which meant a convenient visit, since Bert and I had free time that morning since TC was at dance practice. If you plan to brave downtown, it's not that bad in the early morning and you can park in the Horton Plaza parking garage...
which is up to three hours free with validation AND you don't have to buy anything anymore. Gone are the days when I would have to buy some lousy gum at the drugstore. Now all you have to do is just get the card validated at one of the validation machines in the mall....
So we parked and walked a few blocks over to the new downtown location of Le Parfait Paris. Earlier this spring, TC and I visited their corporate location in Mission Valley (that visit is linked at the end of this post). It's right past Urban Outfitters. If you hit Fogo de Chao, you've gone too far...
The decor is stark black and white and very minimalist. I loved the clean look and the "welcome" sign in different languages as you enter. The space is quite airy and open with seating inside as well as tables outside. Across the street is the movie theatres along with a never ending cast of folks strolling downtown. The pastries are displayed in glass cases which made me think of a jewelry store. What is cool about their display cases is that they slide out as well.
They had a selection of breads, fancy desserts, and classic French pastries as well as colorful macarons. Bert ordered an Americano with caramel which we shared along with one macaron (blueberry), a savory item, the Quiche Lorraine, and an almond chocolate croissant. I remembered liking it so much from my previous visit...
I was bummed that they were out of chouqettes. Bert also wanted to try the Le Saint Barth and they weren't carrying it just yet. Their grand opening was the day before and according to Kirbie, they had run out of a few things by the time she got there in the later morning. All of the breads, desserts and pastries are made in their Mission Valley location and driven downtown every morning.
I loved the tall tapered glass in which they served my water...
You will notice that the croissant is not horn shaped, nor is it a ginormous size. These are European sized pastries. The butter for the pastries, I overheard the worker telling a customer, is imported from France. The croissant is flaky (but not puffy) with a dense and intensely flavored filling of almond paste and chocolate. This is such an excellent combination...
The quiche while tasty, was a bit overpriced in my opinion, while the blueberry macaron was just average. I think my eyes were just excited to see it, but my taste buds got a different story.
Stick to the French pastries and avoid the macarons. At $2 a pop, they really aren't worth it. The coffee was quite smooth and silky (if you can call coffee silky).
My previous visit to Le Parfait Paris's Mission Valley location:
April 2014
Who else went to Le Parfait Paris?
Kirbie posted on her visit the day of their grand opening" earlier this month...
plus Darlene's writeup on Zagat, SD:
Sweet Tooth - Pastries at Le Parfait Paris, October 7, 2014
Le Parfait Paris (in the Gaslamp Quarter)
555 G St.
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 245-6575
leparfaitparis.com
We planned to visit again (which we did, those posts are forthcoming) to try their other pastries and hopefully fancy desserts...
4 comments:
Croissants. I must have them! Your link to the Portland post reminded me I must re-read all your Portland posts since I'm going there in December!
OMG, Mary, you have to try that chocolate/almond croissant!
As for Portland, yay! Finally! You guys will love it there! I'll email you later about my recommendations. There were some places I wanted to go to as well but we didn't have enough time.
When are they going to have the Le Saint Barth?
That is a good question...we shall have to go one of these weekends and see! :)
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