Dessert News: Beurrage, The Monarch, and NoMI Chocolate Boutique
Chicago's insatiable appetite for sugary treats continues to grow, with the arrival of a new bakeshop in Pilsen, new desserts in Bucktown, and a pop-up chocolate wonderland at the Park Hyatt. Just in time for bathing suit season, new desserts arrive to make life that much more challenging. But oh is it worth it.
(Worms and dirt at The Monarch)
As Pilsen's food scene continues to expand, Beurrage marks the latest development on the 18th Street strip. Beurrage originated at the Pilsen Community Market a couple years ago, run by Jeffrey Hallenbeck and Isaiah Simpson. Due to wild demand for their goods, Beurrage began delivering to coffee shops and cafes throughout the city, eventually amassing enough funds and stability to secure their own brick-and-mortar space. The bakeshop opened on Easter, serving cafe fare morning till evening Tuesday through Friday and until mid-afternoon on weekends. Well beyond your standard bakery provisions, Beurrage offers an impressively thoughtful array of pastries, from pretzel croissants and banana-hazelnut-chocolate croissants to fig Danishes, carrot and seed bread, pies, and croissant loaf bread.
Re-imagined dessert classics take the stage at The Monarch, a Bucktown bar with a proclivity for imaginative culinary creations courtesy of Michael DeStefano. Because it's not every bar that ends a meal with key lime parfaits; a candy bar-like plate of goat cheese spread with cacao nibs, pink peppercorn, peanuts, and caramel; and an adult interpretation of the childhood classic worms & dirt made with bittersweet chocolate pudding, espresso "dirt," and gummy worms.
Over at the Park Hyatt, NoMI Kitchen's pastry chef Meg Galus embraces her inner Wonka for a chocolate-themed dessert pop-up running at the Park Hyatt Chicago Library April 26 through May 11. Utilizing rare and unique varieties of chocolate, Galus gets whimsical with a miscellany of cocoa creations, from brownies and bonbons to French pastries and personalized gift baskets. The pop-up is in session from 1:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. each day.
- Matt Kirouac