Tipsycakes, lamingtons, scones; Naomi Stepanek Rob Warner

October 20, 2006

Tipsycake
1043 N. California
773-384-4418

ON A SUNNY WEDNESDAY MORNING a Humboldt Park resident stopped by her new neighborhood bakery, Tipsycake, for a treat for her husband. She chatted with the owner, Naomi Stepanek. "You got to make me a German chocolate cake," she said. "But don't make it too good. 'Cause, see, I don't want him craving for your cakes more than he craves for mine." She was also there to pick up some more of Stepanek's scones. "I put it this way: she got me hooked," she told me.

Stepanek, a 33-year-old native of Sydney, is something of an ambassador for Aussie and English sweets in her new hood. One of several unusual specialties she offers are lamingtons, jam-filled rectangles of sponge cake soaked in chocolate and dredged in dried coconut. They're about the size of a doughnut and "just as common" in Sydney pastry shops, she says. She also offers pavlova, a meringue shell filled with fruit and whipped cream and claimed by both New Zealanders and Australians as a national dish; a Hungarian pancake pie, which is a nod to her mom, who left Hungary for Australia during World War II; and her personal favorite, banoffi pies and cakes, a traditional English recipe featuring a rich banana-caramel custard made with condensed milk and brown sugar.

Tipsycake, too, is a traditional English dessert, a sponge cake soaked in bourbon or brandy with pastry cream, preserves, whipped cream, and almonds. Stepanek found it listed in the Oxford Dictionary of Food and Nutrition while searching for a memorable name for her bakery. Then she learned how to make it. "It's a man's cake," Stepanek says of the not-so-sugary dessert. "We're doing an order this Friday for a 50th birthday party for men only."

Stepanek came to Chicago from Australia in 1999 to move in with James Stepanek, whom she'd met in a Yahoo chat room and stayed in touch with by phone and e-mail for three months. (They've now been married six years.) For a time she continued working as a sales rep for a toy manufacturer, but in 2004 she vowed to find a way to be her own boss. "I realized I didn't want to work for crusty old men again," she says.

Baking had always been a passion, so she enrolled in the Illinois Institute of Art's professional pastry program. While still in school she launched Tipsycake as an online business, selling made-to-order cakes, pies, and specialty treats for delivery in Chicago; James, a graphic designer, came up with the Web site. At first, Stepanek says, most of their customers were out-of-towners ordering for friends and family in Chicago.

As business trickled in, Stepanek, who was renting cooking space, searched for a permanent home for the bakery. Eventually she happened on a Craigslist ad offering ovens for sale and found that a former bakery owner was also looking to sell her two-flat on a stretch of California Avenue that -- with a handful of eateries and a bar in place already -- didn't take much imagination to envision as a bustling commercial strip in the coming years. In May, Stepanek and her husband bought the building. They opened Tipsycake for walk-in business in early September, offering Caffe Umbria coffee, Mighty Leaf teas, and a daily selection of fresh pastries. What you won't find is a display case of layer cakes and pies to go: each one is made to order and typically takes a day to turn around.

Stepanek is quick to credit Adriana Carrillo, her executive pastry chef, with being a better baker than she is. For her part Carrillo, also an IIA grad, acknowledges having become possessive about the kitchen. "I kicked her out," Carrillo says, smiling. "It's for her own good, you know; she's got things she needs to do." Stepanek nods. "It's hard for me to tell you she's a better baker than me, but there's one thing I bake that no one else can: scones." Sure enough, her scones are wonderfully craggy mounds, buttery rich and barely sweet, with a perfect crumbly texture. For 50 cents more Stepanek sells them with a daub of jam and fresh whipped cream.

Stepanek insists on high-end, imported ingredients -- Callebaut Belgian chocolate, Austrian preserves, and a French brand of coconut (the American stuff's too sweet, she says). But she's also happy to churn out novelty cakes for kids' birthday parties. "We can be upscale, and we can be good quality for the neighborhood," she says. She's befriended mothers from a nearby nursery school and is planning a weekly "brownies and books" storytelling session. One of her employees -- who comes to cake decorating from mural painting -- took trays of samples to Norwegian American Hospital and various businesses in the community. "People came in from the currency exchange," Stepanek says. "They'd never had a scone before." --Susannah J. Felts

Global Goodies

Cupcakes to tres leches to kremowka

Alliance Bakery
1736 W. Division | 773-278-0366
$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | MONDAY-SATURDAY 6 AM TO 9 PM, SUNDAY 7 AM TO 9 PM

This small bakery turns out a fine selection of delicious offerings: savory croissants, a flaky yet firm kolacky. A nutty six-grain bar ($1.75) salves one's conscience, while any chocolate item is rich and wonderful, most notably the chocolate souffle cake. Strong coffee and espresso drinks are available, in addition to Naked juices, hibiscus lemonade, and a few upscale sodas. The charming 1930s burnt-orange interior is warm and comforting. Claire Dolinar, Rater

Argo Bakery
2812 W. Devon | 773-764-6322
$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | MONDAY-SATURDAY 9 AM TO 7 PM, SUNDAY 9 AM TO 6 PM | CASH ONLY

The Georgian breads here are baked in a large brick dome called a tune, and the dough is stuck directly to the inner walls of the oven, as with Indian naan. The result -- which comes in a large round or a smaller torpedo-shaped loaf -- is soft, chewy, and incredibly flavorful. Other specialties include hachapuri, bread filled with mushrooms or a gooey combination of feta, mozzarella, and farmer cheese; lobiani, bread stuffed with cilantro-and-anise-spiced beans; and tapluna, a baklava with honey and walnuts. There's not an item over $2, and the turnover is so high that you stand a good chance of buying something hot out of the oven. Laura Levy Shatkin

Artopolis
306 S. Halsted | 312-559-9000
F 7.3 | S 6.7 | A 7.9 | $ (15 reports)
GREEK, MEDITERRANEAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: EVERY NIGHT TILL 11 | RESERVATIONS NOT ACCEPTED

This Greektown establishment combines a bakery, cafe, bar, and retail store under one roof. A heated display case shows off their signature "artopitas" -- flaky, calzonelike puff pastries stuffed with combinations like spinach and feta, mushrooms and Emmentaler, or smoked salmon and fontina. There's an extensive selection of soups, salads, and sandwiches on hearth-baked bread, plus wood-fired pizzas. A few traditional dishes like eggplant moussaka, stuffed peppers, and roasted leg of lamb with oregano, rosemary, and mint aioli are also available. Everything's reasonably priced, and it's self-service at lunch, when the place is usually packed. A subterranean bakery turns out fantastic breads and pastries, which are sold retail along with colorful gift baskets and a variety of chocolates, olive oils, and vinegars. Laura Levy Shatkin

Bittersweet
1114 W. Belmont | 773-929-1100
$
AMERICAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY | RESERVATIONS NOT ACCEPTED

The delectable sweets of Judy Contino, former Ambria pastry chef and Lettuce Entertain You corporate pastry chef, are the attraction at this Lakeview bakery -- that and the house-made ice cream, typically available in a half dozen or so flavors. Each day there's a light lunch menu -- a soup, a couple sandwiches, salads, and quiche. Dessert might be a rich butter-crusted apple bistro tart. But the absolute winner is the brioche, its buttery egg dough by far the best in town. Laura Levy Shatkin

Bombon
1508 W. 18th | 312-733-7788
$
MEXICAN | MONDAY-SATURDAY 7 AM TO 8 PM, SUNDAY 10 AM TO 7 PM

The cheerful yellow walls here are decorated with tin molds and photos of Mexican markets collected by owner Laura Cid-Perea during her career as a pastry chef in Paris, Mexico City, and Chicago. This panaderia, co-owned by Laura's husband Luis Perea (Bombon Cafe), is in a class of its own, creating magnificent special-occasion cakes (several models of which are on display) and mouthwatering, painstakingly detailed individual pastries. Mocachino is a pecan pie with layers of coffee cream and chocolate ganache; tres leches is a rum-soaked cake layered with several flavors of whipped cream; and the tartaleta de limon is a miniature key lime pie topped with marble-size dollops of browned meringue. There's also a heavenly rustic apple tart with hazelnut cream and melt-in-your-mouth macaroons and polvorones de avellana (hazelnut cookies). Laura Levy Shatkin

Bombon Americano
1000 N. Clark | 312-787-7717
$$
AMERICAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH: SEVEN DAYS; DINNER: MONDAY-SATURDAY

Most restaurant expansions merely replicate a formula, but the owners of Bombon have brought something new to each new endeavor. The third outpost of the Pilsen bakery -- with co-owner Laura Cid-Perea partnering with her sister Gaby Zorrilla -- tweaks the formula to serve its near-north clientele, serving American-style creations that use Mexican flavors as an accent rather than a foundation. The compact corner space, decorated in colorful pastels, offers breakfast, lunch, and an array of des-serts. At breakfast there are omelets and homemade breads with elaborate toppings like the Tarzan (caramelized bananas, peanut butter, and raspberry jam) and the J-Lo (cranberries, cinnamon, and goat cheese). Although diners can custom-build their own sandwiches, the 13 menu offerings, served on fresh baguettes, seem the way to go. The Big Ben piles on tender roast beef, provolone, mesclun, and red onion and gets a boost from a delightful avocado spread, which also comes on the Little Italy, chunks of chicken breast with Asiago. Bombon's signature pastries fill a refrigerator case, with whimsical spins on cupcakes, tarts, and elegantly decorated single-serving cakes, such as a rich red velvet cake and an airy Boston cream pie. Peter Margasak

Caribbean American Bakery
1539 W. Howard | 773-761-0700
$
CARIBBEAN | MONDAY-SATURDAY 8 AM TO 9 PM, SUNDAY 10 AM TO 5 PM

Beef pies -- flaky half-moons stuffed with mildly spiced ground beef -- are the real draw at this large Rogers Park bakery, and there's frequently a crowd of customers awaiting a fresh batch; flat, white coco bread is meant to accompany the pies. Most of the other island-inspired offerings here are sweet: bulla (spice cake); totoes (coconut buns); large squares of incredibly dense sweet-potato pudding studded with raisins and scented with almond; gaizzarda, a coconut tart topped with a maraschino cherry; and loaves of sweet gingerbread, here more like a tea cake. Laura Levy Shatkin

Cupcakes
613 W. Briar | 773-525-0817
$
BAKERY | MONDAY-SATURDAY 10 AM TO 7 PM | CLOSED SUNDAY

This tiny storefront was Chicago's first all-cupcake bakery. The treats are pretty good -- at $3 apiece, they'd better be. The frosting-to-cake ratio is high -- perhaps too high for some tastes. But the frosting itself, an Italian buttercream that's applied and garnished in the back of the store, is unusually light, at least in its nonchocolate manifestations. The carrot cake is dense and moist, while the peaches and cream is, in the words of a friend, "surprisingly light and breezy for a cupcake." The peanut butter-and-chocolate cupcake tastes like a supercharged Reese's cup; the apple pie a la mode is, to quote another volunteer taste tester, "more like spice cake or pumpkin than apple." The plain yellow cake is crumby and rich, with just a hint of lemon. The store also offers "pupcakes" -- doggie treats -- coffee, and lemonade. Martha Bayne

D'Amato's #1 Italian and French Bakery
1124 W. Grand | 312-733-5456
$
ITALIAN, FRENCH | MONDAY-FRIDAY 7 AM TO 7 PM, SATURDAY 7 AM TO 6 PM, SUNDAY 7 AM TO 2 PM | CASH ONLY

Loaves of all shapes and sizes fill the display windows at this long-standing Italian bakery, supplier to many area restaurants. Sesame-coated bread sticks are a specialty here; so is tomato bread, which also comes topped with olives or artichokes. Huge rounds of toast (frizelles) are sold by the bag, and there's thick pizza by the slice and a variety of tantalizing cookies, including plain or chocolate-dipped biscotti. Laura Levy Shatkin

Dinkel's Bakery
3329 N. Lincoln | 773-281-7300
$
GERMAN/AUSTRIAN | MONDAY-FRIDAY 6 AM TO 7 PM, SATURDAY 6 AM TO 6 PM, SUNDAY 9 AM TO 5 PM

This 80-year-old family business is now in the hands of a third-generation Dinkel, Norm, whose father moved the bakery here from across the street in 1947. And it holds true to the family's German roots with items like the old-world pumpernickel and strudel filled with poppy seeds, almonds, or walnuts. There's Black Forest cake and linzer torte; stollen, yeast bread studded with dried fruits and nuts, is available frozen year-round, as is the butter kuchen (like pound cake). Standard coffee cakes, sweet rolls, doughnuts, brownies, and sprinkled cookies are available by the dozen. Laura Levy Shatkin

Fontana
3424 W. Irving Park | 773-279-9359
$
EASTERN EUROPEAN | MONDAY-SATURDAY 9 AM TO 6 PM | CLOSED SUNDAY

The Serbian owners of this spiffy cafe and grill in Irving Park stock dry goods from the Balkans behind a display case of sweet and savory pastries with names light on vowels. Another case preserves cheeses, meats, and pats for custom sandwiches made with bread baked on the spot each morning. These include lepinja, a puffy, crusty discus of leavened glory that somehow encom-passes the best features of pita and English muffins. Sandwiches here are titanic: grilled chevapcici -- five fingers of unencased beef and pork sausage -- or a half-pound Serbian burger inserted between split and toasted buns. There's also a smoked pork tenderloin, a sandwich with pork kebabs wrapped in bacon, and one with smoked sausage, a curious but delicious tube steak that would be reminiscent of a Slim Jim if those venerable snax actually tasted of meat. There are also a couple of hot specials every day -- stuffed cabbage, paprikash -- and gargantuan burek under a heat lamp. Mike Sula

Julius Meinl Cafe
3601 N. Southport | 773-868-1857
F 7.8 | S 6.9 | A 8.0 $ (12 reports)
GERMAN/AUSTRIAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL MIDNIGHT

A classy place for those of moder-ate means, this is the first American outpost for Viennese coffee purveyor Julius Meinl. The coffee, served in huge cups, comes from beans roasted in Austria. Strong but not acidic, it's superb. The menu's tasty cafe fare: sandwiches (including one with European-style sausage, caramelized onions, apple-horseradish sauce, and Dijon mustard on a French roll), custardy quiches, salads, and a couple of soups. The quality is excellent, and prices are par for the neighborhood. The soups in particular are very good (e.g., cream of asparagus, cream of portobello). Of the six featured pastries, the Mohr im Hemd ("Moor in a nightshirt") is a must-try -- a small chocolate cake with a melted chocolate center, served with whipped cream and a tiny pitcher of warm chocolate sauce. There's also apple strudel, an espresso tart, and more. Service is modeled after that in European cafes, with waiters serving beverages and food on small shiny trays. Claire Dolinar, Rater

Kristoffer's Cafe & Bakery
1733 S. Halsted | 312-829-4150
$
MEXICAN, AMERICAN | MONDAY-FRIDAY 8 AM TO 9 PM, SATURDAY 8 AM TO 5 PM, SUNDAY 9 AM TO 5 PM | BYO

Lactose intolerants, consider yourselves warned. The tastiest dessert at this Pilsen cafe is the traditional tres leches cake, made with whole, condensed, and evaporated milk. Owners Carlos and Cristina Chavarria offer the classic vanilla rendition as well as a bouquet of variations, all startlingly moist. Cristina does the baking, a craft she learned while apprenticing at her sister's small home-based bakery in Guanajuato, Mexico. The tres leches recipe is her sister's, but Cristina's favorite dessert, flan with cheese, is her own creation. Made with cream cheese, it has an almost fluffy texture, like flan-flavored cheesecake. Besides breakfast, desserts, and Intelligentsia coffee, the menu offers standard sandwiches and salads, plus a couple of ethnic dishes. Tamales come in two forms: Mayan (wrapped in wet green banana leaves and filled with potatoes and chicken) and Mexican (bundled in the usual corn husks and stuffed with green peppers and cheese). Anne Ford

Kurowski's Sausage Shop and Rich's Bakery
2976 N. Milwaukee | 773-645-1692
$
POLISH | MONDAY-SATURDAY 7 AM TO 10 PM, SUNDAY 7 AM TO 9 PM

This Polish market is like a trip back in time: the variety of products offered puts many upscale grocers and specialty stores to shame. Over a dozen kinds of eastern European sausage hang behind the meat counter, and the shelves are filled with intriguing cans and jars. Rich's Bakery supplies only the bread -- two-pound loaves of rye and short white baguettes -- but there are racks full of goods from the nearby Laramie Bakery, which doesn't have its own retail outlet. Jablecznik is apple cake with a latticed pastry top; pychotka is layers of sponge cake separated by a fruit and custard filling. To make ptasie leczko, layers of marshmallow, vanilla pudding, and strawberry or orange Jell-O are formed into a loaf shape and cut into slices; I may not think it sounds good, but it must evoke fond memories for some. Laura Levy Shatkin

Letizia's Natural Bakery
2144 W. Division | 773-342-1011
F 7.7 | S 6.3 | A 7.3 | $ (8 reports)
ITALIAN, PIZZA | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: EVERY NIGHT TILL 11

Formerly a history teacher in Rome, Letizia Sorano opened her bakery and coffee shop in November 1998, shortly after she moved to the States. The "natural" in the name means no bleached flours, hydrogenated oils, or artificial colors or flavors; within these restrictions she regularly makes pies, cookies, biscotti, cheesecakes, and truffles (layers of sponge cake and ganache in flavors like raspberry and white chocolate). Also on the menu are 20 kinds of panini and pizza rustica with toppings including pesto, prosciutto, and kalamata olives. In summer there's outdoor seating on the sidewalk. Holly Greenhagen

Levinson's Bakery
2856 W. Devon | 773-761-3174
$
KOSHER/JEWISH | MONDAY-SATURDAY 6 AM TO 6 PM, SUNDAY 6 AM TO 5 PM

One of the original Jewish bakeries on this stretch of Devon, Levinson's has been in operation for more than 80 years. It offers cookies and bagels alongside other traditional goods: challah, braided coffee cakes with almond, apricot, and cherry fillings, and honey cakes topped with slivered almonds. There are several sinful pastries, like napoleons (crisp layers of pastry separated by layers of custard, fruit preserves, and chocolate mousse), plus mandelbrot and various rolls made with a sweet egg dough. Laura Levy Shatkin

Lutz Continental Cafe & Pastry Shop
2458 W. Montrose | 773-478-7785
$$
GERMAN/AUSTRIAN | MONDAY 7:30 AM TO 7 PM, TUESDAY-THURSDAY 9 AM TO 8 PM, FRIDAY & SATURDAY 9 AM TO 8 PM | CLOSED SUNDAY

The European dining room is currently closed for remodeling, but the always bustling bakery remains open, offering cakes, cookies, and lavish pastries worth every pfennig. Holly Greenhagen

Mariegold Bake Shoppe
5752 N. California | 773-561-1978
$
ASIAN | MONDAY-SATURDAY 8 AM TO 8 PM, SUNDAY 8 AM TO 6 PM

Tucked into a strip mall just north of Lincoln and California is this tiny Filipino buffet and bakery. Display cases are filled with gooey treats like turon, plantains wrapped in pastry and dipped in caramel; espasol, sweets made of rice flour and coconut milk; and karioka, dense, chewy rice flour balls, deep-fried and dipped in caramel. Pan de sal is a mild soft roll, and hopiang are savory round pastries filled with either mung beans or pork. Desserts include kutchinta, a kind of vanilla pudding, and bibingka, a small round cake cooked in a banana leaf and swirled with cream cheese. A buffet offers Filipino meat, chicken, and fish dishes. Laura Levy Shatkin

Middle Eastern Bakery
1512 W. Foster | 773-561-2224
$
MIDDLE EASTERN | 9 AM TO 8 PM SEVEN DAYS

It's tempting to fill an entire basket at this 22-year-old family-owned grocery, not only with fresh-baked breads, savory pies, and pastries but also with olives, ajvar (red pepper spread), a variety of grains, and other imported items you'd pay double for at a specialty market. Pitas include the traditional pocket along with a large soft loaf called tafton, a whole wheat pita, and barbari, a narrow flatbread topped with sesame seeds (and great for dipping into the homemade hummus sold here). The scrumptious pies come stuffed with eggplant, spinach and cheese, broccoli, or meat. You could easily throw together a vegetarian-friendly picnic here. Laura Levy Shatkin

Pasieka Bakery
3056 N. Milwaukee | 773-278-5190
$
POLISH/RUSSIAN/EASTERN EUROPEAN | MONDAY-SATURDAY 6 AM TO 9 PM, SUNDAY 7 AM TO 8 PM

This classic bakery is full of luscious treats: tall babka with poppy seeds, kolacky filled with sweet cheese and raisins, fresh plum tart, and apple squares. Kremowka, squares of pastry layered with vanilla custard and whipped cream, sit next to karpatka, a torte of chocolate and yellow cake with thick buttercream and pineapple pieces and topped with a wavy egg dough that peaks and drops in a spor-adic pattern. There are also crescent-shaped tea cookies oozing with apricot, prune, or poppy seed filling. Laura Levy Shatkin

Swedish Bakery
5348 N. Clark | 773-561-8919
$
SWEDISH | MONDAY-FRIDAY 6:30 AM TO 6:30 PM, SATURDAY 6:30 AM TO 5 PM | CLOSED SUNDAY

This famous Andersonville bakery has been around since the 20s; the Stanton family has run it since 1978. German-trained pastry chef Marlies Stanton also brings some French influences to the offerings here, many of which are classic Swedish favorites. Sweet items include julekaka, a bread full of cardamom, candied fruit, and raisins; drommar ("dreams"), small, round melt-in-your-mouth butter cookies; and pepperkakor, ginger cookies shaped into hearts. There's a Stockholm limpa, a sweet rye bread flavored with ground fennel, and bullar, plain or cardamom-spiced soft tea rolls. Skorpa, also known as rusks, are made from day-old bread that's sliced and slowly baked until crisp, then served with coffee. The list goes on, with seasonal pies, streusel coffee cakes, Danish sweet rolls, and log rolls in flavors like strawberry, marzipan, and lemon. It's always crowded here, and most customers are regulars. Laura Levy Shatkin

Sweet Mandy B's
1208 W. Webster | 773-244-1174
$
AMERICAN | SUNDAY-TUESDAY 8 AM TO 9 PM, WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY 8 AM TO 10 PM | RESERVATIONS NOT ACCEPTED

Awash in nostalgia, this Lincoln Park bakery values sweetness over subtlety, comfort over refinement. The place is adorably twee, with avocado green walls, sun streaming in from the storefront windows, hand-painted signs, and an old-fashioned milk-shake maker. In the display case are all the treats of our youth: s'mores, whoopie pies, peanut butter and jelly cake, tapioca pudding. The flourless chocolate cake is too gooey to be pretentious, and the cupcakes are pleasingly paradigmatic: unremarkable vanilla cake topped by a hill of sugary pastel buttercream and a few colored sprinkles. Anaheed Alani

Sweet Thang
1921 W. North | 773-772-4166
$
FRENCH | MONDAY-THURSDAY 7 AM TO 8 PM, FRIDAY & SATURDAY 7 AM TO 9 PM, SUNDAY 8 AM TO 8 PM | RESERVATIONS NOT ACCEPTED

For a bakery with a picture of the Eiffel Tower in its logo, Sweet Thang turns out a surprisingly so-so croissant. But executive chef Bernard Runo is known mainly for his spectacular wedding and party cakes, which he'll make in just about any shape and size. He's filled orders for cakes shaped like corsets, brains, sneakers, even Donna Summer. (He makes "erotic cakes," too, mostly for bachelorettes.) The 20-seat cafe, which also serves coffee, quiche, sandwiches, and panini, conjures the idea of Paris in a cartoony way -- everything's red and heart shaped and dimly lit. Pepe Le Pew would be right at home. Anaheed Alani

Swirlz
705 W. Belden | 773-404-2253
$
BAKERY | MONDAY-SATURDAY 8 AM TO 7 PM | CLOSED SUNDAY

The latest entry into the Chicago cupcake sweepstakes, Swirlz seems designed with franchise expansion in mind: from custom-made boxes to T-shirts, its branding is ubiquitous. The bakery offers ten rotating flavors daily (including one gluten-free and one sugar-free), but when I visited at around 3 PM one afternoon there were only five left. The cupcakes are gorgeously decorated, but the intensely rich buttercream became almost nauseating when I tried to eat two in a single sitting -- and at three bucks a pop that's probably not a good idea anyway. The cake was dense and a bit dry, with subtle flavor -- in the case of the carrot cake, way too subtle. Swirlz should put as much trouble into its product as it did its business plan. Peter Margasak

A Taste of Heaven
5401 N. Clark | 773-989-0151
F 8.2 | S 6.9 | A 6.7 | $ (17 reports)
AMERICAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL 11

This Andersonville cafe and bakery sells an array of rich treats, like raspberry crumble bars, orange poppy seed cake, giant sugar cookies, and heavenly mini apple pies, plus breakfast items like French toast, quiche, and a break-fast burrito, and lunch and dinner entrees such as spinach lasagna, chicken potpie, soups, salads, and sandwiches with meat piled high on homemade bread. The room is lovely and spacious, with natural light streaming in through two walls of windows. Laura Levy Shatkin

Send a letter to the editor.