Restaurant Review: Sweet Life Patisserie in Eugene, Oregon

My first experience with Sweet Life Patisserie was when I was picking up a cake they had donated for a local charity event I was working on. At that time, owners Catherine and Cheryl Reinhart ran the business out of a converted building behind a house in my neighborhood. They were donating a sheet cake of "Raspberry Rhapsody", a dense chocolate cake with layers of raspberry filling and topped with chocolate ganache. They were just putting the finishing touches on the cake when I walked in to pick it up. One of them handed me the bowl and asked me if I wanted to finish off the frosting. How could I say no?

Since then, the Sweet Life Patisserie has moved into a location on Monroe Street, and has a separate bakery facility across the street. They now offer breakfast pastries, quiche and espresso, as well as their amazing desserts. They offer both vegan and non-vegan cakes, sweets and pastries, as well as organic coffee and espresso drinks. The business has seating both inside and outside, café style, on the sidewalk.

Catering to Eugene's non-dairy population is a specialty of the Sweet Life. While some vegan desserts can be disappointing, this is not so with the Sweet Life's non-dairy specialties. From Chocolate Cream Pie to Orange Mocha Mouse Torte to various cheesecakes and fruit pies, their vegan desserts are virtually indistinguishable from their dairy-filled counterparts.

Cakes are available in several sizes. The six-inch round cake is shown as serving 4-6 people, but most of these cakes are so dense and rich I've found they easily feed more than that! The six-inch cake is only $15, with a larger nine-inch round being $30 and a twelve-inch round being $40. Sheet cakes are also available.

Wedding cakes are a specialty of the Sweet Life Patisserie. Their website features a gallery of both "creative" and "classic" wedding cakes - one of the most amazing being the asymmetrical two layer wedding cake with purple icing and adorned with fresh flowers. Wedding cakes run anywhere from $160 for a cake that serves forty people, to $1,200 for a cake that serves 250.

The Sweet Life makes all their desserts from scratch, using organic flours, local honey, Guittard chocolate and natural essential oil flavorings. They also offer Coconut Bliss - a vegan ice cream - and gelato. They are located at 755 Monroe Street in Eugene. Their hours are 7 am to 11 pm Monday through Friday, and 8 am until 11 pm on Saturday and Sunday.