The croissant had the delicate, buttery-brittle crinkle to its gleaming surface that transmitted goodness by sight, sound and taste. It was the same croissant I always get at Hi-Do Bakery, a Vietnamese family bakery in Terrytown that’s a master of French pastries and draws throngs for its old-school king cakes.
What was different this time? On a recent Saturday morning, the bakery was dead quiet, and it’s been largely the same at bakeries I’ve been visiting around town.
This is the still the slow time all across the New Orleans food and drink world, and this summer has taken an especially hard toll.
At bakeries, the lingering lull shows a dramatic flipside from Carnival season, when many bakers can barely keep up, thanks to the craze that is king cake.
I believe king cake demand has in large measure underwritten the revival of the neighborhood bakery around the area. I love having more small, distinctive, neighborhood-based purveyors of artisan bread, fine pastries, savory treats and desserts around. I want to see them thrive.
That brings the current season on or social calendar: football.
Whatever else a game day might bring, it can be the framework for friends to gather, and, naturally, eat.
When it comes to the Saints, we have many noon starts this season. Breakfasty, brunch-like food from the bakery seems to land right for the early starts, or maybe the even earlier pre-gaming.
The dirty truth around New Orleans is that many bakeries keep king cake in year-round production, sometimes calling it by different names. I’m not saying which, because as much as I want to encourage support for local bakeries I don’t want to encourage the offseason corruption of the king cake tradition.
In any case, our local bakeries are filled with many other epicurean delights that are good for entertaining on game day or bringing something along to the party.
A trip to your favorite bakery now gives a double bottom line: supporting a local spot when it’s needed most and upping your own game day food plans. And that is win win.
