Items Selected:
Triple Chocolate Bread…read moreChocolate Snail
Pear Tart
Cherry Tart
Apricot Cream Pastry
Double Baked Almond Croissant
Single Baked Almond Croissant
Located on Place Eugene Flagey, a location more rapidly accessible by foot during the morning rush than it is by car, La Fleur du Pain is another of those 'locals only' sorts of bakeries where lines move fast and English is limited, a 7h00 Friday arrival finding a queue of about a dozen with the doors having just opened.
Somewhere in the middle of the pack as relates to variety, the choices on all sides not 'limited' but alo not as vast as Patisserie de Baere or Le Saint Aulaye, those arriving at La Fleur du Pain during early morning hours are likely to find breads and viennoiserie still warm from the oven and although Pastry selections apparently expand by midday, there are still several including some larger format options ready for take-away.
On par for price to other local artisans, the seven items purchased just under €17, paying attention proves beneficial at La Fleur du Pain as there are not one, but two, styles of Almond Croissant offered, the single baked version wispy like a traditional Croissant aux Beurre while the other was sliced and filled with almond paste with a crown of even more sliced nuts toasted on with frangipane, both great with the choice as to which was better really a personal sort of thing.
Showing a good degree of butter by way of the escargot coiled around melting bits of Dark Chocolate, La Fleur du Pain continues to shine when it comes to the use of Fresh Fruits over laminated all-butter pastry in any number of shapes, the Apricot version perhaps a bit soggy by way of cream while both Tarts were textbook with edges slightly charred.
Known for their breads, a whole loaf wasteful for just one with a few smaller sizes available, it was on the recommendation of a middle-aged woman standing in line that a small "Triple Chocolate" roll was selected, the texture something like that of a rustic country loaf speckled with Dark and Milk Chocolate pieces while the crumb itself infused with infused with unsweetened cocoa allowing bitter notes to balance the sweetness.