Fondry

"The founders of Kumquat Coffee and Loquat Coffee opened a Highland Park bakery specializing in croissants. Fondry serves 13 croissant types, including plain, triple chocolate, ham and Gruyere, kouign amann, and a sweet flat version called keu-loong-gi in Korean. Though the lines cant get long, head to either cafe, where the croissants are on full display with a significantly shorter wait time." - Rebecca Roland

"The laminated masterpieces at Fondry come at a price, and we don’t mean the $7 they charge for a danish. There’s usually a long line at this Eagle Rock patisserie well before they open, which means planning your morning around these baked goods. But if there’s a kouign-amann worth the effort, it’s here. The tender spiraled bun pulls apart like a yarn ball with a gentle tug, and the lightly sugared crust crackles when you sink in your teeth. The rest of the buttery pastries are just as transcendent, though you can skip the flattened croissant, which doesn’t offer much beyond wafer-like crunch. Fondry’s pastries can also be found at sibling coffee shops Kumquat and Loquat—again, just get there early. " - brant cox, sylvio martins, arden shore

"Fondry is only open three days a week (with a three pastry per person limit), but don’t let the scarcity deter you—the plain croissant at this Eagle Rock bakery is what all laminated dough wants to be when it grows up. The blonde, diamond-shaped pastries shatters under the weight of a single fingertip, with a crunchy crust that gives way to big, airy holes and a subtly sweet interior that’s cobweb-delicate. Arrive early on a weekend morning and round out your order with a kouign amman and pan suisse, or cross your fingers that Fondry’s coffee shop siblings Loquat and Kumquat have some pastries in stock." - sylvio martins, garrett snyder, brant cox

"The kouign-amann we ate from this Eagle Rock bakery by the Kumquat people was up there with the best we’ve had in our carb-eating careers. But it came at a price. Not just the $7 we paid for it, but the hour we spent in line with 40-ish other people who huddled outside the storefront. Despite getting there a half-hour before the bakery opened at 9am, the day’s selection was nearly wiped out by the time we reached the counter to order. Could any baked good be worth this much hassle? The answer, unfortunately, is yes. If you have no tolerance for lines, you’ll be better off coming to Fondry in a few weeks (or months) when they’ve scaled up production or expanded their limited weekend hours. But if you love golden, laminated masterpieces, consider waking up early with comfy shoes on for their croissants. The peel-apart layers of nearly translucent, buttery dough unravel like cotton candy. The same goes for the spiral-shaped, just-sweet kouign-amann that’s lightly sugared but still crackles loudly when you bite in. You can skip the gimmicky flat croissant, though, which doesn’t offer much beyond wafer-like crunch. Just be aware of the high stakes. We were the second-to-last customers served, which means the dozens of people behind us went home croissantless. You can also find the same pastries at Loquat and Kumquat, but supply is even more limited." - Sylvio Martins

"AJ Kim and Scott Sohn, the founders of Kumquat Coffee in Highland Park and Cypress Park’s Loquat Coffee, recently opened a bakery specializing in croissants in Highland Park. Fondry (a combination of fond and foundry) debuted on April 20, 2024, to a line of customers eager for a taste of pain au chocolat and kouign amann, and sold out in just 90 minutes on its first two days of business. Kim and Sohn are partnering with Ivy Ku and Travis Chan on the project. Ku studied baking at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris before baking professionally in Hong Kong, while Chan came on to support bakery operations." - Rebecca Roland