Peach Perfect
Croute’s pistachio-and-peach Bostock Tony Valainis
From a young age, Hattie McDaniel knew she wanted to follow in her great-grandmother’s footsteps by working in the restaurant business. Now, she is the executive pastry chef for the newly opened Croûte Baking Company (320 N. Meridian St., 317-378-7274), which functions as a training and production facility for local Cunningham Restaurant Group sites, a creative space for CRG chefs to invent new dishes, and a bakery for passersby to purchase grab-and-go items, such as croissants, Danishes, coffee, and sandwiches. This pistachio-and-peach Bostock is as if “baklava and French toast got together and had a baby,” McDaniel jokes. Local peach jam and pistachio frangipane are layered atop honey syrup–soaked challah bread and baked together.
