While France is well known throughout the culinary world for its excellent food, it undeniably sits near the top of the league, if not at the very peak, when it comes to desserts and pastries. From the humble croissant and crepe, through to more elaborate cakes, France is stunningly, gloriously, sweet.
Located near the bustling Culver Steps is the Sweet Lily Bakery, one of two locations in the Los Angeles region. The place is spacious and hyper-clean, but the desserts and pastries behind the glass are all supreme tantalizing. The talent behind Sweet Lily is Thibaut Leymarie and Marine Le Faucheur.
“Marine, originally from Cannes, South of France, has been in the food industry for over 15 years,” they say online. “After taking a 15 month solo backpack world trip and having a baby, she was now ready to accomplish this next big life adventure. Her fearless sense of adventure and courage is what brought her here today. Thibaut, has 26 years of experience as a pastry chef and baker. He owned two successful bakeries in Paris with whom he won “Best chocolate eclair of Paris”. He then decided to leave everything behind to conquer his American dream and bring his talent and determination to LA. He is more than ready to amaze Californians with his passion and art.”
Apparently, Leymarie is an award-winning creator or eclairs, and he can make them in all manner of artistic shapes. With that sort of praise in mind, we had to try one.
The surprise came with the cream, which was chocolate. Ordinarily, at least in our experience, eclairs are filled with fresh, white, traditional cream. Occasionally, they might be filled with custard if the pastry chef is feeling imaginative. But usually just cream. So the chocolate cream was a surprise, and it was delicious. Light but also rich and full of chocolatey flavor.
The pastry too is light and flaky;soft to the bite with the slightest bit of initial resistance. The chocolate on top is thick and smooth. The whole thing is a piece of art.
We also tried the lemon tart, and that too was exquisite. Light, sharp and sweet, the lemon filling is absolutely note-perfect. Crisp and refreshing but also sweet and decadent. The crust is flakey and magical.
The people at Sweet Lily really are experts at their craft, dessert and pastry artists, and we bow down to their superior knowledge.
Sweet Lily Bakery is located at 9516 Culver Blvd., Culver City 90232. Contact 424-603-4064 or visit sweetlilyla.com.