Edit 03/08: Based on a new visit, the Cheese Danish is better than ever.

Edit 01/07: Judging from the last time I went, they seemed to have changed the cheese danish recipe, and the dough was bland/dry and impeded by coarse sugar crystals sprinkled on top. Maybe it was an off day, but I can no longer recommend it in good conscience.

Since my last visit to Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery, I’ve heard offhand mixed reviews of it from others (lack of freshness, rude counterpeople), so I was eager to return and see if my positive last visit had only been something like a dream. And this time, I brought a neutral third party named Chad.

We took a pretty long time to narrow down our choices in the shop (homemade oreo cookie? strudel? sticky bun? carrot walnut sandwich cookie? pate de fruit?)–during which time a flurry of people came in and out of the small shop–but the counterpeople were friendly and efficient, and we were eventually armed with treats.

It was lightly drizzling outside, but we were hungry enough to take advantage of their outdoor seating only.

I started off with the coffee eclair, which had a striking kick of coffee in its creamy and markedly moist pastry cream as well as in its coffee fondant. The choux pastry was delicate yet sturdy enough to contain the goodness.

Chad started off with a bite of their signature brownie-like Bouchon, and judging by his closed eyes and slightly slackened jaw, was thunderstruck by its rich chocolate self. I suggested that he try the eclair. He was even more thunderstuck, and proposed a trade. Always in search of ways to control my portion size, I agreed.

I moved on to the cheese danish. Once again, the magical lemon-y filling and light yet muscular pastry dazzled me.

Meanwhile, Chad had moved on to the ham and cheese scone, which was laden with chives and perhaps other herbs. It was a good savory counterpoint to the rest, with an admirable balance of ham and cheese flavors kicked up by the herbs. It was also flaky and tender.

I also gave Chad a taste of the cheese danish, which he pronounced “incredible,” and later, in memorium, “awesome.” I had been tearing off pieces of pastry and scooping cheese filling onto them, but after I had relinquished the second half to him, he picked it up and bit through all the layers. And he had me do the same, saying something about eating a cloud. This change in eating method brought a whole new dimension to the danish. The pastry on the bottom turned into a pillow that the lemon-y cheese filling melted into, and it was all finished of by the final contrast of the slightly crispy pastry on the top until it all melted away.

So, yes, we liked Bouchon Bakery.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 12th, 2006 at 8:24 am and is filed under Bakeries/Pastry Shops, Napa Valley. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.