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Fresh Baguette - French-Owned and French-Operated Bakery in Bethesda and Rockville


Rhone1998

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Has anyone tried the recently-opened Fresh Baguette in Bethesda? The pictures on their Facebook page look great, for whatever that's worth.

Yes, I bought a ficelle. Nice flavor, crumb neither too dense nor too airy, golden crust barely crispy. I wouldn't know an authentic baguette if I tripped over one, but I thought this a very good loaf of bread.

I spoke at length with one on the bakers and sampled some of the pastries, but not extensively enough to compare to other nearby places. Dude knows what he's doing, though. I have hopes for this place.

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Finally got to Fresh Baguette in Bethesda--on Bethesda Avenue in the block that backs up to the Giant. Excellent baguette--J likes it better than Leonora. I haven't yet tried the gougeres or the mini pecan and pear tarts I also bought, but the bread is spot on. Just down the street from A&H Gourmet Seafood, so a convenient 1-2 shopping spot.

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Excellent ficelle from Fresh Baguette. Not as happy with the ham and cheese fougasse, which left a lingering taste of garlic powder, but I couldn't stop eating it because I had missed lunch and the little cubes of smoky ham were so tasty, and the bread was chewy and good.

Of note, while I was there, a British woman came in to pick up an unbaked frozen lattice crust apple tart, which the young woman baker had made on request, in the customer's own tart pan. The Brit lady explained that she was having a dinner party on Monday, when the bakery is closed, and she was so happy that Fresh Baguette had accomodated her in this way. The baker wrote out directions on a card for thawing, egg washing and baking the tart and handed the card to the customer before she left. She had already paid for it and I thought it was rude to ask how much they'd charged her. But how convenient is that--to be able to serve a pastry-chef-made tart right out of your own oven at a dinner party? It was in her own pan, so she could even say she'd baked it herself, which wouldn't be a lie.

The lemon tart was a cup-shaped dome of filling in a pate sucree crust, good lemon flavor and not too sweet, but the texture was a bit too much gelatin-ous. The pecan-chocolate tart was seriously yummy, made with very good quality chocolate.

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There are a few posts about this place in the thread 'A decent freaking baguette.' However, I could not find a thread devoted exclusively to Fresh Baguette, and I think it deserves it.

I stopped in here several weeks ago and the moment I opened the door I was overcome with nostalgia.  This place smells exactly like a boulangerie in France.  It is owned by a former attaché at the French embassy and most, if not all, of the staff seem to be French.  Everything is baked on the premises.  Offerings include baguettes, ficelles, sweet pastries, savory pastries, and sandwiches, among other things.

During my first visit, they had an item on the counter that looked like a large bun and it was called 'Pate Lorrain.' (I can't figure out how to put an accent on the 'e' in Pate.)  I was told there was a pork and veal meatball inside the bun.  I bought it and, WOW, it was possibly one of the best things I've ever tasted, and that's saying something.  The pork/veal meatball was surrounded by a really delicious and warm broth and the pastry was light and wonderful as well.  I also bought a baguette that turned out to be perfect.

Yesterday I stopped in for a second visit, this time with MrB, prior to seeing a movie.  To my great disappointment, they did not have the Pate Lorrain -- they don't make it every day.  Next time I'll call ahead!

They did have a lovely apricot pastry fresh out of the oven -- Moulin aux Abricot.  We bought one and split it.  The apricot portion was divine -- reminiscent of the apricots of yore, not the tasteless things you find today.  The pastry, while not as light and flaky as I might like, was still very good.

I would love to try one of their sandwiches.  I was hoping to pick up a couple to take home for dinner yesterday, but when we emerged from the movie it was pouring and we made a beeline to our car.

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i have gotten FB ficelles several times,  and have to say now that I have had Praline and Lyon baguettes several times, and LeoNora many times, that Fresh Baguette's bread blows the competition out of the water. I hope that they can attract enough business to stay open. The location is a bit off the beaten path, and I hope that they are doing enough wholesale business, because customers don't yet seem to be packing the place, as far as I can tell.

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i have gotten FB ficelles several times,  and have to say now that I have had Praline and Lyon baguettes several times, and LeoNora many times, that Fresh Baguette's bread blows the competition out of the water. I hope that they can attract enough business to stay open. The location is a bit off the beaten path, and I hope that they are doing enough wholesale business, because customers don't yet seem to be packing the place, as far as I can tell.

I agree that their long-term viability is a concern. The first time I visited a few weeks ago it was in the middle of a weekday and I was the only person there. My second visit was this past Saturday in the late morning and I was heartened to see that the place was very busy -- during the short while we were enjoying our purchase, there was a steady stream of customers.

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I stopped by for a pain au chocolat and coffee last week.  It was early afternoon (around 2) and I was the only person there.  The staff was friendly and was able to answer any questions.  They had a sign saying that they cater but did not have any brochures.

I was not crazy about the pain au chocolat because it was not very flaky.  There was a thin layer on top that was crispy but under it was a thick layer of spongy dough.  There wasn't much filling (only 2 "fingers") and it was leaking grease on the bottom.  I realize that it was baked in the morning but it should have been flakier.

I also bought some mini pastries which were very good. The chocolate barquette was my favorite.

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This my absolute go to place for baguettes. They keep making bread throughout the day at the just enough pace. It is really, really good.

I cannot speak for any of the pastry as yet, nor the sandwiches. But man the baguettes (and they have several varieties) are truly great.

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^Agreed.  Last time I went in there one of the staff stopped my from picking up a ficelle, saying that more baguettes were just coming out of the oven.  They were, and they were great.

With Burst Furst about to open, it's time to hold a blind baguette tasting.

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^Agreed.  Last time I went in there one of the staff stopped my from picking up a ficelle, saying that more baguettes were just coming out of the oven.  They were, and they were great.

With Burst Furst about to open, it's time to hold a blind baguette tasting.

OK, Burst Furst, do tell. Simple googling is leading me nowhere.

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OK, Burst Furst, do tell. Simple googling is leading me nowhere.

I believe Elizabeth is referring to Mark Furstenberg's new place on Connecticut in Van Ness called Bread Furst -- it's supposed to open tomorrow according to the latest email from him.

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OK, a first for me - a subpar baguette. Still tasty and better than most, but the ratio of crust to firm interior bread was out of whack.

I've also tried their four seed (grain?) version which is fine in a pinch. And the facille, which is too airy for me, but tastes fine.

 

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I can't recommend the sandwiches like I used to.  The bread is still great, but both the roast beef and turkey sandwiches we had tonight were extremely skimpy on the (nothing to write home about) fillings and just overloaded with mustard.  I found them out of balance and just not enjoyable.  But for what they do best, their baked goods, they are still very, very good.

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I brought my wife there the other night for a sandwich right before going to preschool parent teacher night. We eat our sandwiches and bought 10 small pastry's for the kids and a baguette. When we got home the 1.5 and 3.5 were push each other away from the box of pastry's so that they did not have to share and my wife eat 1/2 the baguette while she was up working. I guess they really like the baking.

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It should be noted that I saw a sign in the Bethesda Peets Coffee that it was selling certain Fresh Baguette pastries.  Fascinating. Even more so in that just up the street TOut de Sweet (Have not been in ages) sells Peet's Coffee.

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This place deserves a bump.  Just walked down the street because I had a hankering for carbs and it is a beautiful day to get out of the office for 15 minutes.  I got a rye baguette, which is possibly better than the white as it has a bit more flavor.  I also saw on the counter the most amazing looking meringue, studded with baby chocolate chips.  The meringue will be my afternoon indulgence!

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Exciting news to report.  They have opened their second location which is located in Rockville--804 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, MD 20850 (former Banner Glass location, which is slightly offset from the road), 301-417-8628.  Thy Rockville location has a much larger capacity which will produce bread and pastries to be sold on premises and also service their growing commercial business.  Items sold in Bethesda will still be made on site at the Bethesda location.  Are third location in Georgetown is in the works also.

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Popped into the Bethesda location a few times in the past month or so...and the baguettes (all flavors) still are very good,  however, I'm rather disappointed with their eclairs. Tried one of the coffee eclairs and the first bite tasted stale and dry. Mentioned this to the employee and she gladly handed me another. Second one was also dry on the first bite, so she just comped me the price of the eclair. I broke the eclair in two for more investigation...and the pastry creme inside was still frozen in the middle. Ick. The employee told me the eclairs come to the Bethesda location frozen. This is the third or fourth time I've had this eclair experience there, and I have finally learned my lesson. Perhaps the Rockville location has fresh options. Until then, I'm still in search of a great eclair!

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On 3/27/2020 at 4:22 PM, Ericandblueboy said:

Thought it might give each other ideas based on where and what you're ordering for take-out or delivery.  

Fresh Baguette, Bethesda!

Ordered for pick up (you schedule your time, so that might be why I had a parking spot in 1 of their 3 spots. But there was also on street metered parking).

You can walk in and I was surprised to see people walking in and ordering. Everyone was masked and standing apart.

Traditional baguette
Rustic loaf
Cheese Gougere
Brownie Banana Pear
Elegance Dark Chocolate

So good to be able to walk in and smell what was baking!

Parking spaces taken up at Pescadeli & Butcher's Alley farther down Bethesda Ave., which I wanted to try as well but couldn't.

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Fresh Baguette Cleveland Park opens tomorrow, Wednesday, February 21.

We did an EventBright mock service last week, and Fresh Baguette offered two free items and a coffee.  The store is airy and bright with a long counter and many offerings.  I haven't been to other Fresh Baguettes, so I'm not sure if this is their standard buildout look and something different for CP.

I liked the loaf of ciabatta and the Opal Noir was tasty.  The croissants were fine but not nearly as good as the decadent croissants across the street at SakuSaku.

Since Firehook closed getting anything that resembles a decent loaf of bread in CP has been impossible, necessitating a trek up to Breadfurst.  

Hopefully the denizens of CP will support Fresh Baguette.  

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