By Teri Bayus
I like surprises in my life, especially when they come under the realm of an impromptu trip. As you read this I am in Paris doing a story for Airbnb finding the best of the city’s culinary treasures and soaking in the opulence that is gay Paris.
Before we left I did my weekly pilgrimage to Morro Bay. My grandkids now live in Morro Bay and we come to the La Parisienne Bakery every Friday to fill up boxes of goodies to eat all weekend.
The kids love the sugar cookies, but try a new treat every time we are there. The smell of baked goods draw you in, and this is the only place to have a proper, authentic French petit déjeuner!
Crispy croissants, rich pies and other delicious pastries were my French fix for the day. I had my favorite breakfast sandwich in the entire world, goat cheese with sautéed spinach and mushrooms and egg on the most crunchy, soft baguette.
The kids had muffins, sides of bacon and dolphin shaped cookies, and we toasted chef Deb with our chocolate milk and took a box of goodies to go.
La Parisienne Bakery, owned and operated by a fantastic and full-of-life woman, Debra was a hit in both the food, coffee and friendliness factor. This authentic French bakery located at 1140 Front St., at the north end of the Embarcadero (the sign just says “Bakery”), had a menu to impress and we ate three meals our first time there and took one home with us.
Gary ordered the Burgundy beef sandwich, which was a mixture of chunks of beef, smothered in reduced Burgundy sauce and served on a fresh baguette. I had a scallop sandwich with flavors bursting and me wanting to take the whole bakery case back to the room. I took just one baguette, which was a mistake.
The Parmesan encrusted baguette was a meal in itself. I devoured the whole thing and was brushing the crumbs off my lap when Gary came home. Next time we ordered two and they were a perfect meal for dinner.
We came back for breakfast, waking early to try some hot pastries. I started with an egg and ham sandwich on a freshly baked baguette with fried potatoes and cheese, and it was superb. Gary started with a walnut, sticky bun, a chocolate croissant, and an apricot pastry. He ate every bite, moaning with pleasure and then ordered a dozen fresh baked sugar cookies.
The cookies are shaped like sea creatures and smothered in a magnificent frosting; they were still warm from the oven. It was brilliant and amazing. We then walked to Morro Rock, played in the surf and came back to the bakery for lunch.
This time I tried one of the many scrumptious quiches, while Gary tried the French onion soup. The soup is topped with a crustini and smothered with shredded cheese, all complementing the super sweet onions. Then we split an egg salad sandwich, which I watched the chef (Debra) slice the eggs and make fresh just as we ordered it. We took more cookies to go and a couple of loafs of bread for dinner.
La Parisienne Bakery is in the Front Street parking lot next to the Adventure Inn. They have abundant tarte choices, quiches, soups, light sandwiches, fresh sliced bread to go, cookies, pastries and more. Open daily except closed Tuesdays, from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be reached at 772-8530.
