I originally learned about the French Bakery & Pastry Shop in Ormond Beach from my dermatologist. That's right, casually discussing French pastry, while she froze several spots on my head with liquid nitrogen. Fun in the big city!
My wife of thirty-nine years was born in France, and grew up in a "boulangerie Française," so we do know a thing or two about French bread and pastry.
We decided to give it a try one evening to have some nice desserts after dinner. We even had a chilled bottle of champagne in the fridge brought back from France on a recent visit. Nothing better than some cold bubbly to wash down some sweet pastry. We purchased a baguette, (French bread), two strawberry tarts, two almond tarts, and a large round butter cookie.
If you've ever been to France, and have ever bought bread in a bakery, you may have noticed that there are several types of baguettes on offer. I've seen baguettes that are similar to what we got here, about five inches in circumference with a fairly hard, crispy crust and a soft interior. Our favorite baguette of choice is referred to as a "flute," and is about half of the circumference, with a harder, crunchier outer and that same light, soft interior.
The baguette we got here was tasty, but the Mrs. was a little disappointed as she tried to cut it into pieces to serve with soft goat cheese as parts of the crust flaked off the slices. I'll say it again though, the taste was spot on, and the interior had a light, soft texture that paired perfectly with the somewhat sour goat cheese.
I had bought the butter cookie to nibble on for the ride home. We were surprised that it had a much harder, dense texture than expected. We were expecting more of a Breton sablé style butter cookie, which is much lighter and crumblier in texture.
The almond tarts were covered with glazed almond slices over a creamy almond paste filling, and a cherry on top. I thought they went very nicely with our bottle of Jean Aubry & Fils Brut Champagne, (not available here in the U.S.).
One of my favorite French pastries are the fruit tarts, and perhaps the best ones are the ever popular strawberry tarts. The French Bakery & Pastry Shop in Ormond Beach, offers a delicious strawberry tart with a creamy filling, topped generously with beautifully glazed strawberry halves, and all on a flaky crust.
I found the prices to be very reasonable for the amount of love and labor that goes into creating pastries such as these, and the assortment was extensive with something to please every sweet tooth. They've been in business since 1984 which says a lot. Any small business that can survive against big business grocery chains for over 40 years is a testament to their product and the customer loyalty they've achieved. Felicitations!
359 W Granada Blvd
Ormond Beach, FL 32174
386-672-5594
Cocoa Butter Ben's Best Bites Restaurant Review:
4.9 Stars
Food: 4.9
Menu: 5
Service: 4.9
Quality / Price: 5
Price: $5 - $10 pp
Comments