I’m no stranger to the Gallery Pastry Shop, but all previous visits have been quick lunchtime stops for goodies from the pastry case, including a hunt for Indy’s best macarons. This was my first time coming in for “real” food, and I couldn’t have been more excited!
It was prime brunch time at the Gallery when I arrived, and I was worried space for two would mean a long wait. Fortunately, there were a couple of spaces available at the bar area where you could watch the kitchen while you eat, and after just a couple minutes wait to have the area cleared, we were sitting down perusing menus.
I generally only sit at kitchen-facing bars when I’m traveling, in an effort to have someone to chat with and something to watch so it doesn’t feel so lonely eating alone — it was fun to do sit at the bar, even with someone to accompany me. Something about watching people make the food I’m going to eat just makes it that much more delicious.
I started my brunch experience by asking about all of the lattes. Our server gave some a couple of recommendations, but also told me that there were ingredients in the kitchen to whip up a fun mint basil latte! I couldn’t turn down a custom drink with two ingredients I love, so I tried that first. It was light and smooth, though I did wish I had gotten an extra shot of espresso to make it a little bolder.
For my second caffeinated drink, I went with the lavender pear latte and it was absolutely amazing! Perfect blend of flavors and very well-rounded, medium brew. I would absolutely stick with this choice in any future visits to Gallery Pastry Shop… it was SO good.
On to the food… I ordered the Croissant with Bruleed Tulip Tree Trillium, honey, pecan, mixed berry compote, scrambled eggs, Smoking Goose jowl bacon and hash browns. It sounds like a ton of food because it WAS a ton of food! The croissant itself could have been a meal, and eggs, bacon & hash browns together could have been a separate meal — I ended up taking half home.
And, of course, I couldn’t leave without grabbing a few goodies from the pastry case. There were a lot of tempting options in the case, but after already over-indulging, I limited myself to two desserts to take home.
My first pick was a dessert consisting of mandarin mousse, pecan carrot cake and caramel creme brulee with an orange glaze.
The second dessert I chose was the opera cake, consisting of layers of almond sponge, chocolate ganache and coffee buttercream.
I can’t recommend Gallery Pastry Shop highly enough for brunch, lunch or even just to grab some coffee & dessert! I just wish it was closer to my house so that I could visit more often.
