Le Pain Quotidien

My stay at Virginia was almost over so my cousins decided I spend the day in DC. La and I had lunch at Rasika then she dropped me off at Filene’s Basement for some retail therapy.

Armed with my folding umbrella and red trench coat I faced the gloomy and rainy day in DC. Before shopping I had coffee at Corner Bakery on 14th & F streets and watched the participants of Occupy DC make their way through the busy streets.

Happy with the deals I snagged at Filene’s Basement I decided to walk along F street and see what I could find the interested me. Le Pain Quotidien, a French bakery interested me a LOT.

Le Pain Quotidien has branches in several countries around the world.

Aside from bread and pastries they also sold jams, olive oil and spreads.

hazelnut and chocolate spreads $9.95

I really liked the French country cottage look of the shop.

coffee menu

baguette “a l’ancienne””

lemon and berry tarts

I loved the pastries even more. There were so many to choose from!

apple almond tart $5

Those were giant cookies!

Belgian brownie $3.95 & chocolate chip cookies $3.65

almond meringue $2.95

oatmeal raisin cookies & Nougat de Montélimar

pain au raisins & vegan cherry apple cannele $2.95

I bought the pistachio tart because I’ve never seen anything like this before.

pistachio tart $5.40

Naturally I had to buy my favorite baked product, scones.

organic cheddar & scallion scones $3.10

Seasonal Specials

A large wood communal table was the star of the space.

I looked at their food menu and there were lots of healthy options that made me drool. The calories were printed next to each entree and a lot were below 500 calories. I will definitely go back to Le Pain Quotidien for lunch next time.

I was also very impressed by the condiments they had on the table. Really healthy options like agave syrup, balsamic vinegar and organic evoo.

table condiments

We had the scones for breakfast the next morning. The scones had a nice texture but I found it lacking of cheese and it was curiously a bit sweet. Nevertheless we all enjoyed it with our coffee.

organic cheddar & scallion scones

pistachio tart

The pistachio tart was really a dense and very moist pistachio flavored cake topped with a generous amount of pistachios. It was quite good either at room temperature or warmed in the oven for a few minutes.

full menu

Le Pain Quotidien
979 F Street, NW Washington DC, 20004
(across the street from Madame Tussauds Wax Museum)
telephone: 202.499.4123
M-F: 7am – 8pm
Sa-Su: 8am – 6pm