Bennison's Bakery and a high-rise on Davis Street in downtown Evanston. Photo: Eric Fredericks from Rancho Cordova, CA, United States / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Cold weather and the run-up to Mardi Gras, which fell on Feb. 17 in 2015, send Evanston residents to the bakery counter in search of two things in particular: paczki and king cake. A half-dozen shops from Central Street to Chicago Avenue were drawing the attention.
Bennison’s and the king cake
Bennison’s Bakery at 1000 Davis St. is the obvious starting point. The bakery has been in Evanston since 1938, according to Medill reporting, and it makes both a French-style king cake and an American one. The Daily Northwestern described the process in February 2015: the French version is a layered pastry with almond frangipane, while the American one is a braided, cinnamon-filled dough that rises for about two hours before baking, then gets a plastic baby tucked inside and a coat of frosting and Mardi Gras-colored sprinkles. Bennison’s sells the cakes only in season. Paczki, the filled Polish doughnuts traditional on Fat Tuesday, are the other draw.
Central Street and downtown
On Central Street, Sophie’s at 2901 Central St. took over the space that had been Rose’s Gluten Free Bakery. It stayed a gluten-free shop, selling cakes, cookies and pizza. Farther along at 2010 Central St., Tag’s was named a “Best Old-School Bakery” by the site Make it Better, which singled out its Florentine cookies.
Downtown, Patisserie Coralie opened at 600 Davis St. under restaurateur Pascal Berthoumieux, with French pastries and macarons on the case and Julius Meinl coffee to go with them. Hewn, at 10 Dempster St., drew a “best of” mention from Make it Better for its small-batch breads and sandwiches. The shop had also helped lead the push for Evanston’s first parklet the previous summer.
Pie in south Evanston
Hoosier Mama Pie Company at 749 Chicago Ave. brought a sweet-and-savory pie menu to the south end of town, paired with Dollop coffee. Pi Day, March 14, was only a few weeks off.
The February attention came from a mix of local and Chicago-area outlets. The Daily Northwestern ran its king cake feature on Feb. 12, and Thrillist wrote up Bennison’s paczki.
Details drawn from the Daily Northwestern, Medill News Service and shop addresses as listed in February 2015.
Rachel Lindqvist covers community life, the lakefront, dining and the arts for The Evanston Edge.
