Nichole's Fine Pastry & Cafe

Pastry first, then a full day of cooking

Croissants and tarts come out of the same kitchen as dinner here, which is the unusual part of this downtown Fargo pastry café. Nichole Hensen opened it in 2003 after training at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena and coming back from California with the idea of bringing a bit of Paris to the prairie. She grew up on a family farm near Glenburn and studied at UND before the pastry work started, and the mix shows: European technique, North Dakota ingredients, seasonal cooking. The café runs as an all-day kitchen rather than a sweets counter, with breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner, espresso, wine and cocktails alongside the bakery case. Pastry is still the centre of it, baked in small batches.

The case, then the plates

The daily case is built on croissants, tarts, bars, cheesecakes, brownies, cookies, macarons and éclairs, and the specialties attached to the café are specific enough to order by name: crème brûlée, the pistachio croissant, quiche Lorraine, lemon curd layer cake, pecan sticky rolls, raspberry lemon mousse cake. Beyond the everyday counter, the baking runs to custom cakes, wedding and event desserts, seasonal cakes and pies, weekly dessert trays and holiday pies made to order. The savoury side carries brunch and lunch cooking, evening dinner and catering, and pre-order bakery features extend the same kitchen beyond the room. Hensen and her team describe the work as handmade from scratch, with local ingredients wherever possible and classic pastry ideas given a lighter, more current finish.

Order the pistachio croissant, then the quiche

Start at the case, because that is where the range is clearest. Croissants and tarts are the plain first order; the pistachio croissant, pecan sticky rolls, macarons, éclairs and crème brûlée are the moves when the day's selection leans sweeter. For something savoury, quiche Lorraine is the named specialty worth knowing, and the menu keeps going from brunch and lunch into dinner with a full bar behind it. The layout carries that range: a counter-driven bakery case at the front, dining rooms behind it, and a café that turns into a restaurant as the day goes on. Recognition has followed, including a Food Network appearance on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and a James Beard Award nomination for Outstanding Bakery in 2024.