Day Off

Usually, one day per week gets reserved for Girls’ Day, where my mother (design maven) and my sister (Seattle photographer) get together, talk too much, and ignore street signs while walking around our neighborhood of Queen Anne.

Girls Day starts in my living room!

This week, our target was set on a new French luxury bakery boutique called Cafe de Lion.

Named after the owner’s son (who likes to think he runs the place), Cafe de Lion is definitely one of the most aesthetically beautiful shops I’ve ever been inside of. We sat at their 5-seat bar that faces a bevy of coffee preparation equipment. We’re not talking about  couple espresso machines and a pot of drip coffee, though… We’re talking about coffee. making. equipment.

One of Cafe de Lion’s methods is called the Vacuum Method. It was fascinating to watch! There is a round jar filled with water over a Bunsen burner (yes – like the type you used in high school chemistry!) with an overturned cylinder inside of it, which contains about 1/2 cup of coffee grounds. The lower bowl is heated with the burner and begins to funnel into the upper cylinder, brewing the coffee. About halfway through the process, the barista will put a stirring device into the brewing coffee to mix it around – and it looks hot! Then, the burner is removed, and the lack of heat causes the coffee to flow back down to the lower chamber, creating the most wonderful, mild, nutty coffee – so delicious! It was barely acidic at all. & what a process to observe! I felt like I was in a mad scientist’s kitchen.

How cool is this, seriously?

My mom, of course, fell in love with the refinished, antique chair in the back of the cafe. It was gorgeous and vibrant, just like her! I bet she wishes it was in her interior design shop! I’d buy it in a split second…

Of course, coffee is delicious, but it’s not the real reason we spent a portion of our day at Cafe de Lion… The real reason: pastries, of course. Every day, the pastry chef (half of a the married team of owners) creates a new, amazing delicacy and presents it to their customers. Sometimes, it’s an experiment, sometimes, it’s an old favorite… But they’re always gorgeous. Today’s catch was a Caraibe and a Phyllo.

Caraibe from Cafe de Lion on Queen Anne

I only had one bite because it was so intense, but this was an orange-chocolate-maybehazelnut confection that was amazing! Really awesome texture, really awesome chocolate (really awesome plating).

Apricot Phyllo from Cafe de Lion in Queen Anne

This. Was. Amazing. I had one full bite, then ate the broken “chips” of pastry along with the amazing coffee from the vacuum brewer. Everything was so wonderful, but this pastry was my favorite. “Filled with fruit” is a bit misleading, as the sweetness is pretty intense. The almond pastry the “fruit” was wrapped in, though, was so light, and made a great contrast to the serious-face filling.

Now if only we could find a way to do this every day…