La Boulange

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

Une croissant

Deux pain au chocolat

And a…….STOP! It isn’t Christmas, there are no pear trees …………

Ah but a little bit of France , however, has landed in Marin. La Boulange . In fact, two of Pascal Rigo’s bakery cafes are now located in the county. One at: the Strawberry Shopping Center in Mill Valley and the newest, in Novato’s Hamilton Market Place.

With their distinctive orange awnings and sky blue doors these two café welcome customers not only with their breads and pastries but also with salads, soups, sandwiches and coffee... Salads are served with the bakery’s organic bread and range from Beet, served with goat cheese, orange sections, candied pecans and greens, Nicoise, with tuna, potatoes, green beans, tomato, olives, roasted red peppers, sliced egg , aioli and greens. Getting hungry yet? The sandwiches both open face and regular are served with greens or homemade chips and include smoked salmon, flank steak, and goat cheese with portobello mushroom, roasted red peppers and pesto. They also make a wild mushroom mac and cheese with truffle oil. Looking at their menu, there is something for everyone. It’s no wonder that this casual dining experience is packing them in.

Pascal Rigo was born in Bordeaux and began an apprenticeship in baking when he was seven. After becoming a professional baker he attended the University of Bordeaux and graduated in business. This combination led him eventually to the United States where he first opened a bakery in Los Angeles. Luckily for us he decided to make the bay area his home. base.

He started by opening restaurants but soon returned to his roots. He bought the oldest flour mill in San Francisco that produces the organic flour used in all of the baking. All of his production managers own part of the business and the business has flourished. Freshly baked good are delivered daily and from my experience you had better get there early! Pascal, at first was not going to expand outside of San Francisco, but Marin called and now we have two boulangeries that we can enjoy.

Now let’s see, where was I ? Oh yes, I was at deux pain au chocolat, maybe I’ll save room for trois chocolat fondue…..hey they’re small! Directions