A croissant by any other name, would it smell as sweet? What is it about this simple pastry that makes men's hearts sing, kings abdicate their thrones... waitaminute... I think I got my allusions mixed up.
So where can you find the best croissants? Why in France, of course! The best breakfast one could have would have to be spent on a lazy morning in a Parisian cafe, enjoying a croissant with a cafe au lait and watching the world go by.
Europe is a bit far to travel just to get a good croissant, unfortunately. So what are the best offerings that we have around here?
The thing about croissants is that they are a very delicate pastry. All that layering and folding of dough and butter is a pretty labor-intensive process, and you have to be pretty diligent to roll a good croissant. This results in the quality of local croissants on offer ranging from dry and cardboard-like to rich buttery melt-in-your-mouth goodness.
The two best croissant bakeries I've found so far are Cafe Besalu in Ballard and Le Fournil on Eastlake. Cafe Besalu is famous for their ginger cookies but their croissants are really good too. My favorite however, is Le Fournil, maybe because they have store parking. Go check them out!
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