b. patisserie

b. patisserie has been on my radar basically since the day it opened in 2012.

It is the bakery of Belinda Leong, who departed her well lauded post as pastry chef at Manresa to open her own place.  The bakery was in the news originally for having one of the top, if not the best, kouign-amann in the city, but quickly gathered strong reviews for nearly all of the baked goods.  As a baked goods lover, I obviously perked up.

It is located fairly far from my house though, so I somehow didn't try it for several years.  And I still haven't visited in person.

My first encounter was when some friends brought over a box of treats.  I like my friends.  The next encounter? Uh, bribery at the office.  I like my co-workers too.

Assorted Treats.

The menu at b. patisserie is broken into three categories: viennoiserie, pastries, and tartines, but the viennoiserie are clearly the highlights, including the famous kouign-amann.

When my friends brought goodies, they came with a few assorted items, and we cut them all up so we could try them all.

#allThePastries.

A few months later, a co-worker showed up at my office with a box loaded with treats.  Literally, #allTheTreats. You can't even see the massive chocolate chip cookies at the bottom.

This gave me a chance to try many more items.  We had not one, not two, but three types of kouign amann alone, two types of twice baked croissants, a seasonal bostock, madelines, and pain suisse, plus the aforementioned cookies.  I'm probably missing a few things.

And yes, I tried ... most of them.  #forTheBlog.  As did my co-workers.  I'm pretty sure I've never seen pastries sooo well received, nor heard the phrase "oh my god" uttered by so many people.  This is where b. patisserie shines, and it was quite obvious.

Viennoiserie

The viennoiserie section of the menu is the most extensive, and includes everything like cookies, scones, coffee cake, banana bread (and chocolate banana bread), croissants, and of course, multiple types of kouign amann.

Seasonal Bostock: $3.50.

Bostock is not an item all that familiar to me.  I think I had my first bostock in the past ... 3 years, when the coffee bar at my office went through a very brief phase of serving it near daily.  I loved it then though, so I was excited when my friends showed up with the b. patisserie bostock, which apparently changes flavor seasonally.  

But this isn't really what I thought bostock was.  The bostock I had before was a slice of (day old?) brioche, soaked in a sweet syrup, and topped with almond frangipane and I think apricot jam?  I've heard it described as kinda like french toast before too.

This was a round cake, that didn't really seem like broiche, although it was very light and fluffy.  The outer edge was a bit more burnt than seemed desired.  It had a couple slivers of sliced almond on top, but it didn't have the thicker frangipane layer I wanted.  The seasonal flavor was passionfruit, and the sweet fruity flavor permeated the whole thing.

Overall, this was fine, but, not what I was anticipating, and mostly just a cake, which isn't my favorite type of dessert.

When my co-worker brought treats, I didn't try it since I wasn't impressed before, but my co-workers *loved* it.  I wish I had captured some of their comments.

Chocolate Banana Almond Croissant. $4.

My co-worker who brought in our big box of pastries was extremely excited about this one.  It wasn't what I'd normally pick, since I'm not the biggest fan of banana, but I do love twice baked croissants.  Still I was about to pick something else from the box, when another co-worker, French born and raised, proclaimed that he had never had pastries this good in the US after trying a bite of this.

I'm very glad they both advocated so strongly for this one.  I'm glad there were multple.  It. Was. Incredible.

The croissant was perfectly flaky, as it should be.  Soo crispy around the edges, but not burnt in any way.  On top, plenty of almond frangipane, plus sliced almonds.  Just as a twice baked almond croissant, not even counting the filling, this was a star, pretty much top of the game.

Chocolate Banana Almond Croissant: Side View.

But this item kept on giving.  It was a stuffed croissant.  Inside was chocolate and banana.

The chocolate was somehow soft, melted, even though at room temperature.  It oozed into the pastry in a beautiful way.  The banana was soft, but not too mushy.  The chocolate and banana combination is obviously a classic, and it worked well.

I think I probably would have preferred not the chocolate banana flavor, and they do make a seasonal twice baked almond croissant as well (at this time it was apple).  I tried the apple, and it too was a perfect almond twice baked croissant, but again, apple isn't quite the filling I'd naturally pick.

This was the third best b. patisserie item I've ever had, and I'd gladly, gladly consume many more again.  Yes, the competition for top place is just *that* strong.

Pain Suisse.  $4.

Um, yes.

That is all there is to say about the c.  Not a common item in the US, and I remember the first time I had it in Paris, and I loved the idea (custard filled! chocolate chips!) but was saddened by the actual result, too eggy for my tastes.

This however ... was perfection.

Flaky, crispy croissant dough.  Perfectly laminated. Of course it flaked off and made a mess when you tried to cut it in half.

And inside, lovely creamy custard, studded with chocolate chips for a bit of texture.  Plenty of it, not too sweet, and, essential for me, not eggy in any way.  Fantastic filling.

I truly enjoyed every aspect of this item, and would gladly have it again.  My favorite item ... I think, but second place was a *very* close second.

Kouign Amann Nature. $4.25.

The kouign amann is what put b. patisserie on the map.  I was delighted to finally try their version, after having many others over the past few years, as kouign amann have risen in popularity.

If you aren't familiar with kouign amann, it is a buttery-er, sugarier, crispier, just far more awesome version of a croissant.  The first time I had one was as the take-home goodie from Cyrus back in 2012, and I had no idea what I was eating.  Since then, I've discovered the joy that is kouign amann, including the local rival from Starter Bakery, several from the oldest pastry shop in Paris (Stohrer), and a fantastic version turned into a formal dessert at Clio in Boston.

b. patisserie makes seasonal flavors, but when my friends visited, the plain one was the only one remaining, so, we only got to try the basic one.

It was a very good kouign amann, as anticipated given the accolades.  I was surprised at the quality given that it was the end of the day when I had it, clearly not as fresh as could be.

It was buttery, flaky, well laminated croissant dough.  The exterior was crispy and caramelized, the interior moist and soft.  Very nicely done, and I'd gladly have another, and would love to try one of the filled varieties.

When we had these the second time, those who were unfamiliar with kouign amann were blown away (because, um, best pastry ever), but those familiar with what to expect were even more blown away.  We know that kouign amann are not normally *this* well made.  Again, my french co-worker was in shock that pastry of that quality was finally found in the US!

Chocolate Kouign Amann. $4.75.

When my co-worker brought in the box of goodies, he had all three types of kouign amann: natural, seasonal (passionfruit), and chocolate.  There were multiples of each.

Given that I'm not into passionfruit, and I'd tried the natural before, I left those for the others, and immediately snagged the chocolate one.

It ... was the best kouign amann I've ever had.  Yup, I said it.  It turns out, taking the ridiculously good natural kouign amann, having it fresh, AND stuffing it was a magical combination.

The pastry was perfection.  Incredibly crispy exterior, soo caramelized, soo messy.  Phenomenal.  But more impressive was the layers, soo many layers, all moist and buttery and decadent.  Just, absolutely the best kouign amann I've ever had.

And then, the filling.  Stuffed with a considerable amount of dark chocolate ganache.  The texture of it was fascinating.  I don't know how they did it, really.  It was smooth, creamy, not liquid, but not solid in any way.  At room temp.  I don't understand how this is possible.

I still can't get over how life changing this was, and I say that as someone who *has* consumed many kouign amann over the years!

Pastries

The other sweet category is individual pastries, elaborate little cakes.  My friends brought us one of these to try.

Vanilla Cassis Cake. $7.

"Vanilla Mascarpone, Sablé Breton, Cassis Ganache, Chiffon Cake."

This was a layer cake, with a crunchy sablé breton crust (sorta like crispier graham crackers), a fruity layer of cassis ganache, and then two layers each of alternating chiffon cake and vanilla mascarpone, dusted on top on one corner with cocoa powder.

This was fine.  I liked having a crunchy base and a sweet fruity layer, the cake was light and airy, the pastry cream thick and creamy.  For a cake, a fine, sophisticated cake, but I preferred the viennoiserie.