New French Bakery Opens in Monterey Park

[SoCal Foodie]

A new French bakery and coffee shop called Fleur De Lys Patisserie just recently opened in Monterey Park offering tarts, quiches, croissants, cupcakes, and more items soon to come. They have a few tables inside the bakery and outside there is a small patio. The owner/baker is a graduate of the Cordon Bleu in Pasadena. I enjoyed my red velvet cupcake, along with a walnut fudge pastry.

Fleur De Lys Patisserie
440 South Atlantic Blvd at Harding Ave (across from Chase Bank and just south of Mr Baguette). Open Tue-Fri from 7am to 4pm and Sat-Sun from 8am to 3pm.
Closed Mon

[matikin9]

So sad.... :( I just read this thread and got excited about this new bakery. Then, I noticed that the OP was from 2009, but no biggie, they should have their kinks worked out and be really good now, right? I looked on Yelp and read that they're closing Oct 3! Oh noes! At least that would give me this weekend to try it even if they are closing...but then I scrolled down some more and saw the owner's son posted they closed on 9/27, two days ago. :'(

[andytseng]

I was wondering why they were closed when I drove by yesterday. It's too bad, although I can't say that it's surprising considering the place was empty whenever I stopped in during lunch. I think the prices were too high for the SGV.

[chowchow12345678]

Maybe they should relocate to the westside where the demographic there are more able and willing to spend on luxuries like fancy pastries.

[peppermonkey]

Dang really...where am I gonna get my coffee and monkey bread

[chowchow12345678]

I'm SO SAD to hear this, they were my one of my favorite bakeries!!! I loved their pastries and hanging out there! It's heartbreaking to see a real gem disappear, while many bad to mediocre places survive or even have great success.

[bulavinaka]

They put some serious effort in creating a nice ambiance there. It's too bad things didn't work out - I hope the best to them in some other incarnation.

[Dommy]

Oh no!! :( So sad to hear. :( We really enjoyed our desserts from there... :(

--Dommy!

[daantaat]

San Diego 'hound here--has anyone ordered a sheet cake from Fleur de Lys? I looked on Yelp and this thread and all the reviews of are their baked goods. I'm planning my dad's 80th birthday and need a good, reliable bakery for his cake b/c I don't have time to travel to the SGV to do tastings.

TIA!

[bulavinaka]

I've never seen sheetcakes there, but I haven't been there since May. I did order a round (I think it was 10") and while it was good, it wasn't great. I found the cake to be a bit dry, even with a liqueur-based simple syrup on it. Van's Bakery is very popular in SGV but I've never had their sheet cakes.

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Van's Bakery
860 E Valley Blvd, San Gabriel, CA

[exilekiss]

Hi daantaat,

Welcome to the LA Board. :) Did you need any "good, reliable bakery for his cake" (any location)? Or does it have to be in the SGV?

Because if not, I nominate Patisserie Chantilly in the South Bay. :) You can do a search and see some threads and pics of their creations. :)

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Patisserie Chantilly
2383 Lomita Blvd., #104, Lomita, CA 90717

[daantaat]

Hey exilekiss! Yeah, I'm nosing around on the LA Board. :-)

I was asking for SGV b/c the dinner is in Monterey Park, so theoretically, less of a delivery charge. Jim's Bakery, which is across the street from NBC Seafood would deliver for free. However, they do the Chinese style cakes and I'm considering European style as an option.

I will check out Patisserie Chantilly. I put a call out to Cake Divas in Culver City, who did our wedding and people STILL talk about it!

Thanks also to bulavinaka and your tips!

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Patisserie Chantilly
2383 Lomita Blvd., #104, Lomita, CA 90717

NBC Seafood Restaurant
404 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754

[bulavinaka]

Hi daantaat,

If Patisserie Chantilly is a viable option for you, I'm with exilekiss on this one. They are superb. I don't know about sheet cakes there, but they are serious about their craft. You won't be disappointed.

Doesn't Jim's do daantaat? Why not get a few pie-sized ones in honor of your call name? :)

[andytseng]

Giant egg tart. That sounds freakin delicious. I'd take that over Momofuku's crack pie any day of the week.

Also, Jim's does a milk tart (I think that's what they call it) that is rich and creamy and all sorts of goodness.

[daantaat]

Hi bulavinaka,

You LA hounds rock! I checked out Patisserie's website and it looks delish! I ended up deciding to go w/ a European style cake and contacted Cake Divas, who weren't that much more than Jim's, sans delivery charge. My "plan" is to have extra so we can actually enjoy the wedding cake we never go to eat at our own wedding! :-)

Giant sized daantaat's sound pretty tasty right now! :-)

[exilekiss]

Hi daantaat,

The next time you're in LA, definitely stop by Patisserie Chantilly for their amazing Cream Puffs. Try all 3 flavors, but especially the Kurogoma (Black Sesame); simply amazing. :)

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Patisserie Chantilly
2383 Lomita Blvd., #104, Lomita, CA 90717

[daantaat]

Will add it to the soba place you suggested in the South Bay! :-)

[bsquared2]

I do like Fleur de Lys. After having some Vietnamese food and I want a nice place to chill, it is perfect. Really cute inside. Don't know if they do wedding cakes.

If you want the best wedding cake in the city, I recommend Jamaica's Cakes on Pico in WLA. They did my wedding cake and were fantastic. Everything was very fresh and not sugary sweet. We tried a bunch of places and liked that the best. They also have amazing scones!

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Jamaica's Cakes
11511 West Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064

[aznartfag]

After hearing that it was worth trying, I went to Fleur De Lys the day before last, and I'm not incredibly impressed. I had a ham and Gruyere croissant with a double cappuccino, and my sister had a crème brulée with a steamed milk for her baby.

The croissant was a fairly dark brown, rather than the more usual golden tone, and it was also on the smaller side, but the exterior was nice and crisp. I think that the dough might have been rolled too tightly for the croissant to expand properly and I don't how time and/or temperature played their part in color.

When I went to pick up my coffee, I saw a double espresso, and in their hurry to correct the error, I received something that more resembled a latté, almost no foam. A suspicion is that the server reused the steamed milk from my sister's order and didn't use "fresh" cold milk.

A torch was put to the crème brulée just before serving it, so the sugar was nicely crisped, but the custard was fairly loose, as if it hadn't set up properly.

Fleur De Lys is pretty and clean with outdoor seating and a small garden. There's only one parking space for the handicapped, but there is some street parking. It seems that half the menu is coffee drinks and the other half comestibles. For coffee, I might choose somewhere else. For food, it's a tossup. For hanging out, it's a nice choice.

[peppermonkey]

I'm glad we have this place but seriously, it has nothing on europane

[chowchow12345678]

I've given Europane a try more than once and I didn't find any of their pastries to be outstanding or anything special. I tried some square brioche thing with sliced almonds on top (don't know what it's called) and found it dry. I also tried a cheese danish recently and it was ordinary, tasted like Starbucks' cheese danish. At least the new location is really nice looking and the service there is much better than at the original one.

I recently tried a canele at Fleur de Lys -- soooooo gooooood!!

[chowchow12345678]

Went there for the first time -- the place is absolutely ADORABLE! We liked their landscaping, the high ceilings and colors inside, the Parisian touches, the music, the patio in the back; everything looked well thought out.

Tried the:
Red velvet cupcake: excellently moist.
Earl grey cookie: couldn't really figure out the flavor cuz it's subtle and we had it right after the red velvet; should've tried this cookie first.
Monkey bread: It's like a cinnamon roll/croissant: also excellent, very sophisticated flavor and texture.

Would love to know why they chose Monterey Park for such an ooh-la-la place? Cheap rent, I assume? Anyway, I'm not complaining, can't wait to go back to try all the other goodies, everything looked very high quality! I know that Chowhounders will throw rocks at me for saying this, but I'll take this place ANY DAY over Europane! (I'd better duck!)

[bulavinaka]

>>Would love to know why they chose Monterey Park for such an ooh-la-la place? Cheap rent, I assume?<<

I never asked, but this bakery does fill a sorely missing niche in an otherwise Chow-rich area. Bakeries are in no shortage around SGV - ones like this and so well-appointed with quaint European touches are.

[Neta]

Here here bulavinaka. We have some great bakeries and restaurants in Monterey Park. And thank goodness it is not Europane. I agree with chowchow.

[bulavinaka]

>>We have some great bakeries and restaurants in Monterey Park.<<

If I ever read an understatement. That's like saying there's some great bakeries and restaurants in Paris. Okay, maybe that was an overstatement on an understatement.

I've only been to Euro Pane one time PC (Pre-Chow), so I can't comment on them either way. And after mega-Chower exilekiss's recent post and others' comments, I feel a need to try Euro Pane in the near future. But concerning Fleur de Lys, I like what they're doing. There's room for improvement in some of the things I've tried (the cake in particular), but the owner is off to a great start otherwise.

[peppermonkey]

Went today in the pouring rain for some coffee just to see that it was closed on mondays. As I was returning to my car the owner called to ask if I needed anything, which I thought was nice. They were decorating for christmas and only had the coffee for me. They use LA mill coffee which is better than anything you can find in monterey park. She stated that they specialize in croissants which got me kinda excited as it is so hard to find a real croissant in this area. I already know I will be getting coffee here everyday, a welcome relief from the nasty sour coffee at starbucks and coffee bean. I'm hoping for a europane and dreaming for a tartine, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

[tavmark]

This is owned by a friend of mine. I am so happy to hear that other hounds thought it was really good.

[bulavinaka]

I've been stopping in just about every time I go to SGV. It's a nice place to stop in, have a excellent pastry and a nice cup of cafe au lait, and just relax. The creme brulee desserts really hit home particularly when she caramelizes the sugar after you order. Those savory croissants (especially with chorizo) make for a nice light lunch as well. I hope your friend keeps doing what she's doing. Some delicious things going on there!

[peppermonkey]

not europane or tartine but nice for monterey park. I like the nut squares, creme brulee. I ordered a cake which was not a good idea. Flavors were fine but the cake was really really dry which should not happen for a small $40 cake. I like the savory croissants for the fillings but the croissant itself is just ok. Caramels were really nice when they had them though I would like them with fleur de sel. Overall a great place for the area

[bulavinaka]

We picked up a cake that was sort of dry inside as well. We did notice some simple syrup that was poured onto the top of two of the three layers, but the problem was in the cake itself. It was beautiful otherwise, and the actual flavor of everything was great.

[liu]

Exhale! I was SO hoping this place wasn't good!
I haven't tried Bite Bar yet, and I don't need more calories on my "to go to" list.
(I do plan on going to Bite Bar next weekend, however.)

[bulavinaka]

Hey Liu, my guess is you've got the metabolism of a race horse and the waistline of a super model, but if your counting calories, IMHO, go to Bite first. Fleur de Lys isn't perfect yet, but I think the place is well on its way to being established in the neighborhood. It really stands out because it has such a European feel to it - something uncommon around there. I know it's just a dan tat's throw from Elite, but if you're going to be both efficient and effective in your calorie distribution, hit Bite first. :)

[liu]

Ooooh, bulavinaka...flattery melts me to a puddle...sweet!
And you are so funny!

(Recollecting myself)...and speaking of sweet, you know that I will check out BOTH -- but Bite Bar first.

[mpken]

The chocolate croissant was on par with those I've had from Europane and the bake your own from Nicoles. Two strips of high quality chocolate encased in a flaky yet supple pastry made for a perfect breakfast this morning.

The Blue Berry scone was excellent with a nice balance of fruit and scone. Not too crumbly or dry. I should have gotten a coffee from there, but was in a rush.

Picked up some pecan chocolate tarts and pecan pumpkin tarts for Thanksgiving dessert and will report back later on these.

The selection is small, as of now, but the quality is there. Hopefully they broaden their product line to include items like macaroons or baguettes. I've grown weary of the local baguettes. I'm really glad they chose to be in Monterey Park. Now I don't have to trek to Europane to get my baked goods fix.

[ipsedixit]

This place reminds of Vanille de Patisserie in San Marino.

[bulavinaka]

I tried them for the first time last weekend. They really do offer some good stuff. I enjoyed their expresso creme brule, flourless chocolate tarte, red velvet, cheese cake, and lemon bar. Of all the items I tried, the first two I listed were my favorites. The creme brule has no hard caramel topping on it - they'll perform that task after you order it. This is a nice touch not only for the visual effect, but the wonderful smell of caramelizing sugar from the torch burning the sugar.

The place itself is aesthetically pleasing. The small building is very inviting, the interior is well-appointed, and the window offering a view into the kitchen is great for the kids (I like it too :)) I hope the locals patronize this place. It the white elephant in this general neighborhood, but their offerings are top notch. The only problem I personally had was that the selection in the case was somewhat light on my visit.

[bsquared2]

Went there today and it really is a nice place. Good Creme Brulee. Didn't try the coffee.

The SGV really needs a place like that. A place with coffee and desserts where you can have a snack and chill out. Boba Bars just don't cut it all the time and I'll probably get lung cancer from drinking coffee at VN coffee bars since people smoke so much.

I give them points for having the best pastries within walking distance to Elite Dim Sum.

By the way, when I was there today, it was crowded.

[lucyluv]

This place needs help with customer service!! I do not recommend it for large party orders. you will not get what you asked for.