January 30th is National Croissant Day.
Yes, that means you probably should just forget about your carb-free, gluten-free diet for a day and eat one or three of these flaky, buttery pastries. Here’s where you can get yours in Kitsilano.
Classic Butter
A classic contender for the best croissants in our neighbourhood is, as always, Plaisir Sucré. This little authentic French cafe has been serving us delicious pastries with friendly French chatter for years. What better place than here to try the classic butter croissant. The sandwiches are good and budget-friendly, too.
Pain Au Chocolat
We’re going to borrow another neighbourhood’s cafe here, Patisserie Lebeau, from across Burrard Street (we still call this area Kits even if it isn’t technically). Back to the pastries, this busy lunch-time favourite is known for its Belgian liège waffles and baguette sandwiches, but they bake some excellent croissants as well, so go ahead and ask for the sweet chocolate-filled one.
Croissant Aux Amandes
Thomas Haas and Beaucoup Bakery & Cafe (another from across Burrard…) both have the most amazing and absolutely indulgent double baked almond croissants. One will be enough as these almond-topped and almond-filled beauties are quite substantial. Thomas Haas also does a fine pistachio-almond croissant and Beaucoup Bakery has a special seasonal croissant right now with orange, cherry, cardamom, and chocolate. Wow.
Savoury
Terra Breads makes a lovely ham and cheese-filled croissant, and the croissant itself is made with grass-fed butter. How nice! These savoury croissants make for a perfect breakfast in our opinion, as does their small-batch, artisan granola.
Bon appétit!
Last modified: January 30, 2019
Plaisir sucré does a great job keeping it authentic and I agree with the whole article. I’d like to add that Pallet on West Broadway and Maple has a “Hazelnut Pain au Chocolat”, that thez source from Christophe who is a Swiss award winning pastry chef. There is nothing like it.