The head chef and baker here, Hareg Messert, is a master baker and an alum of the Ritz-Carlton kitchen in DC. You can find a variety of vegan desserts here.
Amazing. You would never guess that this non-descript space has such incredible baked goods, let alone vegan ones. I'd read about Chez Hareg in the Washington Post and had to try it for myself.
I had one spritzer cookie, one butter-style cookie and one other thing with a name I can't remember. None of the vegan options are labeled, but pretty much the entire top shelf of the glass case is vegan. Each little cookie or pastry costs about $0.50, or you could get 3 for $1 with some varieties. The cookies that I had were all wonderful---crumbly and rich. They evoked memories of my childhood, eating butter biscuits with milk tea in the afternoon with my parents. I had not encountered such flavors in the vegan world and was amazed to find them at Chez Hareg.
I also had a "Napoleon" ($3.50) which was some kind of multi-layered pastry filled with lemon and powdered sugar. It was kind of like a lasagna in its design and appearance. The thing was a marvel. Each crust layer was impeccably thin and crispy, but also flaky; the lemon-custard filling was smooth, cold and just subtly sweet without being overpowering.
I have encountered vegan desserts of this sophistication and excellence on only two occasions in all my travels---once at Millennium in San Francisco, and once at Horizons in Philadelphia. However, the desserts there cost anywhere from $10-15, whereas Chez Hareg offers the same quality and taste for only $3.50 or, in some cases, for less than $1. Unbelievable.
The owner, Hareg herself, is a master baker who formerly worked at the Ritz Carlton. I applaud her for opening up her own coffee shop/bakery and exposing the world to the delicacy, balance and excellence of her products, all for absurdly low prices. It's going to be hard to justify paying $2 for a vegan pastry at the coffee shop down the road, knowing you could get a superior gourmet product for the same price, if only you lived in DC. Chez Hareg sets the bar impossibly high for pretty much anyone.
conde.kedar
Amazing. You would never guess that this non-descript space has such incredible baked goods, let alone vegan ones. I'd read about Chez Hareg in the Washington Post and had to try it for myself.
I had one spritzer cookie, one butter-style cookie and one other thing with a name I can't remember. None of the vegan options are labeled, but pretty much the entire top shelf of the glass case is vegan. Each little cookie or pastry costs about $0.50, or you could get 3 for $1 with some varieties. The cookies that I had were all wonderful---crumbly and rich. They evoked memories of my childhood, eating butter biscuits with milk tea in the afternoon with my parents. I had not encountered such flavors in the vegan world and was amazed to find them at Chez Hareg.
I also had a "Napoleon" ($3.50) which was some kind of multi-layered pastry filled with lemon and powdered sugar. It was kind of like a lasagna in its design and appearance. The thing was a marvel. Each crust layer was impeccably thin and crispy, but also flaky; the lemon-custard filling was smooth, cold and just subtly sweet without being overpowering.
I have encountered vegan desserts of this sophistication and excellence on only two occasions in all my travels---once at Millennium in San Francisco, and once at Horizons in Philadelphia. However, the desserts there cost anywhere from $10-15, whereas Chez Hareg offers the same quality and taste for only $3.50 or, in some cases, for less than $1. Unbelievable.
The owner, Hareg herself, is a master baker who formerly worked at the Ritz Carlton. I applaud her for opening up her own coffee shop/bakery and exposing the world to the delicacy, balance and excellence of her products, all for absurdly low prices. It's going to be hard to justify paying $2 for a vegan pastry at the coffee shop down the road, knowing you could get a superior gourmet product for the same price, if only you lived in DC. Chez Hareg sets the bar impossibly high for pretty much anyone.