Forest Bakery Oak Park!!!!!
Praise GOD!
Have you been???
Have you been to the quaintest, most precious, culinary delightful bakery in…the entire world? (Ok, maybe not the entire world, but I can say, from my world perspective, this is true).
I tried to go to one of the bakeries in Oak Park, that I have not gone to in years, but when I got there, it was closed (when it is supposed to be open on Saturday).
Not giving up, I still wanted a sweet treat to drink with coffee.
“Where can I go?” PAPA (GOD) popped into my mind, the new bakery I had heard about and then saw a couple of weeks ago, a line out the door, the day before Thanksgiving. (HE brought the memory to the forefront of my mind after I asked.)
“Ahh, Yes! I wanted to try them out.”
It is so tiny, literally, I think the width of the store front might be 15ft wide. When you approach, the air is scented with sugary butter, notes of fresh cofffee, cinnamon, and spices I can’t describe. Before I walked in, I knew by the aroma, that whatever is inside, will be delicious.
The storefront is adorable, adorned with local artisan products, bakery logo apparel, quality coffee, and local farm products (like cheese, eggs, and spinach) you can purchase.
I walk in, about an hour and a half after opening, and over 70% of the bakery case has already been cleared out.
I expressed to one of the owners, that I have never been there and asked what to try. (I knew she was an owner because of the confidence and love for what she is doing in her eyes).
She was kind, and humbly smiled, shrugged her shoulders while examining the case, she was unable to give a recommendation.
I immediately understood the non-verbal communication, she was being truthful and couldn’t make a recommendation because she knows, everything here, is a good choice.
I chose an apple butter almond vanilla custard danish and a slice of poppy lemon bread. Was blessed with slice of pumpkin loaf.
She nodded her head with approval. (kinda like, yeah, that’s gonna be delicious-you will be back).
My plan: I would try something today and another day, when the family is all together, I could bring them back if, the Forest Bakery had my stamp of approval.
Also my plan: With the best of intentions of just tasting it, and saving the rest of it, to when I get home, I began to drive.
I had the pre-meditative thought of sitting down with the relaxing cup of drip coffee I purchased, and I took a bite.
“Wow! This is exquisite!” (I don’t know what I was expecting, something tasty or good would have been sufficient). But the crispiness, the delicate layers of buttery goodness, the clear distinct vanilla flavors burst through-Oh I don’t even know if I will make it door to door to my house, which is only 5 minutes away.
I had clearly mistook this bakery as a local neighborhood bakery, instead of a portal to premiere bakery in France.
While trying to savor the flavors, the fruit explosions of the apple butter, I devoured the entire good within minutes from the bakery to my home.
Turn around! Get the entire family a danish, this experience is too good for only myself. How could I go back home raving and not have a morsel to share?
I quickly drove back.
Was probably only gone for 5-7 minutes.
Within minutes, they had sold out.
They apologize in a way, that demonstrated that they have had to say this line so many times. “We are sorry, it sells out quickly. First come, first serve, but we will have…”
I get it. Hats off to you. So proud of you all for making your dream come true. We all get it. We will be here early.
Bottom line.
We can’t all go to France, but you should go, get to Forrest Bakery, and try one of their phenomenal baked goods. Then you too, can have an experience like I have now just had. Go check them out on Instagram.
Well done, Humna, Jo, Kyle, and crew.
Thanks to you, we get to experience culinary excellence from flavors around the world, on our side of the world.
GOD Bless You and Enjoy!
Get. The. Danish.
AND…anything else.
Worth. EVERY. Cent.