Queen's Bakery

The chefs at Queen's Bakery make all their dishes from scratch; they eschew preservatives, trans fats, hydrogenated oils, and artificial flavors in favor of ingredients such as pure cane sugar and wheat grown no more than 100 feet from a coronation crown. They bake their breads and sweets daily and brew a house tea blend each day. The staffers complement this brew with 16 other socially responsible teas—blacks, greens, herbals, and oolongs—harvested from Third World tea estates that provide housing and education for employees and their families.

At lunch, servers bring out European-inspired paninis and cold sandwiches with ingredients such as oven-roasted beef, blue cheese, and artichokes. They accompany many of these with housemade sauces such as shallot yogurt and lime-cilantro vinaigrette. For sweet conclusions, bakers sculpt treats such as cake pops, éclairs, and tiramisu, as well as colorful macarons. Many of these they decorate themselves, though patrons are welcome to bedeck desserts with their favorite colors or Al Pacino mugs during cupcake-, cake-, and cookie-decorating parties.