Amanda L.
Yelp
I understand the appeal of this place. This place screams AESTHETIC. It's decorated beautifully and thoughtfully and looks so attractive from every angle and in every post on Instagram, and they know exactly what they're doing! I saw posts of this place on Instagram and immediately wanted to visit. It's clearly inspired and modeled after Laduree, a popular French bakery, and so it's definitely fun to see a space like this randomly in Michigan. But it doesn't help that I have been to many Laduree locations in the past, so my brain just naturally jumps to comparing the two together.
It's definitely quite the drive from me, and it was worth the trip, but it's definitely overhyped as well. This place definitely focuses a bit more heavily on appearance rather than substance, so the food and service were a bit of a let down and just generally the Instagram vs. reality trap happened here. Up close and personal, you can tell that the furniture is worn and dirty. They have a lot of light-colored chairs that have seen a lot of butts, and in this age of the pandemic, I not only want to be located far away from everyone, I also certainly do not want to be seeing visible signs of dirt in places that serve food.
The flow of this patisserie is also a bit wonky. The order counter is right at front, but you have to walk the length of the store to look at the display cabinet so the line is very confused and a bit all over the place.
This also is a spot that is a bit too popular right now for the amount of seating it can handle. We had people overstaying their welcome long after they had finished all the food they had ordered, we had more people coming in and immediately snagging a table that was vacating before they had even gone up to the counter to place an order, so it was quite the mess and my friend and I were left waiting an abnormally long amount of time for a seat - well after all our food had been ready for us. We ordered a bunch, so we had to start eating some of it while we were just standing there, which felt so awkward. It also didn't help that we went on a rainy day, so their giant outdoor patio space was out of commission since everything was wet.
Food-wise, everything looks so beautiful and incredible, once again, but falls a bit short when it comes to taste. Nothing is bad! Just nothing is great either. Everything is solid to good, which is not bad. Perhaps my expectations were just a bit too high.
All of the people working behind the counter were super duper friendly. They were very understanding and apologetic about how busy things were and I give them a ton of credit and do not blame them at all for the slow service and the wonky seating. I know that kind of stuff is hard to manage. We did have a good amount of time just standing there to watch them fulfilling orders, and generally they do seem a bit disorganized, but I can tell they are doing their very best right now.
All in all, it's a fun experience, but I'd highly recommend going on a good weather day or an off-peak time. Our favorite dessert was probably their cake and I am definitely interested in getting one of their full cakes for a special occasion in the future. They look absolutely stunning!