There’s a small section of College Avenue in Oakland, just bordering Berkeley, that has the perfect set up to shop for groceries the French way. There is a produce market, a flower shop, a butcher shop, and a bakery. (There are a few other shops here, too, for candy, coffee, and your basic drugstore needs.) If you live around here, it’s a great set up to buy exactly what you need on a daily basis.
La Farine has been around for just about 25 years, serving up fresh bread daily and sweet treats such as tarts, breakfast pastries and cookies. Walk into La Farine and it has that down-to-earth bakery feel with its wood finishing. Between the front counters you can see into the bakery, where all these wonderful pastries are being made. The baskets of breakfast pastries will probably catch your attention first: scones, brioche, and a variety of croissant dough pastries. (The morning bun is recommended. Think of the taste of buttery croissants with cinnamon sugar.)
The glass jars of cookies sit along the counter, each with a cute little sign, ranging from almond tea cakes to the decadent chocolate chunk espresso cookie. There is also a cake and tart pastry case filled with perfectly frosted cakes and delicate fruit tarts. And, of course, there are the cupcakes.
A great time of the year at La Farine is the holidays. They have a seasonal menu of classic such as the buche de noel, stollen and panettone. How about a Thanksgiving apple tart? Not into the sweets, that’s okay. La Farine also sells fresh bread from baguettes to olive bread, from sourdough to challah. Grab a loaf on your way home for dinner and, perhaps a triple ginger cookie just for the trip home.
Check out one of the four La Farine locations:
Rockridge 6323 College Ave.
Oakland, CA 94618
Dimond 3411 Fruitvale Ave.
Oakland, CA 94602
North Berkeley 1820 Solano Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94702
Piedmont Avenue 4094 Piedmont Ave
Oakland, CA 94611
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