Pastry Pride

There was a time, not so very long ago, that New Englanders’ diets were tasty but predictable—a steady diet of meat and potatoes, occasionally leavened with a little seafood. But the increasingly mobile world population has brought a demand for more cosmopolitan fare.

We may not be able to sip lattes at a Parisian bistro or gaze at elegant gateaux, croissants and eclairs through the sparkling windows of a Left Bank patisserie but we can taste the real thing by traveling no farther than Great Barrington MA.

There, patrons can enjoy the luscious pastries created by executive pastry chef Jean Yves Bougouin, who has more than 40-years-experience creating traditional European desserts for such luminaries as Paul Newman, Julia Child, Raquel Welch, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren.

Bougouin, who was top in his class at the famed Ecole Jean Ferrandi in Paris, refined his skills in bakeries throughout Europe before working for eight years at the four-star La Grenouille in New York City. He went on to open his own patisserie on Long Island, which proved so successful that four other locations and a wholesale outlet soon followed. His bakeries provided desserts for all the major European airlines and all presidential flights departing New York City.

But with a new marriage came a desire for a slower life in the bucolic Berkshires. He and his wife, Yulia Bougouin, now parents to two small children, established Patisserie Lenox in 2011. “We were just walking in Lenox, not even thinking of opening a place,” said Yulia. “Then we saw a spot that we thought would make a good patisserie.”

Life in the Berkshires mirrored that on Long Island. “As soon as it opened, it took off,” said Yulia. In 2013, they opened a second Patisserie Lenox on Main Street in Great Barrington, followed by a third in Hudson in 2015 and a fourth in North Hampton MA in 2017. “Now we are done,” she said, adding that her husband has her help in the new endeavor, which lightens his workload. While he and his staff create the sweet treats, she manages their full-service café.

“All the pastries he makes are pure French,” observed Yulia. “He was born and raised in France and uses traditional recipes.”

Patisserie Lenox, 313 Main St, Great Barrington, 413-591-8747.

Farther south, sweet seekers can find cases full of temptation at the Blackberry River Baking Company, run by Sam and Audrey Leary on East Main Street in Canaan. Like the Bougouins, the Learys have expanded beyond the walls of their original café which, in addition to the pastries and cakes, provides breakfasts and lunches. Their pretzels and desserts such as gluten-free pecan pie and pumpkin cheesecake are also served at their sister restaurant, the Blackberry River Bistro, on Main Street in Canaan. In addition, they sell their products through Rubiner’s in Great Barrington and Millerton Mercantile in Millerton NY.

“We make everything from scratch—our cakes, buttercreams, fillings and ganaches,” said Sam Leary. Decorations range from images drawn in chocolate to buttercream flowers to simple text with edible glitter.

Audrey Leary studied at the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan and many of her creations have a European flavor. She has worked for Baked, a bakery and café with outlets in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Tokyo, and Greene Grape in Brooklyn where she was the first pastry chef in its Annex. She is noted for her French macarons which she created for perfume launch parties staged by BVLGARI.

Again, like the Bougouins, the Learys came to the Northwest Corner to raise a family. “We didn’t want a bakery in New York,” said Sam Leary.

They began a hunt for a location and soon discovered the Canaan bakery. Its owner wanted to sell and they wanted to buy. Success came knocking at their door and less than a decade later, they have been able to purchase the building.

It may have been opportunity that brought them to the area, but they, too, are enjoying the lifestyle. “We loved the area and the pace of life,” he said.

Blackberry River Baking Compny,18 East Main St, Canaan, 860-824-8275.

Just eight miles away, Salisbury residents can sip coffee in the sunshine and enjoy the pastries created at Sweet William’s Bakery where executive chef Jason Young offers a wide variety of pastries including scones, biscuits, muffins, croissants, Danish, turnovers, made-from-scratch layer cakes, pies, pound cakes, brownies, cupcakes, tarts, cookies and more. “And,” he adds, “we make the best coffee and tea drinks around.”

Young works with two Lee, MA-based businesses--Barrington Coffee Roasting Company and High Lawn Farm—to source top -quality ingredients needed for his brewed coffee and espresso beverages. Loose-leafed teas come from Harney & Sons, Rishi Tea and Numi Organics.

Young, raised in Iowa, came East hoping for a career in the arts. Finding the cost of living too high for his theatrical earnings, he got a job in the financial world, which he found “awful.” An ad for a box office manager at Barrington Stage introduced him to the Berkshires in 2003.

A year later, he decided to make the area his home. He took a job as a baker’s assistant and had the kitchen in his Housatonic condo certified so he could bake commercially from home. He debuted his line of Sweet William’s cookies at the Berkshire Botanical Garden’s annual Harvest Festival in 2004. From there, the rest is history.

He moved production to Pittsfield, and then to Falls Village, where he expected to market his goods wholesale to area businesses, but locals lined up, demanding to be able to buy his baked goods. A move to a more visible space on Main Street in Salisbury followed, where his selection changes with the season. Among the favorites: layer and specialty cakes, a plethora of pies, tarts, cookies, cupcakes and more.

Sweet Williams Bakery, 17 Main St, Salisbury, 860-435-3005.