Patisserie 46: Full-on French bakery in Minneapolis

Kraus describes the pint-sized cakes as "what a cupcake aspires to be," and it's certainly worth spending an extra dollar or two on one of them to find out what that means. Prick your fork into a snowball-like half-sphere of coconut cream and a glorious mango-passion fruit puree oozes out like a runny egg yolk. Bite into a cylinder of pistachio Bavarian cream to find a thick, strawberry-rhubarb jam; with coconut-almond granola sprinkled on top, it suggests a haute revamp of fruit cobbler. Among the tiny lemon meringues and cheesecakes, a chocolate tart is stacked with thumb-sized profiteroles, like a tabletop set for a Barbie dolls' tea. And it's just as delightful to eat.

I haven't yet tried everything at Patisserie 46, but I did sample a majority of the items and—this is the rarest of statements for a food critic—I would happily recommend every single one I ate. In fact, Patisserie 46 even made me like pastries that never seem to make my heart palpitate. I've never met a macaron, for example, that I found very inspiring. But the flavors I sampled at Patisserie 46—chocolate with passion fruit, chocolate with orange and Earl Gray—had a purity and subtlety that truly suited the crusty-chewy medium.

Craig Lassig

Dazzling and delicious: Patisserie 46's summer pudding

Location Info

Map

Patisserie 46

4552 Grand Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55419

Category: Restaurant > Bakery

Region: Southwest Minneapolis

Photos

0 user reviews	Write A Review
Save to foursquare

Details

Patisserie 46
4552 Grand Ave. S., Minneapolis
612.354.3257, www.patisserie46.com
prices start at $1; whole cakes priced up to $38

Related Content

• Pastry chef John Kraus of Patisserie 46: The sweet life, part 3
  April 4, 2012
• Pastry chef John Kraus of Patisserie 46: The sweet life, part 1
  April 2, 2012
• Patisserie 46 debuts new line of chocolates
  March 27, 2012
• Pastry chef John Kraus of Patisserie 46: The sweet life, part 2
  April 3, 2012
• Best of Hot Dish: April 2-April 6, 2012
  April 6, 2012

More About

• John Kraus
• Hayward
• Calhoun Commons
• Foods
• Food and Cooking

Right now, the shop serves only a few savory items, but they are the Technicolor version of what you typically find. The quiche's crust seems flakier, its onions sweeter, its eggs creamier, and its salty/savory ham and cheese combination as satisfying as that of the ham-Gruyère-béchamel croissant. The patisserie's six rotating flavors of house-made ice cream and sorbet—basil/chocolate, vanilla/salted caramel, etc.—are good enough to support a stand-alone scoop shop.

But this is only the beginning. Patisserie 46 aims to soon start selling soups and sandwiches, based on its natural-starter breads (and by the way, that sourdough rye has some wonderfully earthy flavors and an extraordinary crumb). Kraus also says he's planning "a pretty big chocolate campaign" to roll out a line of truffles and such. So pretty soon we'll be able to get everything we need at Patisserie 46? "Just not a haircut," he quips.