I cannot not tell you about Aux Merveilleux de Fred. I bought three small meringues to share with friends, and when sitting on a nearby park bench waiting for one of them to arrive, I dug into the first meringue. I don’t swear on this blog so I won’t share exactly what I said, but take it from me, a few expletives were uttered.

Then I dug, and dug, and dug, until the once beautiful box was scraped clean, and all that remained were a few bits of chocolate and cream so well-lodged in the corners, that even my extremely persistent digging with a little spoon wouldn’t release them. Then the box got tossed before the friend arrived so no one was the wiser, which goes to show how good intentions can so easily go astray.

I was thinking what a great idea this was: just do one thing, and do it perfectly. Each merveilleux is layers of croquant meringue and lightly sweetened whipped cream, and comes in just three flavors: chocolate, coffee, and speculoos (spiced). I think if Aux Merveilleux de Fred decided to open anywhere else, be it the Marais or Dubuque, Iowa, they would have lines around the block. And if they we anywhere closer to me, I swear, I’d be in that line a little more often than one would consider reasonable.