Pastry Road Trip: Amazing Hungarian Pastries From the Back of a Volvo in Grand Rapids, MI

C/O Cake Gumshoe Matthew, Sour Cherry Pastry
Pop Quiz! You're in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Where do you get delicious Hungarian Pastries?

Answer: The back of a Volvo. Naturally. Or should I say, természetesen.
Grand Rapids Farmers Market C/O Matthew
Joking aside though, it's not junk in the trunk of Grand Rapids-based pastrymaker Julianna Mechtler's car: it's a bounty of delicious pastries like walnut, poppy seed and apricot-walnut pastry rolls, cheesy Danish, and various pies and breads. And for 20 years, she's been unloading this deliciousness from the back of her car to a table at the Fulton Street Farmers Market.
Grand Rapids Farmers Market

Clearly she's been doing something right for all these years: Cake Gumshoes Matthew and Wendy, who first directed me to this Hungarian phenomenon in Grand rapids, state that they "have dreams about" the sour cherry danish, pictured top. 

Of course, it would be remiss to neglect mentioning the fact that Gumshoe Matthew Reidsma (who supplied the photos!) is also a pretty spectacular cartoonist. Take a peek:

Foodie cartoons? Delicious pastries? It's all enough to make you feel pretty Hungary.

 

To buy Julianna Mechtler's pastries, visit the Fulton Street Farmers Market, 1145 E. Fulton St., Grand Rapids, MI 49503, 616) 454-4118 (Hours of Operation: 8:00am - 4:00pm Tuesdays, Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays May through) Christmas; for more information, visit fultonstreetmarket.org.


To keep up to date with the Grand Rapids Gumshoes, visit Matthew's site here and Wendy's here.