With the launch of Toni Patisserie & Café, pastry chef Toni Marie Cox brings a suburban staple to the big city—and helps take the Loop’s breakfast, lunch, and sweet-treat offerings to the next level. Cox, the brains behind the original Hinsdale branch of Toni Patisserie, also helmed the pastry program at the Mayfair Regent Hotel and the Disneyland Hotel in Paris, and with her new city digs, she’s created an expanded version of her original shop. But unlike Cox’s pastry-focused suburban outlet, her downtown café offers a large array of lunch and dinner items as well, including sandwiches, salads, and savory plates of meats and cheeses—and of course, there are plenty of decadent pastries to satisfy the sweet tooth. Domestic ingredients prepared in European fashion (butter with a lower moisture content, for example) and imports from across the pond (think chocolate and jam) distinguish the bakery’s wares with an authenticity one would need a plane ticket to replicate. The new bakery’s design also restores some of the landmark building’s original features (such as the Art Deco-style curved walls, cove molding, and revolving doors), which perfectly complement the 30-seat, French-inspired café. 65 E. Washington St., 312-726-2020
