Portland, OR
For the Easter long weekend, my family and I headed down to Oregon, more specifically, to Portland and Woodburn, for some shopping and eating :D
My sister did some research online days prior to our road trip and she found this French cafe where we could have breakfast. St. Honore Boulangerie is a neighbourhood cafe and bakery, but it's definitely a gem of a place; very popular amongst locals. On their website, it says they "feature handcrafted French breads and pastries, as well as sandwiches, quiches and savory entrees, salads and soups and premium coffee drinks."
Right when you walk in, you could see their assortment of freshly baked breads ranging from baguettes to brioche to whole grain loaves.
There was also a chilled display case showcasing their cakes and desserts of the day.
At the cafe, customers order and pay at the counter, find a table to sit and then the staff will bring the food to your table.
I started with a cafe au lait with a Normandy Apple Toast (A pain perdu of brioche and pastries baked in a custard flavored with vanilla and pommeau apple wine, topped with fresh apples).
On the menu, I was enticed by the Brioche Cocotte!! It's part of the 'Petit Dejeuner' (small lunch) section of the menu. It is a small, rounded brioche loaf, hollowed out and replaced with a poached egg inside, chive creme fraiche and two bacon strips on top. It also came with a salad on the side.
Omigawdthiswassoamazing!! Not to sound exaggerated but this was definitely one of those moments where you close your eyes, slowly chew and savour the bite. The egg was perfect, cooked to the consistency right between a soft and medium poached egg. Once I cut open the bread to get the egg, the yolk oozed out and mingled with the creme fraiche and the brioche was there to soak it all up! The bacon was more meaty and chewy than crisp because it was thick-cut bacon. I would've liked it more if it were more crispy.
After our first visit to St. Honore, we liked it so much that we came back the next morning for breakfast again!!
This time, I had a cafe au lait again to go with the Croque Madame. It is a Croque Monsieur (brioche sliced with Emmental cheese bechamel sauce, Dijon mustard, and black forest ham) with a poached egg on top. Or basically, a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a poached egg on top...but that description doesn't do it justice. It is WAY more than just a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.
This sandwich was just as equally amazing as the Brioche Cocotte. The bread was toasted crispy yet the middle was still soft and buttery. The cheese and bechamel sauce was gooey and delicious and, again, the perfectly poached egg with the soft yolk tied everything together. Foodgasm!
I was so enthralled by my sandwich that I completely forgot what W had ordered....oops! I believe he had the Rillette et Roti de Porc (Rustic roll with oven braised pork shoulder with fennel, cranberries, and honey Dijon glazed pork roast topped with apple slaw consisting of Golden Delicious, radicchio, fennel and red onions, with a bacon dressing).
We also sampled a few of their pastries like the Strawberry Millefeuille, almond croissants, and chouquette (puffed pastry balls sprinkled with rock sugar). The chouquette were like mini cream puffs minus the custard cream and they were highly addictive! We bought many bags to eat in the car and to take home!
Everything we ate at St. Honore was incredible and I wish there was a bakery/cafe like this at home. The place that I can think of that is most similar to St. Honore is Faubourg in Kerrisdale. Faubourg has a bakery (their selection of pastries and breads are comparable to St. Honore) as well as a bistro section, but their lunch items doesn't seem as attractive as the ones from St. Honore.
St. Honore is a small, cozy, warm and bright cafe and it's one of those places where you can sit down, linger on a cup of coffee and enjoy a pastry with a friend while the sun bathes on you through the large picture windows (when it's warm outside, the large window even slides open completely so theres no wall between the inside and the outdoor patio!) If it weren't for the 6 hour drive, I would want to go to St. Honore every week!!
No comments:
Post a Comment