I Love This Town: Artisan Boulanger Patissier

I have a confession to make: I don't like croissants.  Well, I didn't.

Then I went to Artisan Boulanger Patissier at 12th and Morris Streets.  A friend at the dog park kept talking about a French bakery that he would visit every weekend, so we decided to check it out and were immediately hooked.  I don't even know where to begin to write about my admiration for Andre, Amanda, and their bakery - so I'll start with these three words: Chocolate Almond Croissant.

This pastry will rock your world. A thin dusting of powdered sugar lays gently on top of buttery, flakey, crisp edges of the croissant and when you bite into the slightly doughy middle, you get a perfect balance of the filling of chocolate and almond paste. It's the kind of thing that you can't help but make noises while eating..."mmmm..."  This treat paired with a great cup of coffee equals perfection.

The pâtissier, Andre Chin, was born in Cambodia and moved to Paris because of the war at the age of 15. He was a couple of years behind in school, and like others, was given the choice of trying a few different trades - including pastry.  He was an apprentice for three years, from 1975 to 1978 (working on perfecting croissants for 9 months) and then worked for a French company as a classically trained pastry chef.  He visited the United States in 1990 and reunited with some long lost cousins here in Philadelphia who introduced him to Amanda.  After 20 years of living in Paris, Andre headed to the City of Brotherly Love and the rest, as they say, is history.

Andre and Amanda have lived in the neighborhood for 14 years.  They opened up the bakery (which used to be a bar) about 8 years ago and have seen a change in area over the past couple of years.  Andre explained to me that it was a rough start for their business because the neighborhood wasn't used to this kind of bakery, whereas in Paris, there are a couple pâtisseries on every block.  He compared it to Dunkin Donuts, but believe me, there is no comparing them.  Now they are doing really well and don't have to rely so much on wholesale clients.  In the beginning, Andre and Amanda made mini pastries, danish and baguettes for Air France but now they do less wholesale and focus more on their store in the neighborhood (he said it's about 30% wholesale and 70% storefront).  In addition to the amazing variety of croissants, this husband and wife team also make delicious baguettes, banettes, rustic sourdoughs, multi-grain loaves, breakfast sandwiches, tarts, and decadent mousse cakes. Not only is their product to die for, Andre and Amanda are authentic, honest and friendly people.  I only wish I could do more to support this little piece of Paris in the middle of South Philadelphia. 

If my recommendation isn't enough for you, even Hugo gets excited to go to the bakery.  In fact, I have trouble walking him back to the house after our visit because he is turned around looking at me jumping up whenever he hears the noise of the paper bag.  I blame Andre for this.  He started keeping day-old madeleine cookies around for the neighborhood pups.  Hugo doesn't even make an attempt to hide the joy this brings him.

In case you missed it here, I am writing a weekly series called "I Love This Town" about shops and restaurants in my neighborhood.