When is the Party Pastry Shop not the Party Pastry Shop? Well, it's proceeding under the same name that it has been for as long as anyone can remember, but under new ownership since its purchase earlier this summer by the good people from Brick Oven Pastries (who shuttered their Fenton operation to move to Ballwin). With the new owners came a greatly expanded line of baked goods. Among the bounty: breads of both the daily-use and special-treat variety; meltaway cookies from sesame horns to Italian wedding cookies; almond-scented macaroons with jelly thumbprints in their centers; crisp-and-creamy cannoli; gleaming, lacquered coffee cakes and fresh-fruit crumbles and melbas (peach and plum were making their last appearance of the season at this writing); Dutch apple puff pastry.... And the list goes on. And that's without mentioning their star product, the Perfect Cake. When you're planning a shower, birthday, retirement, what-have-you, don't even mess with those foolish, prefab grocery-store concoctions. Order your cake from these pastry experts, get it decorated the way you want and then sit back and accept the compliments when your guests get a load of that real buttercream frosting. No occasion on tap? Stop by around three o'clock in the afternoon for a pick-me-up cookie and coffee, then sit and enjoy the after-school rush, when moms and kids on their way home stop for a snack. You get the feeling it's a scene that's been playing out since time began; only the clothes have changed.
Readers' Choice: Saint Louis Bread Co.