Philippe’s Bread

Our last time in Paris, we went in search of the best baguette – the one served to the President in France. We found it and it was good but not life-​changing. Little did I know I would find fantastic French bread bread in Portland. In a city that has some wonderful bakeries, what sets Philippe’s apart are the complex flavors and textures and varieties of bread. Philippe is originally from Lyon but moved to Portland several years ago. He uses a levain (the French term for a mixture of flour and water that has been colonized by yeasts and bacteria) that he develops in a fermentation machine imported from France (the only one of its kind in PDX).
The dough is made primarily from flour from Camas Country Mill, milled in Oregon, and the dough rests overnight, allowing the flavors to develop complex yet subtle flavors. The complexity is something we seldom experience because of marketplace demands that encourage most bakeries to bake their bread much sooner. I don’t understand the science of bread making so I can’t tell you why this bread has a perfect (to my mind) crust that’s chewy but doesn’t crumble away from the loaf (and litter the floor – oh, I hate that). All I can say is that it’s one of my favorite breads ever.
The baguettes and the olive bread top my list but if you like sourdough the Campagne is an amazing loaf of bread. Also want to give a shout out for Philippe’s low-​gluten flour.

I give this place 5 stars for the best invention ever – Bacon bread. They make a baguette infused with rosemary and perfectly portioned pork belly. If you sliced up the baguette in bite/​bruschetta friendly slices, you would be delighted with the perfect bite of savory herbs and pork belly/​bacon. Ok fine. It’s super fancy pig in a blanket.
It’s delicious. This was one of my favorite discoveries in Portland. A friend of mine surprised me with a baguette when she returned from a recent business trip. She handed it to me as we walked to our cars leaving a hot yoga class. I was one excited sweaty piggy! Since we detoxed, it is only appropriate to replenish, right?
Everything really is better with bacon. Sigh…

On a recent visit up Williams, I saw Philippe’s Bread. I’ve seen it before because it’s a shared space with Lardo, but I never had the opportunity to go in. I did last week, and I’m kicking myself for waiting so long.
First off the had this Hershey’s Kiss looking peppermint swirl dessert that was just unreal. It happens to be a part of the pastry shop part of the store but man did that thing stand out and the S’mores dessert right next to it was equally impressive. Further down were the ones that I took an interest in. Brioche with either chocolate or white chocolate. I’ve had chocolate brioche and items similar but never with white chocolate, so yeah, that’s what I went for. Along with a hot chocolate, I had a nice late breakfast on a cool but sunny morning.
The brioche itself was sturdy and had a touch of sweetness to it, but not overly because the white chocolate took care of that. It wasn’t over the top. I’d have like the chips to have been melted a bit more but that’s just minor. The hot chocolate was also pretty good and not cloyingly sweet at all. Just right and not scalding hot.
It’s a good little spot to hit up for a quick breakfast and the loaves of bread looked incredible and were priced decently. Plus you can pick up Lardo for later.
Enjoy.

While waiting for the never ending line at Tasty’s we decided to stroll down Williams and discovered this place right by Lardo’s. They have an appetizing display of sweet and savory snacks and we treated ourselves to a small quiche and a apple danish pastry. Both were very nice. Worth a visit if you’re on Williams street and fancy a quick bite.

Philippe’s Bread, delicious. I get confused which bread/​pastry is done by their shared partner Frice pastry or them, but I hope i got it right.
Croissant — from the outside it looked immaculate. Perfectly brown and you could see all the layers of flaky pastry, my first bite was a mix of crispy and met with a soft bread inside. If i had to nit pick, I think their croissant is a bit more dense than I would like. But very good.
Housemade saucisson brioche was apparently a collaboration with Frice Pastry. Egg brioche paired well with the fatty flavorful, herbed sausage. I knew I was in for a treat when I noticed the bottom of the pastry was layered in that delicious fatty grease.
I did sample their poppy seed baguette –very reasonably priced and flavorful. I will definitely come here if I need a baguette.

Tres magnifique; THIS BREAD IS WONDERFUL!
I tried it for the first time at Zupan’s and my lover and I ate the whole olive loaf!
The second time we had the Batard.
The bread was soft and tender inside, with a good crumb. The crust was crunchy, evenly convex and golden brown on the olive Baguette. The Batard had wonderful crust and a bit darker crumb with some rye flour flavors. The prices are very reasonable for what you get, especially considering all the other bread shops in town. This bread stands out among the others. If you have an appreciation for really good bread you have to try this bread.

Found out about this place when they were giving out samples at zupans in NW Portland. It is a small shop with a French baker and pastry chef. Both are great at what they do. I had a panna cotta and a smores tart. They were both delicious. I preferrred the tart and they torched the marshmallow on top to order. The baguette was also very good. They are located next door to Lardo and the bake shop has some seats along the window and also serves a lineup of coffee drinks.
The prices are moderate. The more difficult to prepare pastries and breads cost more. The tart was $ 6. A baguette goes for around $ 2.75. In summary, this is a great addition to the area.

Cute little bakery with great breads and delicious pastries. I tried the afternoon baguette and the panna cotta which were both good. My boyfriend really liked the s’more chocolate tart. The baguette is $ 2.75 which is moderately priced. Dessert is slightly more high end in the $ 4 – 6 range.
Staff was nice. I would come back.

Good bread but the prices and slow service have caught me off guard on two recent morning visits. I suppose this is what modern bakeries are like these days. When they opened I was hoping for a more accessible bread shop, the kind that could be the new neighborhood place where everyone goes to buy bread cause it’s super fresh and affordable. It’s fresh but more of a special treat price than a regular stop over. For your everyday gluten needs, New Seasons it is.

I eat-​ed an entire olive batard ($ 3.50) for lunch.
I do not like the cone of shame.