A fifteen minute drive west from my home to Cary, North Carolina
takes me to La Farm Bakery.
There, for many years, a Frenchman and his American
wife have worked diligently to make La Farm
what the 2012 Saveur magazine called, "One of the 20
Great American Bread Bakeries".
I was there today for lunch in the bakery's
busy cafe area, all the while surrounded by the
fragrance of the many beautiful breads and pastries for sale.
Lionel Vatinet's story of his journey from Paris to Cary,
via many countries throughout the world as he learned
his craft, is very interesting.
His first book, A Passion For Bread was published in
November 2013. It tells his story, offers seven
steps to successful artisanal style bread baking at home,
plenty of how to photos, and loads of fabulous recipes.
If you bake bread, want to learn how, or just love
great cookbooks, you need to get this one.
What's in the bag? Two of the most delicious almond
croissants we brought home for later enjoyment.
They were fabulous!
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I love finding bits of France wherever I go. The food, the decor, the history - there's so much France has to offer. Almond croissants - superbe!
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty neat to have a French bread maker so close to home. It would be pretty dangerous for me, I think. ☺ Now I'm feeling a bit like having almond croissants and a cup of coffee at nearly midnight.
ReplyDeleteHello Mary,
ReplyDeleteThis looks to be exactly our kind of place. The baked goods look truly delicious and we are sure that the almond croissants will have tasted divine. So wonderful to have all this within easy reach of your home.
I have looked back at your Budapest posts. They capture so wonderfully well the many different atmospheres of this, in our opinion, most delightful of cities. We are so sorry that our paths did not cross on your visit but are pleased that you discovered M and were made welcome by Miklós the owner. We love it there and hope that you did too.
Thank you for your warm welcome on our return to the Blogosphere. It has been so long and we have missed our blogging chums. So good to catch up!
The bakery looks like a wonderful place! I actually just baked bread the other day. The kind that you don't knead and then through into an enamel cast iron pot. It turned out pretty good! I am going to check out that cookbook. Those croissants sound wonderful.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful place - and the book sounds great - I have several friends that have bought it. I can almost smell the bread - oh right, my bread is baking right now, that is what I smell.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love artisan bakeries like that! It reminds me of one over in Tellico Plains, TN.
ReplyDeleteI have such a weakness for bakeries, oh and almond croissants!
ReplyDeleteThis is my downfall for losing weight. I can almost smell this bakery
through your photos. Oh sigh!
Mary, Our kids live just down the road from La Farm and Kristen got me his cookbook for Christmas. I have yet to tackle it, but his story is inspiring and we are lucky to have him in Cary. He also does cooking classes at the bakery and in his home. Kristen and I would like to take one some time. Would love to have you join us if we do.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it a fabulous bakery Penny? I certainly would love to join you for a baking class there - let me know when you decide to do it and if in town I'll sign up too!
ReplyDeleteI tell you, that croissant was so good - very dense not fluffy/airy so you really felt you got your money's worth, and just enough almond paste, yummy!
Mary X