An Arlington, Virginia bakery is bringing the taste of Louisiana’s Bayou to the D.C. area.
Just a five-minute drive or a 20-minute Metro ride from campus, Bayou Bakery is serving up classic desserts originating from the French Quarter of New Orleans to the corner of 15th Street and North Courthouse Road in Virginia. Established in 2010, the bakery offers a wide assortment of soups, sandwiches and pastries — like the Louisiana classic beignets — which boast the title on the bakery’s menu of “the donut of New Orleans.”
As I stepped through the doorway, I immediately noticed the rich smell of baking bread and the cozy brick interior, illuminated by the sun from two floor-to-ceiling storefront windows. Both pair nicely with the evident homages to New Orleans throughout the store. From the New Orleans Saints banners that adorn the walls to the Steen’s Cane cans — a Louisiana syrup dating back to the 1910s — that line the windowsills, it is clear that founding Chef David Guas incorporated his own Louisiana roots into every element of the bakery’s design.
My friend and I grabbed two menus from the counter and ordered off of the pastries section, though the southern-inspired spot also serves salad, lunch sandwiches referred to as “sammies,” and of course, gumbo.
The pastry and coffee options alternate seasonally, with a few consistent staples: beignets, cornbread and pralines. Currently, the place is offering seasonal treats, like a seasonal pumpkin chai loaf ($2.50) and the Buzzin’ Bee Hive Latte ($5). We ordered both, in addition to pralines ($2.25), a chocolate chip cookie ($2.25) and a trio of beignets ($4).
We settled into a striped booth facing a “Farm Sweet Farm” sign and a Louisiana State University poster hung on the brick wall. Moments later, the server called out to us over the sound of indie country and blues artist Big Creek Slim playing over the speakers, signaling that our pastries were ready.
The Buzzin’ Bee Hive Latte came out first, which had a honey vanilla flavor with a zesty aftertaste that paired nicely with the spiced flavor of the chai loaf. Next, the pralines and chocolate chip cookie arrived on matching teal plates. Made from pecans and melted sugar, the pralines were nutty, crumbly and sweet, balancing the chocolate chip cookie’s dusting of salt and subtle savoriness well.
The real stars of the show were the beignets. A New Orleans staple, the pastry is made of deep-fried dough shaped into a square. Arriving as a set of three, the doughy trifecta stood alone, served out of its own rustic window separate from the rest of the pastries in the glass case.
Bayou Bakery makes the beignets fresh daily and delivers them steaming hot with a generous coating of powdered sugar. Be careful who you bring along as company though, because one laugh will treat your whole table, and maybe your neighbor’s table, to a thorough dusting of the powdered topping. Nevertheless, the fluffy pastries are warm, soft and comforting in a way that will make you say “geaux Tigers” and fight with your friends over the last one.
Beignet and done that, I hope to try some of their other dishes, like Louisiana-style biscuits and gravy ($6.50) and chicken and pork gumbo ($6.50) to round out my New Orlean’s culinary exploration. Rumor also has it the bakery rotates pie flavors every day, so if you can get in fast, you can grab a taste of lemon, bourbon, pecan or even bacon cayenne pie.
Whether you’re tired of overdone pumpkin pies at Thanksgiving, counting down the days until Mardi Gras or simply wanting to try something new, I suspect you will find what you are looking for in Virginia’s own slice of Louisiana: Bayou Bakery.
