Ken’s Artisan Bakery

23. September 2012 · 2 comments · Categories: Oregon, Restaurant Reviews · Tags: , , , , , ,

I am loving the fact that our new hometown has so many bakeries. In case you haven’t noticed, I pretty much love bread, pastries and all things carb.

Around noon today my husband and I took the MAX train into Portland for lunch at Ken’s Artisan Bakery. The bakery is located at the corner of NW 21st & NW Flanders. Ken also has an artisan pizzeria at SE 28th & SE Pine and a new book that’s just come out. One can never have too many cookbooks.

Lunch is served daily from 11 am to 3 pm. The daily choosings are prominently featured on a large chalkboard sign upon entering, with additional pastry selections featured in glass cases.

I opted for a zucchini and goat cheese pastry with a light creamy-pesto spread. The photo below is pretty close to the actual size. It is the perfect light meal or snack for someone who is saving room for dessert.

The husband chose a roast beef sandwich. While he enjoyed it — especially the bread — he later said he wished he would have gotten the pulled pork. If I ate pork, I would have opted for the banh mi and I was also curious what the “Oregon Water Buffalo” sandwich entailed.

For dessert, we shared this raspberry-chocolate tart. It was awesome in every way. The berries were especially fresh and the thin layer of chocolate didn’t make it overly filling.

Ken’s also has a nice selection of Stumptown Coffee and looseleaf tea. The husband had a vanilla latte and I was adventurous and tried the Lavender-Chamomile tea, which was also quite good.

The bread selection also looked impressive, especially the 3-kilo boule pictured in the top right in the below photo. Other bread options included classic baguettes, ciabatta, multi-grain and walnut bread.

Service was fast and the food was reasonably priced for the quality. We got all of the above food for just over $22.

Ken's Artisan Bakery on Urbanspoon

 

St Honoré Boulangerie

16. September 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: Oregon, Restaurant Reviews · Tags: , , , , , , ,

Since we’re finally settled into our new apartment, we ventured out this morning in search of second breakfast at St Honoré Boulangerie in northwest Portland. Named for the patron saint of baking, St Honoré is a classic French bakery with two locations in the metro Portland area — one in Lake Oswego and the one we visited at NW Thurman & NW 23rd  in Portland’s Nob Hill neighborhood.

We visited the bakery at 9:30 AM on a Sunday, and although it was fairly crowded, we were able to order our food within 5 minutes of waiting in line. Fortunately, we were also able to score a table on their patio so we could enjoy the beautiful late summer weather.

They have any extensive selection of traditional French breads such as couronne and pain de campagne, croissants, fruit tarts and other pastries, soups, salads, sandwiches and desserts.

Both the tarte citron and opera cake looked tempting, but I opted for the seasonal grillé aux pommes, which featured locally grown apples from Kiyokawa Family Orchard in the Hood River Valley. The pastry had a light, buttery flavor and texture similar to a croissant, and the carmelized apple filling was not overly sweet. While it was tasty, it was served at room temperature and would have been better served slightly warm.

The husband chose the tarte aux pommes fines and a traditional pain au chocolat to save for later. Apparently these apple pastries will be available through November.

The apple pastries were reasonably priced at $3.90 per slice and the pain au chocolat was $2.50 — comparable to what I used to find at bakeries in Switzerland. If I come here again, I’ll definitely have to try the bread and the opera cake.

St. Honoré Boulangerie on Urbanspoon