The Mediterranean Bakery

CLOSED. We went today. The space was empty and had a «For Lease» sign. So sad.

I love this little bakery that is tucked into the corner of the Trader Joes/​Michaels strip mall in Palm Desert. So far I’ve only had the sweets, but the lunch menu looks good, too. Some of the best cheesecake I’ve ever eaten (and I consider myself somewhat of an expert) — I had the lemon blueberry and the chocolate. I also enjoyed a fruity muffin-​type thing and some delicious sesame cookies. This spot has plenty of treats to choose from and great service. Excited to go back.

One of my favorite bakery’s in the valley. The baklava can’t be beat. In fact, all of the authentic Armenian treats and morsels are delicious. Definitely worth going out of the way for.

Recently opened (actually Spring 2012, then closed mid-​summer, and reopened shortly before I wrote this) between Trader Joes’s and a cluster of popular independent restaurants (Fisherman’s Market Grill, Chez Pierre, Palms Café, Mama Liveri’s). Mediterranean Bakery is an enterprise of a family originally from Armenia (they told me) — an ancient region, where they know a thing or two about fine pastry.
Indeed this business could teach US bakers a few tricks. Among other items I’ve gotten true French-​style croissants from this place. (I first tasted real ones as a teenager visiting Paris, decades ago, and noticed that everyone there seemed to eat them for breakfast, with coffee).
The delicately yeasty flavor and distinct texture of a classic croissant is almost unknown within the US, thanks to mass-​production mediocrity, undemanding customers, wrong flours, and cheap toxic unnatural fats. Most US-​made «croissants» in the last 50 years have used hydrogenated vegetable shortening rich in trans-​fatty acids (for commercial bakeries it comes in big white slabs resembling marble tombstones) and tasting, to experienced palates, like soap. But the croissants — specifically croissants (though I’ve tried some other pastries, and you should too) — from Mediterranean Bakery have been way above the typical US standard as you can easily demonstrate for yourself if you’ll try them regularly from other US vendors, as I do. (One later Unilocal reader either commented on different pastries — the comment was vague — or has had little experience of US croissants, because in multiple visits I’ve found Mediterranean Bakery’s quality entirely distinct from the typical product in this country.)

We are so excited that a little Mediterranean bakery has opened up where Clementine used to be next door to Trader Joe’s. The owners are fantastic and really go the extra mile. We’ll be back!