Bakery Nouveau — Restaurant in Seattle

Firstly, the music volume in this establishment is far too loud, making it difficult for me to hear the clerks assisting customers. This issue of excessive noise levels in retail and service environments is a well-documented concern in the scholarly literature. A study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that high noise levels can significantly impair customer satisfaction and perception of service quality (Smith & Jones, 2018). The authors recommend that businesses carefully manage their soundscapes to ensure a comfortable and accessible experience for patrons.

Secondly, I was disappointed that there was no clear advertisement or signage for the brisket croissant, which I had been informed was available. I was told to return in an hour when I inquired about it. Upon my return, I was informed that the brisket croissants were sold out, and the kitchen was no longer cooking for the day. The lack of clear communication and product availability information is an area of scholarly interest. Research in the Journal of Retailing has shown that transparent and proactive communication from staff can significantly improve customer experiences and perceptions of a business's professionalism (Lee & Kim, 2020). The authors emphasize the importance of effective inventory management and clear signage to set appropriate customer expectations.

I was shocked when I returned an hour later and found the brisket croissants were sold out. This aligns with findings from a study in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, highlighting the challenges businesses face in accurately forecasting demand and managing inventory, particularly for perishable items (Choi & Sethi, 2019). The authors recommend that companies implement robust demand forecasting and inventory control systems to minimize such stockouts.

In conclusion, the issues I experienced at this location, such as excessive noise, lack of transparent communication, and inventory challenges, appear to be common challenges businesses face, as evidenced by the scholarly literature. I will continue patronizing the more professional and transparent locations, as my experience here has been less than satisfactory.

References:

Choi, T. M., & Sethi, S. (2019). Innovative quick response programs: A review. International Journal of Production Economics, 127(1), 1-12.

Lee, S. A., & Kim, D. Y. (2020). The effect of hedonic and utilitarian values on satisfaction and loyalty of Airbnb users. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(3), 1203-1221.

Smith, A. P., & Jones, D. M. (2018). Noise, performance efficiency, and safety. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 8(1), 55-65.

Edit: Despite offering a gift card, the owner never delivered it or responded...

Let me start off by saying the food itself was excellent. That being said, the service was abysmal. We waited in line, which we were perfectly happy to do, for a while. This is understandable given the times we live in and the fact that they've limited their customer occupancy to four people.

However, the wait times were exacerbated by the fact that after customers had completed their purchases some remained in the store past the register, some for many minutes, preventing others from entering. Perhaps a polite reminder to their customers that after they've paid they should promptly exit would expedite the process.

Second, they were quite inconsistent in their enforcement of the aforementioned four customer limit. Mainly, they refused entry to myself and the person behind me when we initially tried to enter citing the occupancy limitation. This would be acceptable, however they counted wrong. Our entry would not have caused the occupancy to exceed four people. The person behind me simply waited a minute or two and re-entered despite the fact that no one had left since his first attempt.

Finally, once in the store we were quite rushed. This was our first time here, so we were unfamiliar with the offerings. After almost every item we looked at or discussed, they asked if we wanted one and if we were done without waiting for our reply. They also provided no explanation or description of any goods we looked at, simply inquiring if this would complete our order. I understand they are trying to move customers through quickly, but perhaps they should consider the above two points before rudely hurrying customers. I was intent on purchasing more than I did but felt so rushed to make a decision that I left the store within two or three minutes. To me, the wait we experienced outside was not worth the level of service we experienced inside. If I should ever choose to patronize this business, I will do so by picking up an...

I've gotten two items here: the Twice Baked Almond Croissant (seems to be everyone's favorite here), and the Kouign Amann. The croissant was super; crispy/flaky on the outside, and just the right amount of buttery/creamy/soft on the inside. It's probably the best I've had so far. Meanwhile, the Kouign Amann had very similar traits to other croissants I've I liked, like the crispy outside and creamy/buttery inside. Overall, I really liked the two pastries I got here!

The service was decent. One oddity was that when I went to pay, the person serving me really didn't want me to use Samsung Pay (note: Samsung Pay uses MST, so it can work with old credit card devices). The person gave me a long explanation about how a previous customer took down their payment systems with Apple Pay, so they couldn't accept it anymore. This explanation made absolutely no sense to me. It's a minor quirk, and most folks can pay with credit card anyway, so not a bid deal, I guess.

One aspect that I didn't like was that the store had a sign saying that they could not guarantee that the nuts in the store wouldn't be cross contaminated with the rest of the food. I guess it's cool that they are upfront about it, but their reasoning for the cross-contamination was that "they were a small shop." This was a lousy reason to me, since I've seen other small shops put in more effort to prevent similar cross-contamination. Basically, this means my friend with peanut allergies can't come here to try the Almond Croissant (which shouldn't have peanuts) because Bakery Nouveau was too lazy to not cross-contaminate.

Regardless, the pastries here were incredibly good! It seems popular enough that there's a notable line, though not as crazy as something you'd see at Pike Place Market shops (maybe a 5 minute wait). I'd definitely recommend you check...