Macaron Day PDX: March 20, 2015

If you know me at all, you know that macarons are like, my favorite thing ever. 

I first fell in love with macarons when I was studying abroad back in 2007 and have been obsessed ever since.

#TBT to little Katie in Paris:

It's been easier and easier to get a good macaron stateside since they've become so popular in the last few years- and I'm definitely not complaining! In Portland, we now have enough pastry shops making macarons that such a thing as Macaron Day PDX has reason to exist.

Here's the deal: On March 20th, participating bakeries and patisseries will give a free macaron to customers who donate to Meals on Wheels (there is a $2 suggested minimum donation). Twelve different shops are participating with some locations making special macarons for the event.

I'll include a full list of participants below, but here are my top three picks for can't-miss macarons in Portland:

Nuvrei (NW 10th Ave)

Kel and I wrote about Nuvrei recently when we checked out their new Mac Bar. Marius Pop, who owns Nuvrei, is actually the one who orchestrated Macaron Day PDX and Nuvrei will be giving out commemorative tote bags to the first 100 customers on March 20th (note: the Mac Bar opens at 9am).

Farina Bakery

I've shared my love for Farina Bakery and Laura's macarons before and I'd say that if you're only going to make one stop for Macaron Day PDX, Farina Bakery should be it. Laura's macarons are always the perfect texture (light crunch on the outside, moist and cakey inside) and she manages to pack loads of flavor into them too.

My current favorite Farina flavor is Honey Pecan (think Mexican wedding cakes but in macaron form), but you really can't go wrong.

Pix Patisserie (E Burnside St)

I will start off by saying that Pix's macarons can be hit or miss texture-wise. But, they have a lot of really fun, experimental flavors that you're not going to find at other patisseries (Meka Leka Hi Meka Hiney Ho macaron with absinthe and chocolate-covered Pop Rocks, anyone?).

Other Macaron Day PDX Participants:

The Cakery (SW Capital Hwy)

Frice Pastry (4082 N Williams)

Hungry Heart Bakery (SE 80th Ave)

Ken's Artisan Baking (NW 21st Ave)

Maurice (921 SW Oak St)

Papa Haydn (NW 23rd Ave & SE Milwaukie)

Pearl Bakery (NW 9th Ave)

Petunia's Pies & Pastries (SW 12th Ave)

St. Honoré (SE Division, NW Thurman & Lake Oswego)

Also, fun fact: Did you know I have almost as many pics of macarons on my phone as I do of my cat? Oh, did you want to see some more of them? Ok!

Doug likes canelés, so that's why there's a bunch of them in there too. Canelé Day PDX next?

Portland Bakery: Nuvrei's Mac Bar

What: Nuvrei's Mac Bar
Where: 404 NW 10th Avenue
When: 9-5pm Wed-Sun
Honeys Heart: Macarons and a surprise box of goodies! 

A few weeks back Katie and I had macaron overload (don't get me wrong, not a bad thing!) and attended Farina Bakery's opening one night and Nuvrei's new Mac Bar opening the next. Yes, we were lucky (and Katie was pretty much in heaven) with back-to-back nights of delicious macarons.

Nuvrei was celebrating the opening of their Mac Bar (more about that in a bit) but took the opportunity to also feature their other patisserie offerings. Upon arrival we were handed "passports" to get stamped at each station which included bagel sandwiches, croissants, a baked good, and of course macarons.

We started upstairs with the Pretzel Bagel Sandwiches.

Nuvrei offers 6 different kinds of bagel sandwiches in their cafe including salmon, avocado turkey, and fried egg. It's probably a good thing that neither of us work in the Pearl because these would be the most perfect quick lunch. 

Next up on our checklist were croissants and baked goods. 

As you can see, Nuvrei offers a ton of different croissants including chocolate croissants (so, so good), sesame thyme croissants, and walnut croissants. They also offer sandwiches with croissants, which I'm sure must be super tasty too. 

We also tried the Double Chocolate Brownie Cookie, which was essentially brownie batter in cookie form.Yum.

Last up was a trip downstairs to the Mac Bar for Nuvrei's famous macarons.

This new counter space will feature macarons, freshly-baked croissants, and drip coffee from 9am-5pm Wednesday-Sunday with fresh croissants baked until 2pm. The space is very small, so it's essentially just a cute, easy spot to duck into for a quick treat and coffee before heading back out into the Pearl.

Before taking off for the night, we could either select a pastry from Nuvrei's display case upstairs or get a surprise box. Of course curiosity got the better of us and we both went with a surprise box which included a couple croissants, a macaron, and Bacon Cheddar Biscuit. 

Katie and I have been to quite a few blogger events in the past couple of years but I have to say, this one was one of the more creative and fun events we've been to in a long time. The passport was super cute, gave everyone something to do instead of just hanging around, and was a great conversation starter too. Well done, Nuvrei! We'll definitely be back.