Sweet Life Patisserie is a local coffee shop and bakery with just the right mixture of quality and style to call itself a patisserie without pretension. A Eugene favorite, Sweet Life, located at 755 Monroe St., is lively in the mornings and bustling until close with reliably quick service and a friendly staff. It serves quality organic coffee and tea and its specialty is crafting posh desserts, some of Eugene’s best, in a welcoming atmosphere.
The essence of the name is evident before the front door swings shut. The substantial display case is filled with enough cakes, pies, tarts and fritters to overwhelm the senses and cause the indecisive to sweat cream-filled bullets. The selection is vast and complete enough to fill a Periodic Table of the Desserts, and it just so happens this is hung on the wall of the men’s restroom. It fits right in as the art almost exclusively celebrates dessert in all its forms; if the display case isn’t a cause for salivation, the walls certainly are.
The core of Sweet Life is without a doubt the desserts, vast in selection and changing daily. For Valentine’s Day try the Love Potion (a tasty mixture of strawberry, cocoa, rum and lemon essence) or the slyly suggestive Love Rocket (an éclair filled with strawberry and Bavarian cream and topped with a strawberry glaze). Otherwise choose from a wide range pastries such as cinnamon rolls, sticky buns, a Danish, strudel or a muffin; petite sweets like tartlets, parfaits, biscotti, Crème brûlée or brownies, or a wide selection of cakes and pies such as Hazelnut Gianduja, Chocolate Cream Pie, or Raspberry Mousse Torte. Essentially, a Valentine’s date cannot go wrong with Sweet Life as a part of the evening. There are even famously tasty vegan or wheat- and gluten-free selections.
Sweet Life also crafts custom-made wedding cakes and has a fine selection of savory pastries such as quiche, pepperoni and mozzarella calzones or spinach and feta croissants for those lacking a sweet tooth.
However, confection is obviously the patisserie’s specialty and money is better spent on the exquisite desserts. Customers can also choose from more than 30 flavors of organic teas, and the Equator coffee beans are organic and locally roasted.
The regular clientele is almost as diverse as the variety of desserts. Swanky professionals and pottering slackers mix with comic-reading farmers, bawdy grandmothers and lone students bent over Debord’s Marxist philosophy. The patisserie manages to be unassumingly classy – the chic is in the desserts – while the atmosphere is pleasing and characteristic of a laid-back café.
Patrons can expect to order a sumptuous dessert or reasonably priced coffee and feel at home either way. The prices are fitting with the quality. Sweet Life is not a place to go on the cheap; a piece of cake runs about $4. But, you get what you pay for, which in this case is a good thing.