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EAT THIS: PAN BAGNAT AT EMILIE AND THE FRENCHIES
The pan bagnat sandwich at Emilie and the Frenchies in Aptos. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz
You’d have to have a heart of stone to walk into Emilie and the Frenchies and not be charmed. Lifelong friends Mary Jane Dean and Céline Molière opened the Aptos café in early May in the former Carried Away location – next to home decor store Outside In, in the same shopping center as Pacific Coffee Roasting Company and Companion Bakeshop – and the inside has metamorphosed into a francophonic patisserie bedecked in rosy pink and olive.
It’s adorable, like a quirky, cheerful fantasy of some French counterpart located somewhere in the south of France. But the pastries, baked treats, sandwiches and salads are direct interpretations of what’s served in real-life restaurants in Provence, from croque monsieur – the ultimate French grilled cheese with creamy béchamel sauce – to salad Niçoise and dozens of cookies, cakes and tarts.
The cute factor will likely set off your sweet tooth, so, bien sur, one must indulge in a few specialty cookies and treats. The cakey, seashell-shaped madeleines ($3.50) and delicate, nutty financiers ($2.50 to $2.90) are a must. I couldn’t resist a slice of tarte au fraise – strawberry tart ($5.90) – with glossy, riotously red berries lounging on pastry cream, which arrived on a pink heart-shaped plate.
The seafood-and-vegetable-stuffed pan bagnat ($13.50) might not be the first sandwich that comes to mind when a Californian thinks of French food, but it’s a classic. This hefty lunch is, essentially, a Niçoise salad on bread. If you haven’t experienced the coastal marriage of tuna and anchovies with briny olives, hard-boiled eggs, crunchy radishes and fresh tomatoes held together by a crusty loaf, I encourage you to give it a go.
The story behind this new Aptos addition is even sweeter than its menu. Read the full article here.
Below, find a curated list of the best food and drink events in Santa Cruz County for the coming week. At the top, I share my picks of unmissable local happenings.
NEWS OF THE WEEK
ICYMI – here are the food news stories from Lookout that you might have missed, plus important news from beyond our borders picked by yours truly.
