Artful Baking in Miami

Rain is pounding the parked cars while the wind rips through the tall palm trees lining scenic South Pointe Drive. Their ominous swaying in the gutsy breeze becomes a riveting scene for the few folks brave enough to be out on this awful day.  A pick-up truck with protruding surfboards rounds the corner then out jump the surfers.  “Man, are you nuts?” “Those waves are going to be deadly!”

It’s just another bad weather day in South Beach (at least for us) and when the skies go awry as they sometimes do in Miami, you either duck into a bar for a frozen Cosmopolitan or you head for a place like Lee & Marie’s Cakery.  We’re into the latter on this crazy day and are part of a tiny group clinging fearfully to our little chairs in this emporium of baking, nibbling on artisan sandwiches and mouth watering desserts.  First, you’ll spy their masterful Carrot Cake, the cake you tried to make for your best friend’s birthday then changed your mind when you realized how much work went into it.  Then you’ll spot the Red Velvet Cake, the thick layer of vanilla cream cheese frosting ladened with crimson sprinkles.  Oh, and how about the Hummingbird Cake perfectly displayed among the artful collection of confections, an old-fashioned Southern specialty with pineapple, coconut, bananas and pecans and brown butter frosting? This is going to be one tough decision.

Okay, take a deep breath and relax!  Just remember to save room for several of these blissful morsels after lunch.

On a day like today we decide it’s best to hold off on a sugar rush until we calm down so we order a few of their lovely sandwiches – a “Naked” Smoked Salmon, open faced with arugula, caper berries, dill and crème fraiche, then a Steak Pannini with roast prime rib, Trugole cheese, dried onion chips and a horseradish aioli.  These manage to claim our devoted attention until a stop sign clambers to the ground outside. We quickly beg for a pot of the hard to find Kusmi tea from the famed Parisian teahouse, which eases our jittery nerves and gets us in the mood for those dazzling sweets.

Lee & Marie’s is open everyday from 7 am to 7 pm serving both breakfast and lunch, including savory dishes and salads to prepare you for their ever changing array of taste bud tempting treats. There are four or five featured cakes and pies of the day, including the namesake Lee’s famous German chocolate cake and Marie’s New York cheesecake; coconut cake with soft coconut caramel; Dutch salty caramel apple pie and “Cup Cones,” a new take on cupcakes: minis served inside an ice cream cone with different flavors and fillings.  The hybrid cakery is helmed by award winning pastry maestro, Yannis Janssens, a Belgian native who makes everything from scratch. Trust me.  You’ll be like a kid in a candy store.

An inviting and charming place, the light and airy space feels almost nostalgic with rough-hewn wooden tables and a cushioned bench that invites communal dining. Antique trinkets decorate whitewashed walls and distressed surfaces give it a contemporary farmhouse feel. It’s obvious some very clever thinking has gone into this quite out of the box concept for Miami Beach.  Not only is Lee & Marie’s offering a creative twist on American bakery classics using all natural ingredients, it’s also a bakery with a cause, one that’s close to owner Andrea Travaglia’s heart for more than 20 years.  “Andy” is providing employment opportunities for autistic adults, helping to enhance their quality of life. Yes, it seems you can have your cake and eat it too here, since your presence makes all the difference.  Now if only the rain would stop!

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