Warda Patisserie

Flavors of the world merge at Warda Patisserie on Midtown Detroit’s trendy Alexandrine Street. This James Beard Award-winning destination is where Warda Bouguettaya, who grew up learning to cook in her mother’s Algerian kitchen, creates savories and sweets reflective of her travels in the Middle East, Asia and France.

Bouguettaya, who moved to Detroit in 2004, got her start selling Algerian desserts at Detroit’s venerable Eastern Market while dreaming of opening an Algerian restaurant. Those dreams changed after studying at Restaurant-École Institut Paul Bocuse in Shanghai, founded by famed French chef Paul Bocuse. Embracing French pastry techniques and Asian and Algerian ingredients, along with what can be sourced locally, Bouguettaya creates winning combinations. In 2022, she won the James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef award, and Food & Wine named her one of the 10 Best New Chefs in America that same year.

Her stylish patisserie is filled with offerings such as makrouds, which Bouguettaya describes as a traditional Algerian and Tunisian pastry made using semolina flour with such fillings as orange blossom water, cinnamon and clove-spiced date paste dipped in an orange blossom syrup; and Koh Lanta, a tropical tart made with pineapple, salted lime curd and coconut frangipane baked in a sweet dough.

Savories include her Persian torta — puff pastry stuffed with roasted sweet potatoes, baharat spices and goat cheese — quiches and gluten-free pastries. 

If the weather is nice, enjoy your treats outside at the sidewalk cafe. To get a first crack at the selection of what’s available on any given day, be sure to visit early. 70 W. Alexandrine St., Detroit, Michigan 48201, 313/262-6977, warda-patisserie-midtown.square.site