Belle Epicurean — Restaurant in Seattle

I hate to say it, but I feel like this place has gone downhill every since it's changed location (not sure if that also included a change of management?) Sure, the space is much larger and modern, but what use to easily be a 5-star establishment I find just mediocre now. I've seen some new faces since the move and I feel like they are not very friendly or as skilled in their craft. My lattes are now consistently under-filled and overly foamed. The espresso is strong but are now overly sweetened. One of the reasons I used to love this place is that their lattes were consistent and not TOO sweet. Their pastries are still very good and on point. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt but if the trends continue, I will unfortunately need to find a new morning...

Expensive, and the customer service is good but not great. You do get what you pay for, quality-wise, and paying more here is generally worth it. As for the service, affordable, good customer servixe-oriented help is a hard thing to come by in wildly unequal, financially-lopsided Seattle these days. Having said all that, if you buy the right things here, they are divine. There are a few weaker links amongst their pastry & cakes, to be sure, but plenty of items here are as good as you'll find in any city. My last gateau Breton was sublime perfection but my pain au raisin (not sure if that's what they call it here but, essentially, that's what it was) was an underwhelming use of ~$3.80 Still, mostly...

Disappointed. Not expecting a real French experience, just fresh, decent, simple food and a strong espresso. But I'm sorry I shelled out 10$ for a sandwich (croque monsieur) that was burnt when first cooked and then reheated in a microwave in the time it took me to walk to a table and settle in. The place was empty so why not reheat in an oven while I drink my cappuccino? --- which was a little weak but tasted better than it looked at least. Someone spent a lot of dough on the decor and probably the rent. What about the actual food? Simple menu badly executed. Why? And may I add, personal taste admitted, mediocre trance and techno might seem an odd choice for a French pastry place. Just...