Two new bakeries have opened up in town in the past month. There's
Faubourg in Kerrisdale, and
Steeve Raye in the Kitsilano area.
First up is Faubourg. It was packed when I went on a Wednesday around 1pm. From everyone I've heard too, it's always been busy. They have a nice design to the store. Clean, and well organized. Lots of employees. 6 that I could count that worked in the kitchen, and 5 front of house. Considering that this is maybe an 1800 square foot place (including the kitchen), that is a lot of staff. They have 1 display case up front that faces the street which I'm still unsure as to whether or not you can actually buy items from that or not (they had 3 large cakes in it and a high tea board), 1 large display case along the counter with pastries, and a tray of viennoiserie by the cashier.
Pastries looked alright. They were decent but decor was a little amateur. It wasn't interesting enough for me to try any. They had some breads in the back that looked great. Nice baguettes. Viennoiserie was disappointing. I forgot to take photos when I got there but they have tons of photos on their website which is great. You can kind of tell from the photos of their
croissants that they aren't that flaky. I had the pain au chocolat and although the chocolate flavor was great, it was pale, not flaky at all, and deflated looking. Coffee was very standard. Considering the prices ($2.80 for the pain au chocolat, $5 for the small desserts, and almost $5 for my Caramel Macchiato), I wouldn't go back. You're basically paying for the nice hangout spot and packaging which I do comment them for. They do have a separate dining area though with a different menu and I'm guessing high tea so I would be more inclined to try that.
Next stop was Steeve Raye on West 4th. The shop itself was so different from Faubourg. Darker, location wasn't that great (my friend and I were the only 2 people there), and only 1 person working there: the chef. No breads, but tons of viennoiserie and a few desserts. They have daily features too that sound great; Strawberry croissant anyone? Or perhaps a pear and blue cheese tart?
Desserts looked great. Polished, modern, it definitely looked like more time was spent on them. I had the Tutti Frutti which got tipped over on the way home so please ignore the finger marks on top. This was a little sweet for me. The top was very nice. Strawberry glaze with shimmer dust, layered with almond sponge, vanilla cream, and a fruit layer that had apples in some sort of jam.
I also bought the Xocolatl that looked really nice. Now this is how you do chocolate decor! This was okay. The top was a little sweet as well but overall it was pretty good, nothing wow, but decent.
The croissants are what I would go back for. Flaky, nice and browned, buttery, yum! This is what I expect from a croissant! They had some with pistachio praline rolled in, a nutella chocolate one, mmm. Many different kinds.
They also have some prepackaged items: macarons, marshmallows, mixed praline nuts, truffles.
The Chef is the son of the owners of La Regalade and apparently worked at Robuchon as well and the products definitely show this off. With prices more reasonable ($2.55 for my pain au chocolat and $4.95 for small desserts), I'd go back. The only sad thing is that the products here are far superior to Faubourg yet there was nobody in here and Faubourg was packed! I'm guessing location is the probable cause here but I really do hope this place succeeds.
