We woke up last Sunday morning and decided we wanted to walk to our neighborhood’s little downtown. Technically speaking, our town has no downtown. The residents from way back when prefer it this way.
La Boulange
And so, our town only has a town hall with the police and fire department offices all in one pretty place. We “share” the downtown with our neighbor city, Burlingame. Enough of that. Let’s go to the walk and the Sunday brunch.
We walked past the farmer’s market and promised to drop by after. The weather was sunny but there was a rather nippy breeze. I guess one can’t expect more, considering it was pouring (even had a brief episode of hail in the morning!) the day before. After looking around, we zeroed in on La Boulange, which is situated almost at the mouth of Burlingame Avenue as it approaches the Caltrain station.
Baked Goodies at La Boulange
As we entered, we noticed they were full on busy. We fell in line. It moved efficiently. As we approached the counter, I saw the breads and the pastries. I wanted to try all of them! I could not help but smile. My eyes are now hungrier than my stomach! Stop it, it told myself.
We decided on the canele and an almond croissant (croissant aux amandes). We toyed around with the Quiche or the lamb or one of the open-faced sandwiches but we both ended up ordering an Omelette de Paris. They really do a nice job of it here. 
And so we found an empty table and waited for our order. I surveyed the place. with a center table for cutlery, napkins and drinks accessories. There were the row of environmentally responsible garbage cans and a shelf of post cards. The place buzzed pleasantly and smelled of coffee, savory and sweet things. There was a laugh here and there. We nibbled on our pastries and sipped our coffees. The canele was classic. Crisp to chewy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside. The almond croissant was flaky enough but it had way too much marzipan inside. In fact, I scraped the middle and saved it for later. I have always used the standard for good almond croissant either the ones made at Bouchon Bakery in Yountville or the ones served with Sunday Brunch at the Ritz Carlton in San Francisco. They always had the marzipan just so, with the layers and flavors perfect.
At last, our food arrived, hot and smelling of cheese and bacon and greens. Ahh! So good! Just as I had imagined it to be. The flavors of strong cheese, crisp bacon, and greens with the eggs providing a backdrop for their drama! Nothing like comfort food on a cold Sunday morning.
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Every time I read your post, it makes me miss California and all the sceneries like this. My sister is currently in Southern California visiting a friend. I believe it’s a small city, with small town ambiance. She is loving it. She’s thinking of relocating there…I might too. Beautiful post as always…and the food, just yummy! take care…
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I’m not as familiar with Southern California, not having lived there. I’ve only visited a few times. But we love the Bay Area.
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I found you because of a comment on Mirth and Motivation (incidentally, one of my favourite blogs) and now have you to thank for the earworm How can you mend a broken heart?
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They say you have to sing in your head until you reach the climax of the song so it will stop playing around in circles in your head.
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Even if you don’t have a downtown, the place sure looks nice – and very tempting. The photos from La Boulange really brings out the atmosphere. But how can you have too much marzipan? Sounds like a contradiction of terms…
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Hahaha! I found the thick marzipan a bit much. So I scraped some off and used the remaining paste on my regular toast.
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Comfort food keeps us warm, keeps us feeling that we are not alone. They remind us of the persons and places we are happy about. Your neighborhood is just beautiful. Have a blessed weekend…
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I just want to say that I am officially mad at you. Your blog is going to make me gain twenty pounds. 😉
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Air pounds?
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I would be happy there!
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This sounds scrumptious and like something we’d get to do only on vacation. Thanks for taking me there.
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Yes, do come along. There are wonderful little shops ad restaurants.
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