Week before last Bobby Law had a trip to San Francisco for business. He was only there for 36 hours or so but I begged asked him nicely to make a visit to Miette for me. Everything on this bakery's website looks so, well, pretty. Reminds me of a Wayne Thiebaud painting...
I requested macarons, figuring that they are compact and would travel well. I had visions of a rainbow of chewy almond and sugary confection bliss, like these I sampled at Amelie's in Charlotte back in April...
Unfortunately, not so much. To be sure, the adorable brown box with the Miette sticker looked promising. However when I opened it expecting a rainbow and instead got...
Ok, so they don't use artificial colors, can't blame them for that. Bobby Law told me he got several flavors including Vanilla, Pistachio and Rosewater Geranium. Ebby and I sampled a bunch of them. The chewiness was good, the texture more mealy than the macarons at Amelie's. The taste? Not my cup of tea. A couple of them were fine (Raspberry, Hazelnut) but the Rosewater Geranium one literally tasted like soap to me. I don't think my palate is quite sophisticated enough.
Moving on, Bobby Law brought home another little treat from Miette: Lavender Shortbread. Again, wonderful packaging. Love the polka dots and the lilac colored Miette sticker. But again, the taste reminiscent of soap. The shortbread itself was rich, buttery and melt in your mouth. It was the lavender that I wasn't really digging.
Over the course of a few days did we manage to finish all the shortbread and all the macarons? Well, yes of course we did. Far be it from me to let baked goods that've traveled over 3,000 miles go to waste.
While I was disappointed with these Miette treats I would most certainly visit the bakery myself the next time I make it to San Francisco. I mean really, it would only be fair. To both of us☺.😉
