Location:
318 3rd St, Cambridge, MAI had the pleasure of having tea with these two lovelies recently, after a wonderful afternoon at this place.
Here we are at Tatte Bakery, one of the cutest bakeries in Kendall Square. A bakery that is not new to my Instagram feed!
As part of a new series, here I am having tea withAna and Alaina.
I love a good market. Vancouver's Granville Island's Public Market is ah.mah.zing. The only snag, not being able to buy fresh produce that I could actually take home. Hmm...although, I did buy the most insanely divine Ice Wine Chocolates from Rogers' Chocolates and beer from Granville Island Brewing Company (so my priorities may be questionable) BUT I must say, the beer served us well during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Anyway, I digress. Back to the public market....where the selection is vast and the freshness, out of bounds.
For lunch, I had fish and chips (obviously) from Celine's and I had to make a stop at the famous Lee's Donuts (as seen on tv) after which I parked myself at the Granville Island Tea Company with a pot of Earl Grey admist a crowd of market goers.
Come with me to smell the peonies, maneuver pyramids of fruit while oogling the abundance of fresh fish...
It sounds like I stopped by Baked by Melissa in NYC wearing stilettos and sequins, but rather I had Dhruvi, the queen of "Stilettos & Sequins" take me to the delightful cupcake shoppe.
After a trip to the Guggenheim, I met up with Dhruves at Qi (both beautifully decorated and delish, btw), followed by an exploration of the racks at Loehmann's, finally making our way to Baked by Melissa.
The bite-sized cupcakes are the perfect quantity of sweet and each is filled with the exact flavor of their names. Take "Peanut Butter and Jelly" for example, it tastes exactly like a PB&J sandwich, except maybe better. My favorite was the red velvet, but *ahem* I did try them all.....
Location:
509 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101
To me, there's nothing better than a warm croissant and coffee or tea with breakfast.
Nothing.
Except, maybe with bacon.
Chocolat in the Gaslamp District of San Diego, appears to be a gelato/dessert bar, but they have warm croissants and pastries as well, served right to your table if you wish to sit down to eat for breakfast.
Which I did, savouring the moment (like this stylish patron was).
Their gelato spread looked divine, and is definitely worthy of a second visit!
Location:
Zoto's
It was the same place where we got the gelato. This time around it was for the magnificent and ENORMOUS sugared puff pastry.
YUM!
We visited Zoto's Family Pastry TWICE in three days, first, for this.
Location:
1240 6 Avenue, New York, NY
You knew it was coming (if you follow me on Instagram, that is). There are several locations of Magnolia in NYC, and although I never made it to the original location in West Village, this one at Bloomingdale's wasn't too shabby.
Have you been? The cupcakes are divine - the red velvet cupcake was mighty tasty.
Location:
564 Tremont St, Boston, MA
Everyone talks about the South End, so we made it there this past Sunday - it was cold you guys, and everything was closed! Why do they do that? Made it to Francesca's Cafe in a frozen state and thawed out nicely with a hot chocolate, tea and a tuna melt (apty named for this occasion). Oh, a pretty cupcake made the cut, too.
Location:
738 Cambridge St., East Cambridge, MA
Having just moved to Boston, one of our explorations took us to the Royal Pastry Shop on Cambridge Street. We chose a very simple chocolate cupcake.
It was divine.
Open since 1941, there are now two other locations feeding locals delicious American and Italian pastries. I'm looking forward to being one of these locals.
Location:
410 Adelaide St W
www.leatcatering.com/home.htm
In the cursed location where Zimbel's Cafe and before that, Mosaic used to be, L'eat Express is the newest addition to the building beside Toronto School of Art. Herbal Infusions is faring quite well so far, so maybe there is hope for L'eat (such a difficult name to wrap my head around. Sometimes I think "teat", wrongly, of course).
I hear the brownies are amazing, but I walked by earlier today and the door was locked! Will try again in a bit and keep you posted.
** So went back with some co-workers but they were still closed. Someone did inform us that they were open this morning for a training session which included free pastries and plan to open again later this afternoon for another training session. We were told they'll be open again tomorrow, so fingers crossed!
*** Went back on Friday and they were OPEN! Found out a few things.
Most importantly it's pronounced "ELITE", literally pronounce the letter "L" and the word "EAT". I feel so much better, now. 
Owned by Tony Loschiavo with hand-crafted goodies and gourmet meals made by Chefs Christopher Palik and Eric Walker, L'eat Express looks promising, especially with their original full service catering business (started 1983) in full swing at their Bathurt location. I DID try the brownie, and it did not disappoint. Shared with several co-workers, it was a huge hit! 
The complimentary bran muffin and double chocolate fudge cookie I scored was equally as satisfying, although I have to admit the cookie can't compare to Le Gourmand's chocolate chip walnut cookie which still reigns supreme. 
The teas on hand are from Language of the Leaf, which I love and which Neeta Khanna had sent me a package of teas to review in 2009. I've also heard great things about Paese, the sister restaurant to L'eat on King St W.
I really hope L'eat Express does well in this district, it's such a beautiful space and after speaking to Christopher, Tony and Rahim about their vision for this location, it looks like it's got all the ingredients to being as successful as the original.
Open Monday - Saturday (7:30am - 7pm)
Location:
Outside the Louvre.
Paul, the French bakery (since 1889) came highly recommended by our friend A, so when we discovered a kiosk outside the Louvre, we stood right in line!
I must say, eating a chocolate chip baguette and tomato, mozzarella and basil sandwich under the shade of a tree in the Carrousel Gardens was one of the best experiences of the whole trip.
Location:
(Yorkdale Mall) 3401 Dufferin Street, Toronto
www.michelsbaguette.com
One of my favourite "go-to" bakeries in Toronto is Michel's. It's an European-inspired cafe/bakery and there are several locations in Ontario. It reminds me of Paul's in Paris. No nonsense pastries, sandwiches and cafe lattes.
It's the perfect spot for a giggly group of girls women to go without bothering anyone.
The pastries are delicious.
Perhaps not as good as in Paris, but when you're with a group of good friends, who knows where you really are?
Location:
184 Lakeshore Road East
Oakville, ON L6J
I'm happy to announce that I have found possibly the best apple pie, ever.
It exists at Black Forest Pastry Shop in Oakville and is only $12.99!
After popping it into the oven for a few minutes, it came out flaky yet melted in the mouth. The apples were cooked yet crispy with just the right amount of cinnamon.
The other things on hand at the bakery: Red Velvet Cupcakes amongst other tasty treats.
Starting today until Saturday, Starbucks will give you a free cake pop or other Petite Pastry if you buy a drink.
Location:
300 Hanover Street
Boston, MA
Is it touristy? Yes.
The woman behind the counter insisted that we take a plastic "Mike's Pastry" bag for our box even though we had a bag we were going to put it into. Nothing like advertising by carrying their logo, right?
Is it ridiculously crowded, ALL THE TIME? Yes.
Came here twice in one weekend and the first time, I was able to get to the counter.
The second time, it looked like this:
But are these the best mo-fo cannoli's you'll ever taste? You bet your a$$ they are!
