Three women — an Australian, a Scot and a Brit — walk into Gerhard’s Bakery in Lake Forest on a beautiful autumn-like afternoon. But this is not a joke. This is what Leisa Barker, Jane Cumins and Emma Harris call “Cuppa Therapy,” a weekly tradition for the close-knit friends who meet here for tea (“on proper tea cups and saucers,” they underscore) and on this occasion, a doughnut.
There are many places in Lake Forest the trio could meet, but they would not be as genteel, as elegant, as European, they insist.
For 22 years, Gerhard’s owner Mary Greub has meticulously adhered to what she calls “Swiss standards” in preparation and presentation that were imported by her former husband, Gerhard, a pastry chef of the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago when they met.
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The Swiss, she explained, are known for quality, whether it’s chocolate or cuckoo clocks. “Our chocolate and marmalade are from Switzerland,” she said. “We use real butter, eggs and sugar. We do not use artificial flavors or preservatives. Our bread will mold. It should not sit on a shelf for a week and be fine for you to eat.”
Greub was formerly a comptroller and initially viewed the bakery as a good investment for herself and Gerhard, to whom she was then engaged. But in the past seven years since their “extremely amicable” divorce, she has fully embraced the role of proprietor and is a stickler for maintaining her ex’s high standards.
Prior to Gerhard’s, the space was occupied for two decades by Market Square Pastries. It was another bakery for 40 years before that. “There has been a pastry shop in this location for more than 80 years,” Greub said. “The karma is right.”
As is the community, she emphasized. “Lake Forest is a neighborhood in which people understand and respect quality. It’s an honor to be here.”
Gerhard’s is an oasis of rich cakes, cookies, tarts, rolls, croissants (with butter folded in three times during baking), muffins and Danishes. “We have a French customer who says that our croissants are the best outside of Paris,” Greub said proudly. “From a Frenchman, that’s a high-quality compliment.”
We haven’t even gotten to the refrigerated case that displays the several varieties of mousses, including the best seller, dark chocolate mousse. “The cheesecake is New York-style, light and creamy,” Greub said. “For our Tiramisu, we use Galbani Mascarpone, an Italian cheese instead of an American variety, which costs less, but doesn’t taste the same.”
An upscale bakery that serves such exquisitely rich fare would seem to be at odds over “healthy eating” trends. On the contrary, Greub insists. “People more than ever are paying attention to what is inside their food. If you’re going to indulge in something sweet, it should at least be made from real ingredients.”
There are desserts for every taste and price range. A doughnut is $1.97, the croissant $3.55. A chocolate chip cookie, baked in a ring, chewy on the inside and crisp around the edges, is $2.75. A dark chocolate mousse cake that serves six is $35.
Over the past 22 years, Greub and Gerhard’s have become neighborhood fixtures. Nearly everyone who walks by the shop, upon seeing her seated at a table, waves to her.
“They are like friends to me,” she said of her customers.
Cakes for all occasions are another way in which Greub and the bakery have forged ties with the community. “I started with high school girls,” she said. “I’ve since made their wedding cakes. Then they’ve had children and I’ve made their baptismal and birthday cakes.”
As if on cue, Angie Merrill, an expectant mother, comes in to order a gender-reveal cake. From Merrill’s doctor, Greub will learn the sex of the baby before Merrill or her husband. When it comes time for the big reveal and they cut into the cake, it will either be blue for a boy or pink for a girl.
“That’s the glory of this,” Greub said. “I see generations growing.”
Hours: 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays. Closed Sundays and Mondays.
Gerhard’s is at 720 N. Western Ave., Lake Forest. Call 847-234-0023 or go to www.gerhardsdesserts.com.
Donald Liebenson is a freelance writer.