La Bedaine - Berkeley

Their bread, their to-go French cuisine, their pastries, their seasonal preserves... all absolutely delicious. Alain provided food for out-of-town family gathering and the raves were on-going. Keep an eye out for the daughters selling their own muffins!

This charming little shop is what I dream of having in my neighborhood. It is part patisserie, part take-away bistro. Chef Alain opened Le Charm in SF and it was a wonderful bistro under his helm, and now he has moved to this postage stamp sized shop that is full of his goodies. You can get all manner of delicious pastry--I love the financiers, the carmelized tarte tatin, and the adorable fruit tartlets. The prices here are astonishly reasonable (as Le Charm was) for the expertly crafted pastry. For savory treats, the terrines are amazing, like the wild boar terrine with pistachios and the pâté de campagne are delicious on fresh crusty bread. They also make impressive host gifts when stopping by your friends' place for wine. They are vacuum sealed bistro meals ready to heat up at home. My favorite item there is their house smoked sausage. It is the juiciest, savory sausage you will every have. Their dungeness crab salad sandwiches on fresh baguette are delicious when in season. The service is lovely and I hear that they offer free pastry classes on the weekend. Street parking is fairly easy on this part of Solano.

Amazing chocolate croissant and the best fruit tarte I've ever had. The tarte's cookie was buttery, sweet, and somethings worthy of eating by itself. The fruit wa ms fresh and the cream was light and complemented the whole thing very well. Highly recommend!

The pastries need no introduction, as others have said, all delicious. I love his take-home meals and am presently eating his wonderful cassoulet as I write this: duck confit, sausage, lamb, big fat beans, bacon, onions, all in a terrific sauce. His pates also excellent. So happy to have this place nearby.

I don't think anyone has mentioned yet the wonderful cookies yet: oatmeal cranberry, chocolate chip, hazelnut, ginger, Madelines all really good. Sold in packages of four. Also great pound cake!