I saw this adorable house converted into a Swiss pastry store during a BCO bike ride from Onion Creek to Urban Harvest Farmers Market. There were homey hand-written signs, the Swiss flag banner, and this lady standing on the porch waving at us as we rode by. I already knew that this would be a cute pace with sincere, friendly service. I immediately made a mental note to return. I did and am so happy to have done so!
This place is owned by a Swiss family who used to have a bakery long ago but now sells Swiss pastries wholesale to various grocery stores and for holidays. They decided to open a this neighborhood store to bring their unique Swiss pastries to the community. They host birthday parties, have chocolate bar making classes, and host special Swiss raclette dinners. Sylvia and Lance welcomed me in with much enthusiasm and immediately began to show me around. As we looked around, admiring the adorable Swiss decorations, Lance told us that the red chairs with the Swiss symbol were specially ordered and made in Houston for them. There were cuckoo clocks on the walls, paintings of the Swiss countryside, and more adorable Swiss decorations. It really makes you feel like you are in another country!
They explained how a few rooms is for the various classes and parties, and these rooms people tend to come in for a nice communal Swiss breakfast. They explained that they sell Danish style filled croissants, pretzel-shaped butter cookies, key lime cheesecakes, apple strudel, quiches, sweet breads, and more. All the pastries looked so good. Sylvia explained that the Danish style of croissant is different than French and American, plus they had the option of hazelnut or almond fillings. She immediately got excited and gave us samples of the croissants and butter cookies. I loved the hazelnut-filled one and loved the butter cookies. The almond one was good as well, but hazelnut was better. The prices are affordable too: :$2.50 for the filled croissants and $1 for the cookies. They also left gingerbread men for sampling at the front. They also offer espresso so you can sit down and enjoy the pastries there. I want to return to try the apple strudel!
Sylvia showed us a giant gingerbread man that you can decorate in one of the parties. It is actually a traditional lebkuchen, not gingerbread, dough. This is a flavor and texture that old-world Germans may be familiar with and enjoy, but I warn Americans who are used to butter and sugar-laden gingerbread, that this is not what that tastes like. This particular lebkuchen is denser, less sweet, and has a strong anise flavor, which is like the original recipe. Don't let this turn you off; the dough is more structural than edible for the purpose of the gingerbread man-decorating and gingerbread house-making parties.
All-in-all, my first experience was absolutely charming. Sylvia's father even came in and chatted with some other Swiss people. It is such a cute neighborhood place with good pastries and is a great place to host kid's parties or attend a fancy Swiss dining experience. I highly suggest stopping by!
*PS, as of this post, it is only open Saturdays from 9am-2pm. read more