The Case of the Vanishing Bakery

[Carrot Top]

Absolutely.That same problem exists with any restaurant that serves breakfast, also.

It is not quite as important, though, in a Patisserie, or Pastry Shop, or Bakery, that is focused on making cakes, pies, tortes, etc etc...rather than bread...as the bread of course needs rising time. Many pastry 'basics' can be made from scratch and held refrigerated overnight with little if any change in taste...and the ones that can not, do not need rising time with the exception of yeast-raised breakfast pastries. So the employees COULD (if of course there were ever a place where the rent was right, the customer demand was there, and all other stuff okay too...hah!) for this sort of bakery arrive to work perhaps 5:30 or 6:00' ish. Which is still not a great schedule, but what job is, nowadays?!

All I know is I really want to eat a good linzertorte, a nice fresh fruit tart, an interesting cheesecake...that is not scooped out of a plastic bin to bake...I am hungry for these things and wish I didn't have to make them myself when I wanted them!

(Or that I had to live in a big city to find the sort of places that do make them...)

They do say that demand for desserts in fine restaurants has not gone down. People will still 'save room for dessert'!

That reminds me of another story. I went out to eat at a local fairly upscale restaurant, a Cajun one. Had dinner, ready for the dessert menu, which had three offerings.

I chose the 'chocolate volcano' or something like that. A warmed chocolate cake filled with a hot chocolate filling. Topped with whipped cream.

Sounded good, though certainly not challenging or complicated.

Well. It certainly was not challenging or complicated. I found the exact same dessert in the deli section at WAL-MART the next time I shopped there!

So I had paid a good amount to have a dessert from Wal-Mart warmed up and plopped down in front of me!

Aaaaargh.

Note: It was not bad, at all, the taste....but PLEASE...

[Daddy-A]

My experience here in Toronto is exactly the opposite. Good local bakeries and pastry shops seem to be opening up all the time, and thriving.

Must be a Naomi Klein thing I guess we Canucks like good baking or we can recognize Atkins for what it is ... a diet craze.

I can report a similar situation here in Vancouver. However, we are also seeing a rapid influx of the Cobb's chain out of Australia ... about 6 stores open in the last month! Nothing against Cobb's but I still frequent my local bakery. When it's time for birthday cakes, I'd rather spend an extra few bux for real butter cream as opposed to the oily mystery-filling they tend to use at the coporate level.

DA