A friend called to meet up with me while she was in town for her high school reunion. I could only join her for breakfast, so we decided to go to Celtica Bakery in Lakeview. This is a French bakery with sweet and savory items, but mostly pastries.  Since I don’t usually eat croissants, a decent percentage of the items in the case were lost on me. There was a basic croissant, a Pain au chocolat, and an almond croissant. I passed on all of these, though my friend got the almond croissant, and was thrilled with her choice. She was also a fan of the Cherry Danish.

I stuck with the more savory things in the case. There was a Quiche Lorraine, a Florentine quiche, a ham and cheese quiche, and a meat pie. There are also European sandwiches on baguettes like the ones found everywhere in Europe. Those are never toasted, as they aren’t here, and I find them chewy, no matter how good the ingredients between the bread are. And usually the ingredients include prosciutto, which I find chewy in itself.

After a number of trips to Celtica to capture its essence, I’d say go there for breakfast or pastries.  More on lunch later. Since I am not a sweets person, I can’t even recommend sweets because I’ve only had a bit of them. But the ones I have bitten are sensational.

There is a chocolate tart which is dense chocolate with a crumbly crust. It is rich and decadent and everything such a tart should be. But what is truly outstanding in my sweets experience is a little cookie they make with hazelnuts that is then dipped in chocolate. It is the mouthfeel of this that is so special. It is coarse but so buttery that the contrast is really interesting and very pleasing. At the end of it is a tip generously dipped in dark chocolate. These would be dangerous to me but even my undisciplined self would have to stop at one because they are so rich and satisfying.

My friend had an almond croissant which thrilled her as well because she is crazy about that almond flavor. There was plenty of it here, offset by an ample dusting of powdered sugar. The toasted almond slivers added a nice texture to the soft pastry.

She also got a cherry Danish that was lovely and different in that the puff pastry formed a square. It looked like a frame for the sweet contents. Underneath the cherries and almonds was pastry cream and the glaze on top made this a pretty thing that was sweet with fruit flavor. Another winner. 

Bakeries are all so different now it’s hard to make a generalization.. The newfangled ones, as I call them, will often have savory food featuring their talents, like housemade biscuits served with fancy eggs and great bacon, etc. There is nothing like that here, unfortunately. Not even a biscuit. Absent that, I like a quiche option. Celtica has a nice version of both Quiche Lorraine and a Florentine quiche without a flaky puff pastry crust. I don’t even think there is a crust here. 

To my taste, a crust is needed to offset the fluffy egg texture of the filling. The small quiches here are baked in a shallow paper muffin cup. I like the fillings of both, but it’s just impossible to beat the perfect blend of ham and cheese in a Quiche Lorraine. 

There is also a ham and cheese croissant that is quite tasty too, but as a lukewarm fan of croissants, I always go for the quiche instead.

I returned specifically for lunch one day. When my friend and I were there I noticed a sign out front advertising sandwiches and salads.

Somehow I pictured this differently, though I don’t know why. Oddly, everything here is served on paper plates, so a salad in a paper to-go container should not have surprised me. It was packed beautifully and was very nice. I chose a vinaigrette dressing with this.

The sandwich was LeClub, and I don’t know why I expected an American club, but it wasn’t, of course. What was unexpected was the appearance of jalapeños on this sandwich. There was turkey and lettuce and tomato and a sad single slice of cheap bacon with mayo on sourdough. It was not toasted, and they said they’d be happy to toast it, but I didn’t want them to have to disassemble the sandwich to toast the bread. That’s on me for expecting an American club. Not a fan of French sandwiches, with the possible exception of the ham and butter on baguette, but it has to be at just the right place. Most are underwhelming.

I like this bakery. I wouldn’t drive across town to have something from here, but it’s worth stopping in if you are passing by.