Food Review: Pitchoun! French Bakery Café

545 Olive St.

Los Angeles, CA

213-689-3240

pitchounbakery.com

$

By LILA SEIDMAN | Reporter

Photos by Rich Schmitt | Staff Photographer

It was like the locals and tourists streaming in and out of Pitchoun! French Bakery Café in Downtown Los Angeles during a busy lunch hour stretch knew a critic was lurking about—and were paid to rave.

“I don’t know what pastries they’re serving, but those were delicious! Those samples—I had like three,” one enthused patron told his friends on the way out. (For readers who need to know, they were sampling Palmiers.)

“So many pastries. I’m so full,” a woman told her husband. He shot back with, “They were so good.”

The impromptu reviews boded well. Suddenly it didn’t seem so absurd to follow Pitchoun!—which proffers its specialty breads and morning pastries each weekend at the Pacific Palisades Farmers Market—all the way to the concrete jungle.

I decided to sit outside on the patio, as far away as possible from the lunch rush hullaballoo transpiring inside. Under the dappled shade, jutting on the sidewalk like a Parisian cafe, I tried to imagine myself onto the Champs-Élysées. (It’s tricky—Pitchoun! is directly across from the unfortunately unpicturesque Pershing Square.)

But the authenticity shines through. French accents abound among the wait/management staff. Owners Frédéric and Fabienne Souliès are French and French-speaking, from the Southwest and Monaco, respectively. The Eiffel Tower—in the form of cookies, decorative statuettes and paintings—keeps you firmly in the Francophile mindset.

Pitchoun means kiddo in French, and its cozy, casual connotation pervades. You order from the counter, take a number and sit where you please. Prices won’t make you scream “sacrebleu!” There’s even a fireplace built into the exposed brick interior.

As patrons’ raves suggest, it’s the pastries and their carb-laden cousins that steal the show—and Marie Antoinette recommends a dose of cake—so I’ll start with the sweet end of the menu.

The chocolate-cream filled Éclair ($4.85) came decorated with edible golden balls. Instead of biting into said spheres of sugar, as I expected, the balls were crunchy, hollow and not sweet, adding a layer of complexity in the form of texture rather than intense flavor. The Éclair overall was refreshingly subtle in sweetness.

The Fruit Tart’s ($5.20) requisite bouquet of blueberries, kiwi slices, strawberries and one handsome fig quarter rested on a pleasantly soft, cakey cushion, with a crunchy exterior. It was my favorite of the three pastries I sampled, and a perfect companion for a sweltering afternoon.   

Millefeuille (Napoleon, in layman’s terms; $5) was less stunning, but the pastry layers do have an intriguing, unique caramel flavor.

(Each pastry comes adorned with an attractive chocolate medallion stamped with the orange Pitchoun! logo: a beret-wearing “kiddo” running with baguette in hand, in case you forgot which country’s cuisine you’re sampling.)

Now that you’re hopped up on a vicarious sugar high, we can backtrack to Pitchoun!’s other focus: breakfast and lunch:

It’s no wonder the Croque-Monsieur ($10.50) is so popular, as a French-accented waiter explained. Think elevated grilled cheese with a French twist: cooked ham, Gruyere cheese, béchamel sauce and ample butter on dense sandwich bread. Each bite was like a warm hug. (For a little extra, you can add an organic sunny side up egg and make it a heartier Croque-Madame.)

Not as popular as Pitchoun!’s Nicoise Salad, but also oft-ordered, is the Country Salad. It’s like sunshine in a bowl. Bright drops of corn and green onion accentuate the egg, traditional French cooked ham, tomatoes, avocado and butter lettuce. The dressing tastess barely there—and it works.

One miss was the Sunshine Tartine open-faced sandwich, with prosciutto, zucchini, ricotta cheese, pine nuts, rosemary, olive oil and garlic, all on top of fig and nut bread. The subtler flavors were overpowered by the strong overtone of garlic.

Pitchoun!’s menu is extensive, both sweet- and savory-wise, and it would take several (delicious) visits to scratch the surface. Other popular items include croissants and quiches, and more exotic, hard-to-pronounce items like Kouign-Amanns and Beignets—all of which are enhanced by a side of espresso.

Mouth watering for a croissant or croque, but cringing at the thought of trekking to DTLA? Pitchoun! offers its house-made Croissants, Morning Buns, Chouquettes, Country Loaf, Energy Bread, Ciabatta and other breadly delights at the Palisades farmers market. Pitchouns are welcome.