For the February edition of Guide to Greenwich, we tasted various chocolate croissants throughout Greenwich in search of the perfect sweet treat for this Valentine’s Day season.
Bistro Versailles
We arrived at Bistro Versailles, a French restaurant located on Greenwich Avenue, at around 4 p.m. for our chocolate croissant, the perfect after school snack. While Bistro Versailles serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we stopped by for its small bakery section. The classy restaurant had a glass display case for its desserts, which ranged from apple tarts to tiramisu.
Overall, the restaurant was very chic, with white marble table tops and jazzy French music. We felt as if we were enjoying our croissant in a small café in France. The open flow of the restaurant made seating comfortable, yet cozy. In the summertime, when the weather is warm, the restaurant opens up its French doors and sets the tables outside.
The restaurant was quiet because we arrived between the busy mealtimes, but the workers who greeted us were friendly and energetic. They welcomed us to sit wherever we pleased, and brought our croissant to the table. The chocolate croissants were $6.00 each and were served at room temperature. While the price was high, so was the quality. Because Versailles is a high-end restaurant, the bakery section can be costly. The croissant was large enough to share between two for an afternoon snack, which made the price manageable.
The croissant was soft and buttery, and fell apart in our mouths. The chocolate was not overwhelming and served as more of an accent to accompany the bread, rather than act as the main focus. Although we received the chocolate croissant straight from the glass case, it tasted freshly baked. The ratio of chocolate to croissant was perfectly balanced for a tasty treat.
Le Pain Quotidien
We continued our search at Le Pain Quotidien (LPQ), another French restaurant on Greenwich Avenue. We entered at 4:45 pm on a Friday, and the afternoon crowd was limited. The cozy eatery is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and there is also a bakery section at the front. The bakery has a range of delectable goods including danishes, muffins, scones, and turnovers. The chocolate croissant we tasted was about the same size as the croissant from Versailles. However, the croissant from LPQ was $4.25.
LPQ provided a more crispy and flakey croissant, but was missing the fluffy and buttery aspect from the croissant at Versailles. While this croissant contained more high quality chocolate, it did not have the same freshly baked taste that Versailles provided.
SWEET PEA’S BAKERY COMPANY:
Lastly, we traveled to Sweet Pea’s Bakery Company, a family-run bakery shop located in Old Greenwich. The quaint bakery is located on Sound Beach Avenue next to Something Special, a local flower shop. Unlike the other two restaurants, this food place focuses on baked goods.
The bakery serves specialty coffees along with artisan breads, pastries, ‘Grab and Go’ sandwiches, and lunch items. The café’s open space was full at 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Everyone from families to couples were enjoying morning coffees and baked goods. We tried the chocolate croissant for $5.00.
The croissants are available warm or at room temperature. We chose to have ours warm for the delicious melted chocolate taste. This croissant had the most chocolate out of the three we sampled. Depending on personal preference, some may prefer this option with more chocolate. However, we felt the chocolate was overpowering in contrast to the rest of the croissant.
WINNER:
At the end of the day, we came to the conclusion that the winner is the chocolate croissant from Versailles. Although we loved indulging in the other two croissants, they did not compare to how Versailles provided the perfect flaky and buttery croissant. The balance of the smooth chocolate and the crispy shell made for a treat that is irresistible.
-Anissa Arakal and Karina Badey, Staff Writers