Chartreuse Sisters

Chartreuse Sisters is run by Alyson and Mallory Caillaud-Jones, who began by baking out of their parents' home kitchen and opened their storefront at 800 Wealthy Street SE as, in their own words, a dream come true. The division of labour is clear: Mallory is head pastry chef and Alyson heads beverage, and the shop presents itself as a patisserie and a dry bar in equal measure rather than a cafe with a sideline. Its own tagline reads "Pastries • NA Cocktails • Espresso". The building is a preserved piece of Grand Rapids history and the sisters make a point of hosting guests inside it; products are made in house and sourced locally where they can be, and the business states a commitment to buying from small businesses working on similar principles.

The menu rotates monthly around whatever local fruit and vegetables are in season, which applies to the drinks as much as the pastry case — the non-alcoholic cocktail list turns over rather than sitting static, alongside a full espresso, latte and tea program. The pastries are French-American fusion: eclairs, outsized macarons, savoury galettes, and sweets the sisters trace to their French-American heritage and to food and drink they encountered travelling. The best-documented drink is The Owls Are Not What They Seem, built from orange sec, ginger beer, cranberry juice and maple syrup and garnished with cranberries and crystallized ginger. Opening hours are short and weekend-weighted — Thursday through Sunday, 9am to 3pm — so this is a daytime venue rather than an evening one. A note on location: press coverage of the opening placed the shop in East Hills, which is how the Uptown business district describes the stretch, but the City of Grand Rapids neighbourhood boundary runs along Wealthy Street and puts this building on the Baxter side.