Big Joy's remodel and finally...a cronut from Paris Baguette

We didn't want to drive too far for dessert, so Big Joy it was...

I haven't been here since Bert's birthday and I always like looking at their cakes...

Their banner advertised the French Buche de Noel (Yule log)...

One major difference was that the cake and macaron display case was now gone and instead, a glass walled in area is set up. You can now see the goings on in the kitchen. Cathy from mmm-yoso told me about this change so I was curious to see it as well.

When C and I walked in, a worker was wheeling out a display shelf, perhaps en route to their second location at the old Zion, which is now the new U-Mart (as reported by Kirk earlier this week).

The menu board is still there and the family was quite busy. The father was supervising the placement of the wheeled racks while the daughters were filling customer orders, like ours. You can see a tray of macs in the back.

They always have so many good choices...



Another difference was that the shelf with baked goods that acted as a room divider of sorts is now gone (see old photo below):

(photo from my "Bert's Birthday Dessert at Big Joy" post, September 2013)

 and now there are three tables with their pastries.

Big Joy now has a more "open" and spacious feel.

Our cakes and coffees...

I love that coffee cup and saucer set with platinum scroll detail. It's "Love Story" by Mikasa. I checked and I remember looking last time I was here.

CAB's Strawberry cake, which was very light and spongy. We both liked this very much.

My Chocolate Raspberry which I had last time I was here.

Old habits die hard I guess.

This box of macs was CAB's (for her Mister)...

We shared a vanilla (the light aqua) and the strawberry (pink, duh).

Now that I've had macs from many other places, I would have to say that Big Joy's macs are not as good as Bouchon, ROCQ,  or Bon Epi's. Each of those patisseries all have their own flair for making macs though. I still like Big Joy's version, but not as much since they are not as flavorful as the others' I've had.

My car was still at the Zion lot and I thought I'd stop in to see what Paris Baguette had before heading home.

Well, well, well...lo' and behold, one of the hallowed cronuts "croissant donuts" that people were salivating over earlier this summer. There were to display cases with these, with signs that said "Limit 6 per person". A far cry from only one person at only 1 pm on Saturdays only or some other convoluted formula they had in doling them out.

I also saw this...and thought that Bert would want one since it's almond.

Guess who the hot dog bread was for? Except that she wasn't hungry for it later, so I ate it. Bad mom, haha.

As I snapped these shots, I contemplated going up north to see if  'lette's, the new macaron place in UTC was open...

That post is forthcoming...

Later on, back at home, the almond pastry...

which was delicious. I'm glad I got this one. I loved the caramelized top with the crunchy almonds. The almond filling inside was also quite nice. Bert really liked this and I hope they have it again next time I go.

Once again, their croissant donut which was very very rich tasting.

I only had a slice of it. You could see the flaky layers, but comparing it to the real cronut that Kirbie had from Dominique Ansel, the number of layers pales in comparison.

I'm glad I tried this at least once, especially after the hype died down. I can't believe that people in New York were willing to pay $30 for one of these. It's $3 here and a bit of an indulgence.

Last visit to Big Joy:
September 20123 for Bert's birthday...

Who else had the "croissant donut" (aka Cronut) from Paris Baguette?
Cathy first tried it earlier this summer, followed by Darlene and Kirbie...

My next destination, the #$%@ mall in search of macarons...