Bakery Honore — Restaurant in Seattle

Yay! They are open again. After numerous times driving by and wanting to go in but frustrated by the "closed" sign on the door, we were pleasantly surprised to drive by today and see it open. One quick u-turn later, we were inside and dealing with the quandary of having to choose from an abundance of amazing-looking desserts. This is the kind of place every neighborhood wants. Tiny, but full of atmosphere and enticing pastry of all kinds. The staff was friendly, helpful, quick, and seemed genuinely happy to be there. They told us the Kouign-amann were fresh, and I was glad to hear it, as it's one of my favorite pastries and I've found it notoriously difficult to get a good one. These were light, sweet, and buttery without being too greasy - everything you want from the Breton classic. As good as they were however, it was hard to turn away from the many delicious-looking options in the case. I know I've got to go back to get the apricot tart, whatever that cream filled bun was, and - according to my neighbor - the cherry strudel. That's another nice thing about Honore, it's the kind of place where you see your neighbors and they tell you to get there early if you want to get the strudel before it runs out. The coffee was also not bad. They make an acceptable cortado, which is one of my cafe litmus tests. Not the best I've had, but an absolutely find complement to the pastry. As I said, it's small - one 3-person tables and 5 2-tops, but if you can snag one, it's a lovely place to hang out and chat, play a game of cards, do some journaling, listen to French music, and watch people struggle with the pastry decisions you just made. We were lucky in our timing. When we got there, the place was empty, but 5 minutes after we sat down, there was a line out the door and all the tables filled up quick and by the time we left, the cases were nearly cleared out, so I think that this is the kind of place you want to hit early if you can. I hope...

**UPDATE: Found this sharp plastic piece in the Choc Decadence!! I was one of the customers who had always liked this bakery until this morning. When I arrived around 7:50 this morning, there was already quite a long line, and after waiting for about 45 minutes, I was able to order. As you can see in the attached photo, I ordered various pastries and desserts to celebrate Mother's Day, and I paid a significant amount of $66 at the bakery. The problem arose when I arrived home and opened the box to find a Key Lime Tart instead of the Choc Decadence I had ordered. Not only was I looking forward to trying the Choc Decadence, but they also charged more than twice the cost of the Key Lime Tart, so I tried contacting them. I called them 3 times, but they never answered, and there were no other contact methods available. After trying another 2-3 consecutive calls, I finally got through, and the woman who picked up the phone said she can exchange it for the Choc Decadence if I come back. There was NO apology for their mistake. Since I didn't want to ruin Mother's Day, I decided to drive back to the bakery. When I got there, the woman checked my Key Lime Tart in the box, pouted, took it back, and finally gave me the Choc Decadence. Again, there was no apology for the time wasted going back home and driving back again, nor any acknowledgment of their mistake. Also, they took back the wrongly handed Key Lime Tart. I'm not sure if they might resell it to another customer. There is NO respect for the customer who willingly dedicated over an hour of early Sunday morning and paid a significant amount in this business. There is NO genuine apology for their mistake in this business as well. I am deeply disappointed with their customer service and will...

Chef Honore, who I had the honor (ha) of listening to at the bakery this morning, has some serious mastery of French baking techniques. There are two main specialties here—croissants and brioche—and most of the items behind the display are based on one of these. They also have some cookies, tarts, and other goodies, but that's not really the point of coming here.

The croissants, either sweet or savory, are exemplary. My personal favorite is the blueberry pinwheel, but anything that shows off those amazing flaky layers will be well worth it. They also have a breakfast sandwich served on a croissant and it's absolutely delicious with perfectly baked eggs and melty cheese that's just a little charred around the edges.

The brioche also comes in many varieties. If you can get there early and get a chocolate brioche while it's still warm, do it. It'll change your life.

My other big favorite is the lemon lavender scone!

The trouble with Bakery Honore is that they sell out often and early. There was a line of half a dozen people before opening on a Friday morning. Their hours are limited and sometimes inconsistent, so just plan to be flexible but know that the effort is...