Anybody else binge the “Great British Bake Off” throughout quarantine? I hung on each Savarin with Chantilly product, Marjolaine and Viennese whirl that arrived out of the ovens for all 11 seasons. And I knew without the need of a shadow of a doubt I could in no way make any of individuals intricate desserts. I did create rather an impressive chocolate sugar cookie sport in 2020, but that is a story for a different working day.
I really don’t know how to make extravagant, elaborate sweets, but I undoubtedly know how to take in them. A jog to The Little Gourmand is in purchase, really do not you imagine? There — at 2209 Bandywood Travel in Environmentally friendly Hills and 717 Craighead St. in Melrose — you will discover luscious eclairs, Napoleons, tartlets and a whole lot of French pastries whose names you may well mispronounce (I did) and might not have found before.
Very little Gourmand was created by French-born Guenievre Milliner, who needed to provide reliable French pastries and breads to Nashville. She’s performed a good work. Strolling into possibly shop is like going for walks into a jewel box total of the diamonds, sapphires and rubies of the baking environment. Choose your time and evaluate the offerings in the glass scenarios. It will be tough to select just one particular of these stunning pastries.
I’m a sucker for pastry cream so I went straight to the mille-feuille, a decadent tower built up of a few levels of buttery puff pastry with two levels of rich pastry cream sandwiched concerning them. Bliss. The Minimal Gourmand also has other regular French pastries this sort of as croissants, palmier and financiers.
Then there are the quiches, which seem like a sleeker sports motor vehicle model of an American quiche. In flavors like the common ham and cheese or spinach and feta, the custard filling is silky and creamy nestled in a flaky crust. And the baguette sandwiches are deliriously scrumptious. I feel I have to have to retitle this column “No carbs left behind” simply because I undoubtedly did not.
There’s no seating at the Melrose site, but the Environmentally friendly Hills shop has a minor and also carries an assortment of non-bakery products these as mustards, preserves, olive oils and caviar. And phrase to the sensible, Minor Gourmand doesn’t have every little thing every single day so it’s finest to examine its Instagram account (littlegourmand) just before you go if you’re on the lookout for one thing unique. Or just go. There is only delectable at these little stores.
Crieve Corridor Bagel Co.: Continuing the topic of no carb left driving, let’s saunter over to Crieve Hall for some delectable bagels. Ben and Lizzy Cornfield started baking their wonderful sourdough bagels for the duration of the pandemic just for relatives and pals. But the term unfold promptly and before long demand from customers blossomed. Now they have a brick-and-mortar place in a strip buying center at 4825 Trousdale Generate.
Wherever you stay, it’s worth the push to style these bagels, which are pleasantly chewy on the outside and meltingly tender inside with that exclusive sourdough tang. Crieve Corridor Bagel Co. has all the standard flavors in common bagels and bagel braids and a number of nontraditional choices like jalapeno cheddar and cinnamon sugar. Cream cheese (including vegan) in a variety of flavorings and a wide range of coffee possibilities round out the menu.
I’m ashamed to acknowledge I ate my sesame bagel with chive product cheese in the car or truck right immediately after I acquired it. And then I went right to Minor Gourmand and loaded up on pastries, quiche and a baguette sandwich. There could possibly be a carb remaining someplace in the gutter on Eighth Avenue as I drove property, but I question it.
Catherine Mayhew is a former cafe critic for The Charlotte Observer, a cookbook writer and a grasp BBQ decide. Abide by her @thesouthinmymouth on Instagram to see what she’s taking in and e mail her at foodstuff@mainstreetmediatn.com with solutions on your preferred eating places and food items trucks.