The French Loaf
 Columbus, Ohio        Date of Visit:  07/14/12           http://www.frenchloafbakery.com/

It has been several years since I sidled into this little bakery in Grandview but have fond memories of their products. One of the fellow foodies in my life was a professor in my Masters program and he led me to the doors of this little patisserie. We had some extraordinary products from there but we have not had a chance to return for some time. Now that we are still participating in this little adventure…just as much fun as when we started…it has been on the list for sometime so we headed over for some breakfast treats.
 

Hence Replacement Coming Soon
 

Dryer Than I Remembered

It still sits as a rectangular space with very small frontage in a strip plaza. The interior is identical to my memory of the place with a few small tables and an L-shaped display counter filled with pastries and a couple of shelves holding loaves of various breads. The door continuously opens with expensive but casually dressed Grandviewites cycling in and out with boxes of baked goods to take home. We ordered a cherry Danish, an apple crown and two croissants…one chocolate and one apricot.

I had fond memories of the croissants from the loaf…classically prepared with slow folds of dough and butter being folded again and again, resulting in rich and tender but tough to pull apart layers of awesome. They remained classically made but they didn’t seem very fresh this particular morning and exhibited a disheartening dryness. What redeemed the croissants were the fillings. The apricot was pretty standard but the crescent was full of it. The chocolate was even better, a tremendous lump of rich dark chocolate invaded the pastry practically from tip to tip, one of the best chocolates I have ever had in a croissant.
 

The Ring
 

Very Pretty, Still Needed A Little Something
 

The apple crown was beautiful but needed an extra punch of cinnamon or a glaze to make it something I would order again. The cherry Danish was my fav…. Typical dough, cherry filling, this option had a little halo of icing encircling the filling which added a sweetness drizzles of sugar solution couldn’t hope to manage. While not as fabulous as I remember the French Loaf still offers some really nice baked treasures.