Le Marais Bistro + Bakery is not perfect. And I’m not going to pretend like it is. But I have this theory (stay with me). If you recognize something has flaws and decide to love it anyway, your love will run deeper than it would for perfection. And my love for Le Marais runs deep – about as deep as those sumptuous latte bowls.
To truly appreciate this establishment, you must separate the bakery and the bistro. The pastries are perfection. The croissants, pain au chocolats, danishes, etc. are all made with locally-milled organic flours and European style butter. Did someone say “Kouign-amann”? Move over croissants, everyone in San Francisco is over it.
The Kouign-amann is so special it gets its own little napkin cloud.
The tarts are filled with the smoothest vanilla pastry cream and covered in farm fresh local fruit. I will have the blackberry cream choux, please. Or maybe, since it has been outrageously warm in San Francisco lately, I will have the cold lemon meringue tartlette. You can always choose from a rainbow of macaroons and I challenge you to resist a warm Nutella croissant bicolore. They don't happen every day, but when they do...
I enjoyed the millet bread with ricotta cheese, sprouts, and watermelon radishes. HELLO HAPPINESS.
The loaves of bread are hand-shaped using traditional French methods and are fermented for seventeen hours before baking. Every day you can choose from quite the assortment ranging from traditional baguettes all the way to seasonal loaves filled with fruits and nuts. The millet loaf was so heavy, you could break a window with it. Not that I tried that or anything.
In case I haven't convinced you yet, let's move on to the coffee. At Le Marais, Stumptown reigns King and this makes me happier than getting a seat on Muni. The latte bowls are perfectly balanced with smooth, frothy milk and strong espresso flavor. I was also delighted to have a somewhat dry cappuccino and a real macchiato (not like whatever Starbucks is doing these days, but a real macchiato). Truly, the baristas here know what is takes to make a good espresso. Pro tip: You can ask the barista to make your mocha with chocolate made fresh that morning by the pastry chefs. It's hard to beat this, even in Paris.
Stumptown latte bowl! Need I say more?
Once you cross the great divide (imaginary wall between the bakery and the bistro), the charm breaks down a bit. The bistro menu features breakfast items like granola, quiche, bacon and gruyere toast as well as some French classics like croque madame and croque monsieur. The dinner menu includes items like wild salmon tartine and pain au jambon. All lovely enough. But the general attitude on this side of the house rivals that of Paris and they seem to struggle with service a bit. Things can look and feel a bit disorganized. Who is taking your coffee order versus your pastry order? And why is this a different person than the person I order off the menu from? Am I allowed to sit with my coffee and pastries? Or is the bistro only for people ordering off the menu? The cafe and the bistro even have different operating hours. It all requires a little too much thought for me. I have actually never taken the time to sit down and order bistro food. Maybe that's saying something considering I stop by for a coffee at least a few times every week. But I have read Yelp. And it’s not pretty. You know what is pretty? A Stumptown latte in a giant bowl. Have I already mentioned the coffee? Awkward.
The point is, the coffee and pastries are out of this world. The Bistro? Not so much. Maybe this tiny little spot is trying to do too much. Rumor has it owners Patrick Ascaso and Joanna Pulcini have plans to open a full-fledged Le Marais Bistro near Ghirardelli Square in early 2016. A little birdie told me this location will be much more focused on brunch, lunch, and dinner and will feature an expanded cocktail list. Hopefully this means the Chestnut location can ditch the fine dining and focus on what it does best: coffee and pastries. Life in the deep Marina has been rough given the lack of options for coffee and lounging. We could use somewhere to sit and stay awhile. Perhaps Le Marais can fill this void. I am doing my part to aggressively support the cafe part of this business and drop subtle hints about the bistro. They can’t ignore me forever. Rest easy folks, yours truly is on the job.
BREAKING NEWS: On October 6th, 2015, Stumptown announced it was purchased by coffee juggernaut, Peet's. Will this change things? WILL IT? I am nervous and scared like when I see the trailer for San Andreas. Given its humble roots in Berkeley, I think we can hold out some hope Peet's won't ruin this coffee darling. Again, yours truly is on the job. I shall get to the bottom of this.
