of flavor will engage you in an intelligent conversation with this croissant. There’s also an impeccable chocolate croissant ($4.50), plus a seasonal ramp croissant coming soon that they will make one time. Preorders are not possible for the very limited supply, so come quickly to taste the stars. 3025 W. Diversey Ave., 773-697-8337, cellardoorprovisions.com
Honorable mentions, in alphabetical order: Aya Pastry, La Boulangerie, Free Rein, Hewn, pHlour, Southern France Patisserie.
lchu@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @louisachu
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