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• Best pain au raisin in America!

  Yesterday afternoon, downtown Durham, 5pm. I had half an hour to kill, so I went in search of a nice place to sit and sip a latte. To my great dismay, the town I love for its endless surprise offerings suddenly seemed a barren cafe desert! The door of Rue Cler declared its cafe open until 5:30 but it was unmistakably closed. Scratch bakery, closed since 4 p.m., also displayed a dim and lonely atmosphere through the glass storefront. Blue Coffee Cafe: déja vu, dark and cheerless. Nearly ready to give up, I decided to head up W. Parrish St. and search out the new Loaf store as a last ditch attempt.
  Lo and behold! A glowing window showed the friendly cashier chatting with a customer who was holding ... wait for it ... a coffee cup! I went in, happy already for a hot drink of any variety, and was even more pleased to learn that the proprietor brews Counter Culture and makes it half-caf in the afternoon. Could he tempt me with a baked treat? Oh yes, he could. No less than four varieties of croissants and a couple kids of cookies each looked perfect, but the piece de résistance for me was pain au raisin, a French pastry made with a thin strip of croissant dough curled around pastry cream and raisins in a beautiful nautilus form, and finished with a lovely glaze. Thank you, Loaf, for making my day and filling a gap in our city's downtown!

  Posted by Victoria Lebrun December 09, 2011 10:51:53