I suppose Tiffany and Co. is not the only place that puts girl’s best friend in a cute little blue box and puts a ribbon on top. Pastries you’d find inside the baby blue box from Boule are as magnificent, mesmerizing, promising … and very delicious (oh yeah, and much more affordable).

And delicious they are, especially its beautiful selection of macaroons which have the perfect combination of subtle sweetness and melt-in-your-mouth airiness. For some reason, finding a great maracoon was always a real challenge for me, despite the fact that there is a plethora of wonderful patisseries in the city. So finding Boule and experiencing its French almond cookies was definitely a pleasant surprise. My favorite was the lavender one (pictured above, in light purple).

I stopped by the boutique on La Cienega the other day on my way back to work and my friends and I ate the desserts at the office (which would explain the awful Dixie plates you see here). After sampling all the pastries and critiquing each one alas Iron Chef style (where we would use bizarre adjectives that make no sense to describe the flavor and the texture), we found the apple caramel tarte thing (left, bottom) to be our favorite. It had the interesting combination of tang and sweet which we found refreshing. I really enjoyed the texture of the buttery shortbread crust of the fruit tart also which provided the sophisticated richness to the pastry.

You can’t really go wrong with anything you try here. I also recommend its timeless Fleur de Sel Caramels (top left) as a gift, or for yourself … and you can probably guess who I bought it for 🙂

Boule
408 La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048
★★★★☆

Update: It’s sad to report that Boule has closed its door … according to the Los Angeles Times article, owner David Myers and baker Hidefumi Kubota have decided to concentrate on their other venture, Comme Ca Bakery.  Let’s take a few second for a moment of silence and remember its wonderful macaroons.