- Courtesy Patisserie Coralie
- Paris on My Lips at Patisserie Coralie
For a little while, life was perfect at Patisserie Coralie, the new French bakery/cafe in Evanston where Cafe Mozart used to be. There was a pain au chocolat on the marble counter in front of me, a cup of hot Julius Meinl coffee off to the side. The pastry was crisp and flaky. The coffee was rich and dark. Behind all that, downtown Evanston turning all fuzzy and blue in the December twilight. A couple chatted on the deep leather sofa, where I was afraid to sit because I knew I would get pastry crumbs all down my front. Judy Garland was singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” over the sound system. All was calm, all was bright. It was a perfect way to wallow in interholiday melancholy.
The only real disappointments were the plain croissant, which was soggy and tough, and the music. After “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” ended, “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” came on, and after that, it was nonstop holiday cheer at an unnecessarily loud volume. (I guess “Grandma” also has some underlying melancholy in that the family’s Christmas celebration is transformed into a wake and there’s debate about whether there should be presents, but really.) I just couldn’t take it. I suppose I’ll go back to Patisserie Coralie eventually, but not until the holidays are over.
