Pix Patisserie
3901 N. Williams- Portland
3402 SE Division – Portland
$2
NOTE: Passover-friendly No flour, no leavening. Contains only almond flour, egg whites, sugar, butter, flavoring.
I hate to begin on a negative note, but I feel the need to preface this review with this piece of information: I don’t like Pix very much. I’ve tasted many desserts from this much raved-about Portland dessert mecca over the past several years that have been either stale or tasted like refrigerator (or both), or were just simply not delicious. (Don’t even get me started on the piece of crap “ghetto cake” (their words, not mine) that my friends and I picked up on New Year’s Eve. Unless you really want to hear about it, in which case I’ll happily explain. For now, I can tell you that it went straight into the garbage after one bite. We really wanted to eat some great cake at the stroke of midnight along with our prosecco, but thanks to Pix, it didn’t happen. That shit was dry as a bone and had as much flavor as a rice cake…with perhaps a small dollop of jam. No joke. I’d wager it had been sitting in the case for not less than 5 days by the time it ended up in our hands. I’m still sort of burnt up about it, if it isn’t obvious.
However, being that Pix is near my house and a convenient (and actually very pleasant and cute) meeting place for a late night drink and sweet, I do end up here from time to time.
And when I do, I stick to the macarons. Because this is the one thing that they do quite well – if they’re not stale, that is. Just make sure to ask how old they are before you buy one, because frankly, $2 is a little steep for a cookie that’s no bigger than an Oreo. And yes, I get the fact that they are labor intensive cookies, so I can swallow the $2 price tag.
While I’ve yet to experience real deal macarons from THE source (Laduree in Paris), I have had them at several different bakeries in the U.S. I would put Pix’s near the top of the list (of what I’ve tasted) of domestic macs.
I suppose my Pix Patisserie thesis statement, in a nutshell, would be this: Pix desserts: not loving. Pix macarons: MAIS OUI! Enough said.
Some of my favorite Pix macs have been:
MAPLE BACON (yes, this is the flavor I bought today, this 6th day of Passover. What? You think that (tiny spec of) bacon (see below) somehow negates its kosher-for-Passover properties? Whatever. It was maple-y. And bacony. And I liked it.
SHERRY ALMOND (top photo) – with Lustau Palo Cortado Sherry butter cream, topped with a Marcona almond. This may be my very favorite. The sherry flavor is earthy and almost savory, coupled with the marcona almond, it acts as a perfect foil against the sweetness of the cookie. Transportive.
APPLE PIE – much better than it sounds. It somehow tastes exactly like apple pie, while containing zero amount of apples or pie crust, as far as I can tell. I’m still scratching my head over this one.
SCOTCH WHISKY – made with Springbank 10 single malt Scotch whisky. Deep and delicious.
SALT, PEPPER and OLIVE OIL – sea salt and black pepper studded, filled with Castillo de Canena Picual extra virgin olive oil butter cream.
See here for additional flavors and photos.
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