Best Bakeries: Fluffy Duck Cafe

Ben Woods respects the croissant. The delicate, golden crumb of Fluffy Duck Cafe’s signature pastry exists layers above the doughy facsimiles mass-produced at your local coffee chain. The Culinary Institute of America graduate and pastry chef veteran of kitchens in New York, England and Oregon takes three days to prepare his crescent-shaped confections, mixing and locking butter into the dough before folding it four times over the course of eight hours. “How you handle it is one of the most important things about that dough,” says Woods, whose minimalist-chic Chester Avenue bakery opened in December 2016. “You can’t be rushing it, you can’t be rough with it — otherwise you’ll see every mistake. It’s one smooth movement.” While most croissants have anywhere from 27 to 100 layers, Fluffy Duck’s have more than 150. But Woods’ devotion to quality doesn’t mean he won’t experiment. See the Kouign-Amann, a caramelized laminated pastry from Brittany, France, that Woods has never seen served at another Cleveland bakery. Or ditch your dough bomb for the tangy everything croissant, complete with cream-cheese filling. “I just got tired of everyone asking me for bagels,” Woods laughs. He operates Fluffy Duck with his father Bill, who used to bake fresh bread every Sunday during Woods’ childhood. “We’re usually the only two people making [items], so it’s extremely consistent,” says Woods. “There’s way less hands touching our product.” 10001 Chester Ave. Cleveland, 216-218-9447, facebook.com/fluffyduckcle

Our Pick: Laminated dough may be the cafe’s lifeblood, but don’t neglect the bread, like the herby, sweet caramelized onion and pumpkin rye ($5.50).