It’s been an eventful past six years for the family-owned Bonjour Bakehouse in a warehouse area of San Mateo.
Bordeaux, France-native Francois Bernaudin was executive pastry chef of La Boulange in San Francisco before founding Bonjour Bakehouse in 2019 at Kitchentown, the food incubator hub in San Mateo. Three years ago, Paris-born Ingrid Sarlandie, a mechanical engineer who worked in executive management in Silicon Valley but had a lifelong passion for baking, joined the business.
For years, the bakery operated a pass-through window there with seating on the sidewalk. But last month, it added indoor seating for 40 with bistro tables and a communal table that afford views of the production kitchen.
When I was invited to try some of the baked goods on the house, my husband was kind enough to pick them up on his way home from the gym. Hey, nothing like burning a bunch of calories before consuming a whole lot of sweet ones.
The spiraled raisin croissant and chocolate croissant were as flaky as can be. The almond croissant, showered with powdered sugar and almond slices, had a deep nutty taste.
While some of the pastries might not be as precise looking as at other bakeries, I appreciated the hominess of them. I also liked the fact that Bernaudin and Sarlandie source local fruit such as apples and berries from the Saturday San Mateo Farmers Market for the scones and golden-hued apple turnover. None of these pastries is overly sweet, either, letting the fruit shine through.
Confetti, M&M, and snickerdoodle cookies come individually wrapped to not only keep them fresh, but make them ideal for gift giving. The cookies are soft and tender, and again, not super sweet. The Confetti was my favorite with its sparkly decorating sugar adding a wonderful crunchiness all over.