Patrick's French Bakery & Cafe

Patrick's French Bakery & Cafe Restaurant Review:

Located in a Richfield strip mall, the setting is hardly romantic or French, but once you step inside the space, the display case bespeaks both. Opera cakes and petite fruit tarts all glisten with artful elegance, while buttery croissants, pains au chocolat, napoleons and éclairs represent the classics in grand fashion. Behind the case, French breads like baguettes, seven-grain loaves, grandes boules and more beckon. Even when we know exactly what we want here (a slice of the Trilogy Chocolate cake, a tiny lemon tart, a big white billow of a meringue cookie), we still like taking time to admire the sweets before ordering. Come evening, dine on a salade niçoise with a glass of white Bordeaux after you've snagged one of the tables near the glass window: there's a view into the pastry kitchen. Also located at 6010 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis, 612-861-9277; and 331 Broadway Ave. S., Wayzata, 952-345-6100.