Christmas Tradition Good Enough to Eat

Today in honor of the season, I would like to return my blog to a more local flare.

Yesterday when I went to town with the sole purpose of ordering our family's Bouche de Noelle at the Little Chef Pastry Shop, I was reminded of how lucky and beautiful this season is for so many reasons; the colorful lights, the Christmas decorations and of course, the gorgeous baked goods at Princeton's Little Chef bakery.

Little Chef is a quaint bakery on a small, tucked away road in town at 8 South Tulane Street. The Chef is a man of few words. He's an immigrant from Haiti, and clearly a family man with the walls of the shop covered by photos of his children and his impressive awards for the bakery.

I am unsure of where he received his training, but it is top notch quality. He sells the most incredible, scrumptious and authentic croissants, fruit pastries and French, high end bakery goods. The case is not crammed full, showing that everything in his shop is painstakingly prepared by him alone. He is the only one in the shop, save for the occasional helper behind the register, so this is business is all his own.

I love the story of an immigrant, who comes to this country, starts his own business and finds great success, and hopefully happiness too. Equally powerful to this story is the intertwining of immigration and Christmas - all in our local, successful and delicious bakery.

My family and I all love his holiday treats which are as festive as they are luscious. Honestly, the Bouche de Noelle is so stunning, and all of it is edible, which makes me hesitate to cut into it and eat. There is a sense of guilt at cutting into this man's artistic beauty, but the artistry isn't just in his creations, but in the flavor as well. Our favorite Bouche de Noelle is the chocolate raspberry. You can see last year's creation below.

Merry Christmas to all!