The lost meals entries consist of meals that occurred at various times throughout 2012 which, for any number of reasons, escaped my documentation – some due to a cross country move and a new job, some due to the Los Angeles Kings run to the Stanley Cup, and some simply as a result of too much travel. Having enjoyed many of these meals with friends or family and with some of them amongst the year’s very best the reality is that with time my memory has deteriorated and as life moves forward I’ve realized there is little hope to ever “catch up” or document these experiences as well as I’d hope, yet in order to preserve them I present these pictures, notes, and thoughts on the experience.
Buttercream Turkey
Bienenstich
Almond Croissant
Pain au Chocolat
Pumpkin Spice Donut, Apple Cider Donut, Cinnamon Roll
Red Velvet Cupcake
Chocolate Snoopy Cupcake
Custard Éclair
Napoleon
Poppyseed Lemon Muffin
Sugar Twist
…there is a reason that certain places become an institution and while longevity is certainly one of them quality is oftentimes another, and yet considering Chicago traffic my dilemma in visiting Bennison’s was always whether the quality would justify the hassle of getting to Evanston where the 1930’s bakery still stands – a task we finally undertook as a group of four, early morning on a Sunday when traffic was slow and sampling widely I’m happy to say that the vast majority of what we had lived up to the expectations of a place heralded by many as the best old-world bakery in Illinois.
Touting their focus on whole butter, cream, milk, etc without being preachy like many newer bakeries and clearly from a bygone era Bennison’s, first and foremost, is comfortable – the employees all smiling, bakers chatting with locals, and people milling about who’ve been coming to the place for ages. Secondly, the selection at Bennison’s is expansive – a true classic bakery the options run the gamut from European classics to American trends and everywhere in between; a diversity our group explored to find quite good, but the more ‘American’ selections outshining their overseas counterparts save for one item…
Entitled the Bienenstich and something akin to a brioche roll meets a layer cake with dense yeasted dough filled with both pastry and whipped cream before being topped off with honey and caramelized almonds the “Bee Sting” cake is apparently a German tradition both dense without being heavy and sweet without being cloying, a truly unique item quite unlike any ‘cake’ I’ve had to date and apparently available every day at Bennison’s and reason enough to make the drive to Evanston…although the cider donut, pumpkin spice donut, custard éclair, and napoleon were quite good as well.