LA Confidential: Macarons, Dessert du Jour

Sometime last fall, I started noticing that a lot of restaurants I was trying, and most of the restaurant or hotel parties I was attending, were serving macarons, those deliciously dainty, pastel-colored treats popularized by 19th-century French tea houses (like my favorites, Angelina and La Duree).

Suddenly the little sweetmeats were popping up everywhere, much to the detriment of my diet, though to the delight of my palate. It seemed high time to recognize that the cupcake has been toppled from its pastry pedestal, and the macaron is the new dessert du jour.

Want to find out where to get these toothsome treats and what fantastical flavors they come in? Click on the link to my spread in the LA Confidential Food Issue, or read on to see the text of the article.

Link: http://www.la-confidential-magazine.com/dining_0610_article5.html

Macarons: Dessert du Jour

Angelenos will always love the cupcake, but the most popular pastry in town these days is the French macaron. Said to date back to the Italian Renaissance and a hallmark of famous Belle Époque Parisian teahouses, the meringue-like cookies have found a fashionable following here in Los Angeles. Kris Morningstar’s macarons at The Mercantile (6600 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles; themercantilela.com) come in kidfriendly flavors such as PB & J and maraschino cherry, while La Provence Patisserie & Cafe (8950 W. Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills, laprovencecafe.com) specializes in delightfully snooty old-lady classics, including rose, lavender, hazelnut and cherry amaretto. Paulette (9466 Charleville Blvd., Beverly Hills; paulettemacarons.com) uses exotic ingredients like Madagascar vanilla, Colombian coffee and violet cassis, and Jin Patisserie (1202 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice; jinpatisserie.com) goes for pure concentration with a macaron made with chocolate ganache and sugared raspberries. For sizeists: Though Bottega Louie’s (700 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles; bottegalouie.com) macarons are small, the coconut and chocolate-orange flavors pack a big punch.

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