After an excellent dinner at Bell's, the Missus and I were looking forward to our return for lunch. But what to do in Los Alamos before lunch? We had pretty much seen the entire town the day before.
I thought that the Missus and I should ponder that over some caffeine and perhaps a croissant? And I had a place in mind.
At the Eastern edge of the (4 block) downtown area in a structure that was formerly a gas station resides Bob's Well Bread.
The business has quite a story. You can read it here. Bob's Well Bread has quite a following, mainly for the artisan, small batch bread made from all natural ingredients. I've heard the phrase "like European" artisan breads in several posts I saw. We wouldn't be grabbing a loaf on this trip; but since it said "Croissants" clearly in the window sign, how could I not try that?
We went in and ordered a Cortado for the Missus, a cold brew for me, and a croissant. The Missus also got several cookies as well.
We then went and had a seat sat one of the picnic tables outside.
I was expecting to have my name called, but the very nice young woman working actually brought us our coffee and croissant. How nice!
So, how did this croissant lineup? In terms of the looks department, it was beautiful; perfectly baked. It was crisp and flakey; the interior so moist and almost creamy in texture. Unfortunately it was really lacking in butteriness and since I love my croissants au buerre, this failed at the "third point". Bummer.....
The Missus did love the cookies we bought however, and I think if we're in the area we'll stop for those and perhaps a baguette.
Bob's Well Bread Bakery
550 Bell St.
Los Alamos, CA 93440
As for our plan? We decided to head on over to Solvang which is just 20 minutes away and get some cookies for the Missus's coworkers. We then took a stroll around Danish Disneyland and just chilled.
We then returned to Los Alamos, relaxed a bit, then checked out. I parked the car and we crossed the street to Bell's right at 11am.
We had requested to sit on the patio again. Same relaxed and friendly service. A lot of the Servers were wearing "Franch" t-shorts.....Bell's say they serve Fr(ench R)anch cuisine.
We looked over the tempting menu and placed an order for four dishes and then went one step father. There was a sandwich we wanted to order, but knew we wouldn't be able to finish, so we got a takeout order as well!
My two favorite dishes came out first.
The Steak Tartare ($25) was amazing. It is now my favorite version in the U.S. it was just so perfect.
Just the perfect cut, the beef was super tender, like the night before, all items were perfectly seasoned. Perfect amount of capers, and that egg yolk, oh my! This was just so clean tasting and refreshing.
I also loved the Country Pate ($18), it was tender and had just right amount of wine in it.
Nice amount of offal-ish flavor for me; the cherries didn't overwhelm anything, and the fried shallots in the pate was perfect. Was not a big fan of the baguette as it was typical hard and chewy American style. The frisee was a lovely addition to the dish.
I was shocked that the Missus ordered the Escargot ($16). While the Missus loved the Escargot in Burgundy, She had never found a version here in the States that She enjoyed.
Well, mark this as the first Escargot She liked outside of France....leave it to "Franch" to deliver. Good amount of garlic, nice balanced flavors. The menu noted that these were "wild snails" and they were much more tender than I expected. Still, that baguette......
I was also surprised that the Missus ordered the La Brujula Tinned Mussels in Escabeche ($20)!
These Spanish tinned mussels were quite good, nice and tender. We didn't care for butter and the ketchup like sauces, but the homemade saltines were wonderful.
This was wonderful meal, we actually enjoyed it more than our dinner. And we really want to do it again soon.
Bell's
406 Bell St.
Los Alamos, CA 93440
Current Hours:
Thurs - Mon 11am - 3pm, 5pm - 830pm
Closed on Tuesday - Wednesday
And as the postcript. On the lunch menu there was Braised Beef Cheek Sandwich that sounded so good. So, after consulting with our Server, we got it to go with the bearnaise aioli on the side.
It was still in fine shape after the five hour drive home. The bread, in this case a ficelle held up fine; the meat was so intensely beefy; I loved the pickled Basque peppers.....
I guess we'll need to return again soon!
bummer the croissant wasn’t buttery, everything else looked great
Posted by: kat | Friday, 12 August 2022 at 06:56 PM
That lunch was fantastic Kat!
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 12 August 2022 at 08:01 PM
Nice trip. I just went to Solvang and purchased butter cookies from 3 bakeries. :-)
Posted by: Soo | Sunday, 14 August 2022 at 07:21 AM
So, is there a tasting post coming up Soo? ;o)
Posted by: Kirk | Sunday, 14 August 2022 at 08:00 AM
That is a nice looking lunch.
Posted by: Som Tommy | Monday, 15 August 2022 at 07:51 AM
It was an excellent meal ST!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 15 August 2022 at 08:32 AM
I was planning on comparing the different cookies from the bakeries.
Posted by: Soo | Monday, 15 August 2022 at 10:53 AM
Bells looks like a great option. We get to Santa Barbara pretty frequently so I will book this next trip.
Posted by: Dereck | Tuesday, 16 August 2022 at 11:06 AM
We enjoyed lunch at Bell’s more than dinner Dereck. Though both were excellent.
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 16 August 2022 at 06:40 PM