Here Are Some Amazing Seattle Croissants

In this month’s Seattle Met, we talk up Coquette Bake Shop and Creamery, the pretty little French cart along Winslow Way that has become the toast of Bainbridge Island for its cinnamon buns, its baguette sandwiches, its brand new blueberry lemon curd hand pies (“We call them pop tarts,” says co-owner Jerry Childers)…but mostly, its croissants. Really, go get on the ferry for one. Co-owner Tristen Childers bakes them the Parisian way, with a million layers, each of them butter-rich, and a crisped and shattering exterior. Some have chocolate inside; others are almond-flavored. The basic—Coquette’s gateway drug—is plenty sufficient, all by itself.

Oh, and as if six days a week and a newborn weren’t enough for the Childers family—and the baby is child number four—they’ve recently opened Mondays too, 8am to 4pm. Just like all the other days of the week. 

If Bainbridge isn’t in your orbit, Seattle has in the last few years become somewhat mighty in the croissant department. At Ines Patisserie on Capitol Hill, the croissants are sort of featherweight and delectable; the almond ones even better. Also on Capitol Hill, Neil Robertson makes textbook croissants at his Crumble and Flake, including a rather ridiculously fantastic one with smoked paprika and cheddar. Coyle’s Bakeshop in Greenwood is a French bakery where the croissants are uncommonly crispy and come in a gruyere-and-ham stuffed version.

Finally, Cafe Besalu, in Ballard, stunned the city last month with its news that its owners would be leaving it in new hands at the end of this month. So get in there already, for your last taste of one of the finest exemplars of a perfectly structured, perfectly flavored croissant. Then hope the new owners took good notes.