The Bakery Business

One of the passions that ML and I share is perhaps an inordinate interest in bakeries. Any time either or both of us are in a place that isn’t home, we are in search of bakeries. This derives from ML’s skills as a baker, and our longstanding appreciation of them. Her talents in that world make her discerning, and I appreciate that discernment. I have learned a few things from her, so when I travel alone, I do the same thing.

Recently, in the nation’s capital for the big 250th, I noticed a place called Tatte Bakery & Cafe. It was conveniently located near the hotel, and I just happened upon it. I had already looked up bakeries online, but didn’t see any that interested me. But I didn’t see Tatte. When I looked it up online, I saw that it is part of a chain of 40 bakeries in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, based in Massachusetts. I was surprised at the quality of everything here. It seemed an independent single location, but there were several in DC, and another one less than two miles from this one. I lowered my expectations, but that was a mistake.

I walked into a very busy place, with a line that snaked around the large counter.  People were sitting at the counter eating delicious breakfasts, but I didn’t have time for that. I picked up a ham and cheese croissant. I liked the question that came with it: “Would you like this warmed?” I don’t believe I’ve had that posed to me before. I can’t believe I declined, but I had to leave. The croissant would have been even better had I said yes.

I also got a Jerusalem bagel, which I didn’t know existed, and a Boureka, as well as a Pain au Chocolat, a walnut brownie, a pistachio cookie, a chocolate mousse, a cheese and sour cherry Danish, a chocolate chip cookie, and something called a nut cup.

The croissant sandwich was really delicious, with the cheese melted into the ham and a hint of Dijon mustard. Since I was unfamiliar with the Jerusalem bagel, I had no idea what to expect. It’s a good thing I had no expectations, or I would have been even more disappointed. It was a large oval of nothing. Just a carb covered completely with sesame seeds. I love sesame seeds and anything coated with them, but this had not much flavor and was just a carb to chew.

The Boureka was very nice, though I preferred the one at Safta’s table, which was more like Spanikopita. This was only feta cheese, but again, something covered in sesame seeds with any flavor at all can only be great. This wasn’t great, but it was very good.

I’m not really into Pain au Chocolat, but everyone else who tried it loved it. There was a generous amount of chocolate inside, and a flaky pastry.

As I have stated, maybe too often, I love chocolate almost exclusively, so I had to get a few other things that were chocolate. I also got a walnut brownie that was covered on top with walnuts. This was a chewy brownie with very dark chocolate and a nice chocolate flavor.

The chocolate chip cookie was pretty much a basic chocolate chip cookie. And what could be wrong with that? There was a tremendous amount of chocolate chips inside, so much so that it seemed a layer of chocolate oozed out of it. Very generous chocolate.

What was most interesting in this entire assortment was the nut cup, a small rectangular dense pastry cup filled with assorted nuts, then drizzled with a honey glaze. This was crunchy and nutty and delicious, and the crust was dense and sturdy.

The sour cherry cheese danish was a flaky pastry with a tart cherry flavor and enough cheese to mute the tart. Everyone liked that too.

A little square pistachio cookie with dried fruit was crispy and full of stuff, almost like granola that had morphed into a cookie. Too much coarse salt.

All of this disappeared pretty rapidly. I wanted to go back for more, like a full breakfast, but we went to The Old Ebbitt Grill instead. But I’ll be looking for a Tatte Bakery on future travels.