Remember your trip to Paris and that amazing patisserie that you loved? Well now you can recapture the memory without having to fly to France or put up with the French. Hereghty (pronounced harrah-tee) in Glenwood Village captures the sleek contemporary feel, charm, aromas, and of course the amazing tastes of a modern french patisserie. One trip and and you’ll harken back to a romantic stroll down the Champs-Elyses. OK, ok. I know its in a strip mall. A non-descript strip mall off Glenwood Avenue at that. However, I’m here to tell you that in a recent trip to Paris I could not find a better patisserie. It’s a bold statement, but absolutely true.
How did Raleigh get so lucky? Swiss brothers Brian and Chris Hereghty felt like Raleigh would be a great place to live and start a business. Chris is a french trained pastry chef and Brian is a former architect. Chris manages the baking and Brian runs the front of the house.
Hereghty serves excellent and well made coffees. You can pair your coffee with a quiche, scone, stuffed croissant, or a cinnamon roll. The hands down best is the cheese danish. It is so good it will make you want to smack your mama. Lunches feature daily soups and a variety of REALLY tasty paninis such as the prosciutto di parma. That case also includes their flourless chocolate chewies with walnuts, financiers (don’t make the mistake of calling them “mini muffins” as I might have done), croissants, and an assortment of cookies.
However, the real stars are the masterpieces in the dessert case. An inventory of the desserts evokes the same reaction out of women that perusing a fancy jewelry store does. It literally looks like a dazzling display at a modern art museum, but as good as they look, they taste even better. Chocolate lovers go nuts over the “Paris” with its layers of chocolate mousse and chocolate sponge cake. In the mood for something tropical? Try the Okinawa with mango, passion fruit, and chocolate mousse layers on a flourless coconut cake layer. You have to special order my personal favorite- the Frasier, but trust me its worth the effort. The fresh strawberry, pistachio cream cake is to die for.
Hereghty makes the perfect spot to end an evening and fills a major void since there are a real lack of places in town to go for just dessert. Wash down some seriously decadent desserts with a cappuccino or a night cap of Santa Julia dessert wine while live music filters through the air around you. Close your eyes and you just may find yourself drifting off to Paris.
