Each month the bakery launches a new menu on its Instagram page. We've been eyeing the monthly menus for a while and decided to stop in to try the latest creations from the March menu.
By night Carte Blanche is a high-end tasting menu experience. But in the morning it's all about pastries.
Aaren Prody
Everything else seems to change month-to-month, season-to-season, so if there's something you're keen to try, go before you miss out. Sometimes, if you're lucky, items will be brought back.
The newcomers (or returners) for March include a biscuit and gravy pot pie ($10); blueberry lemon fritter ($5); beet, fresh cheese and walnut Danish ($5.75); tomatillo croissant pinwheels ($6.50) and a croissant croque monsieur Bostock ($8.50).
We preordered our pastries, which is recommended to secure your goods. The only thing you cannot reserve are the Sunday cinnamon rolls. We stopped in too late to snag one. Early birds do get the worm at Carte Blanche.
Our order had something from each section of the menu: an almond croissant, blueberry lemon fritter, biscuit and gravy pie and a beet, fresh cheese and walnut danish.
The almond croissants are twice-baked, filled with a generous amount of almond cream and topped with toasted slivered almonds. We couldn't resist one if we tried. The outside is perfectly crispy and the inside is soft and flaky. A properly made almond croissant is a life-altering experience. Lucky for all of us, these are a regular menu item.
The blueberry lemon fritter is made with brioche dough folded and baked with sweet blueberries, then finished with a lemon glaze. The glaze is very subtle and complements the sweetness of the blueberries.
As for our savory options, the biscuit and gravy pot pie was everything we wanted it to be. All the salty, hearty and savoriness we love about our favorite comfort food compacted into a baked good. It's made with rosemary pork sausage gravy and topped with puff pastry. Hungover or sober, this thing is a cure-all.
The beet, fresh cheese and walnut Danish is perfect if you can't decide between savory and salty. This was a wildcard for our order because we're not crazy about beets, but the flavor was mild, which was appreciated. The candied walnuts give it a very subtle sweetness: a perfect 50/50 ratio of savory and salty here.
We have an alarm for a cinnamon roll this weekend.
Carte Blanche, 2114 Greenville Ave. Friday – Saturday, 7 a.m. – noon; Sunday, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
