Tis Me Michelle

The one thing you have learned quickly, or will if you read my posts, is that I love me all things French. Most specifically, a French baked good. So when I heard about J’adore The French Bakery… I immediately booked it there.

The Parking: The bakery is located in a small strip of stores behind a 7-Eleven. The strip has dedicated parking, and at the time I went there were plenty of open spots. By the time I left, it was rather packed. People were in and out pretty quickly, some folks dining in and some taking away. So I don’t think you’d have too much trouble grabbing a spot.

The Atmosphere: I really enjoyed this spot. From what I’ve read up on this place, it was opened by a family who moved here from the South of France and had a bakery there. I was lucky enough to travel to Marseille a few years ago, where my friends’ family lives, and this totally reminded me of the local bakery that she and her family took me to. As soon as you walk in, everyone is greeted with a Bonjour, Hello, Welcome! As you enter, you are welcomed with a counter of beautifully scrumptious pastries. There are a few spots to sit inside to dine. It is a very unassuming, lax spot. Totally has a neighborhood feel, as in… If I lived near here, I’d be there on the regular.

The Food: I was originally going to just load up on pastries… And don’t you worry, I sure did that too. But I was in the mood for something savory, so I started with a Quiche Lorraine and a coffee. I enjoyed the quiche. Light, fluffy, and custardy, with some salty fattiness from the bacon bits. It really had that homemade taste and look. Not the basic perfect tart shell, but one you could tell was prepped in-house. It came with a side of a small salad or fruit. A good portion size, and $11, not bad at all.

Now the main course. The pastries. I feel like I had slight restraint. I ordered only… Three full-sized pastries. Of course, I got a standard croissant, just to have a baseline on the quality. And what a fantastic croissant it was, the only thing that could have made it better was if it were fresh and warm. But even so, it was soft on the inside with a light crisp on the outside. Something to note is that all the ingredients are apparently imported from France… And something I noticed about all these pastries is that even though we know French pastries to be buttery and delicious. None of these felt or tasted heavy or overly greasy. Rather light and delightful.

Next up, I got a pistachio chocolate swirl pastry. The dough itself had the same lovely texture and flavor of the croissant, if not more fluffy, as it was more dough-forward. It was delicious, but there was no pistachio flavor. It tasted like a regular pain suisse. Nothing wrong with that. I wish it had either pieces of pistachio or maybe some pistachio cream. The pastry cream had a green hue, but that’s about it.

And finally, the one that caught my eye was the Granais Apricot. It looked so beautiful, it called out to me, and I said hell yes. Please and thank you. My eyes served me well for a change. This was definitely my favorite item of the day. Not that the others were far behind. But again, a lovely croissant base, but elevated with a nice vanilla pastry cream and perfectly ripe, jammy, caramelized apricots. Even so, not overly sweet, but balanced with the tartness of the apricot and flaky croissant.

Overall: Seriously… It’s a good thing this is a hike for me. Otherwise, I would be a series regular. The service was great, everyone was very friendly and attentive. By far the best French baked goods I’ve had here in Orlando. All of the pastries were fantastic. Again, not greasy or overly sweet, just delicious and authentic. I would love to go back and try more of their other items. I would love to live there. Random dream of mine to live above/beneath a patisserie or boulangerie… maybe the closest thing I’ll do is move close to this spot.

Rating: 9.7/10

Address: 910 Sand Lake Rd, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714