I visited Tatte Bakery & Café. The fast-casual chain is so incredible that states without it should be jealous.

The centerpiece of the store is always the bakery counter, which I never pass without grabbing a halva brownie or pistachio croissant.

It’s often packed with a range of sweet and savory laminated-dough treats from flaky kouign-amanns to chocolate snails, all awaiting discovery among other non-refrigerated delights like the halva chocolate-chunk cookie and monkey bread.

A refrigerated case is usually filled with desserts ranging from fruity to chocolaty. The cheesecake is especially noteworthy, topped with a selection of different berries arranged by color.

Even in the diverse greater DC area, I’ve had trouble finding a truly great version of the egg dish, which is popular in the Middle East and North Africa.

But then I found Tatte’s shakshuka. There, the oversize pan filled with tomato, pepper, and onion sauce is always picture-perfect.

My favorite version of the dish on the menu has lamb meatballs and labneh.

In the crimson base, soft-centered eggs break to make the sauce creamier and even more enjoyable. The oblong lamb meatballs are spiced just enough to supply a taste of Israel that combines harmoniously with the blobs of spicy labneh (strained yogurt) and fresh parsley. The unexpected star of the show for me is the sweet and lightly spicy peppadew peppers on top.

The dish comes with three slices of toasted challah for sopping up every last clump of tomato and pepper.

I rarely repeat a dessert at Tatte. Not because I tire of them, but because there are so many I want to try.

On this visit, I went with the passionfruit krembo and halva bomb.

Krembos are a popular treat in Israel that are similar to a chocolate teacake or Mallomar. They’re essentially soft cookies topped with a pile of marshmallow fluff enrobed in chocolate.

The passionfruit krembo at Tatte takes the dessert to new heights by mixing passionfruit curd with vanilla meringue. The combination of textures and flavors made me go back for bite after bite.

I was just as impressed with the halva bomb, which wasn’t too sweet.

When I was growing up, my father was an avowed halva eater, but I was always turned off by the dense, clay-like bars of it he’d buy at the supermarket.

But the sesame paste in the center of the halva bomb I ordered was soft and vanilla-scented, covered in whipped milk-chocolate ganache and a dark-chocolate-ganache glaze.

My party of two spent $50.50 before tax and tip, which seemed like a fair price for two meals, a coffee, and two desserts.

Once again, I’d left Tatte feeling impressed and wishing the chain was expanding around the US quicker.

The brand is still only available in Boston and the DC Metro area, with its second Maryland location expected to open in the next few months.

But the expansion of Cava, another fast-casual chain Shaich invested in, gives me hope that Tatte could have a nationwide takeover in its future.

Cava began serving its Mediterranean fast-casual food in Maryland in 2011 and now has about 360 locations in half of the US states, with plans for hundreds more by 2032.

I don’t know if I plan on living in the DC Metro region for the rest of my life — all I know is that wherever I go next, there’d better be a Tatte nearby.