La Farine Bakery

The closure of La Farine at this location is a such a loss to the Solano Street and general North Berkeley area. If it was a special occasion, I’d always pick up a cake from La Farine on Solano or just some sugar cookies for a treat. It’s a bit far for me to make it to La Farine’s location on College, but it’d be worth it.
The Berkleyside piece about what led to the closure is quite disappointing. Either way, I hope the landlords realize what a gem they’ve lost. My family is certainly sad it’s no longer there.
Come back soon, La Farine!

I was shocked and saddened last night to read in H.Y.‘s review that our La Farine had closed. Alan had just been there Sunday to buy a cinnamon bread and a chocolatine, the latter for my birthday breakfast Monday. We have a loaf of their apricot soda bread sliced and in the freezer. Here’s the article about the closure from Berkeleyside, which gives details:
I hope they are able to find another spot on Solano. There will be a huge gap on the corner where they were.

Goodbye, we will miss you! :(
This location is closed now.

So sad that this location has closed. It’s a huge loss for the neighborhood. Please bring back those morning buns!

Dear La Farine:
I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your generous donation to the Albany Middle School Wrestling Team Luncheon.
**Felipe**, I believe he’s the store manager, was very attentive, kind and without any hesitation, agreed to donate two huge bags full of your yummy pastries and delicious breads so we can serve in the event. We hold this luncheon once a year to honor and give thanks to all the coaches and volunteers who make the wrestling program happened in our beloved schools.
I was very impressed by your kindness. Other big businesses on Solano Avenue (which benefit from the patronage of Albany residents), simply turned us down due to plain bureaucracy. I thought it was imperative other Albany residents see this posting and get inspire to continue supporting your business!
Many Thanks,
Johanna Valle
Parent/​Volunteer Luncheon Coordinator

Best. Fruit. Tarts. Ever.
I’ve love desserts and nothing annoys me more than sub par sugar & butter at a party (e.g. Safeway cupcakes — good in a pinch, disappointing at a celebration). This is my go-​to dessert place for potlucks, holiday get togethers, and general «I deserve sugar» treats. Their fruit tarts are wonderful: perfectly flaky, buttery sweet crust, seasonal fruit — and the creamy vanilla custard pulls it all together! Always a big hit!
I must also recommend their morning buns, shortbread cookies (same as fruit tart crust), and chocolate tarts.

This year my family got all of our birthday cakes here. All of the cakes we sampled this year were divine.
If you enjoy cheesecake you should definitely try a slice of their chocolate cheesecake! You can certainly taste the difference that great quality ingredients make to baked goods. Much better than Cheesecake Factory.
Their chocolate Kahlua cake is also delicious, I highly recommend it!

Fast forward to Thanksgiving 2013 — family is in town and I need a memorable finisher for our carbohydrate and tryptophan heavy dinner. Look no further than La Farine, my friends. Their fruit tarts are sure to please!
My entire family praised the lightness of the tart and freshness of the fruit. They loved how beautiful the presentation was when I opened the box. Many photos were snapped ;) Everyone finished their piece; my Mom even had seconds (and scrapes off of the bottom of the plate). Everyone thought it was just sweet enough and not overly rich — a perfect end to a lovely Thanksgiving. Thank you, La Farine! :D

One of my favorite go to bakeries in Albany. I love the staff here, always friendly considering how busy this place can get. It can be non-​stop at times. My family especially likes the fruit tarts here. Ever since I was younger, the morning buns have always been my favorite.
Parking can be kind of difficult because it is right on Solano.

Love, love their fruit tarte! The fruit is fresh, the creaminess of the custard that’s not overly sweet and the crunchy shortbread-​like crust is an amazing combination! Their baguettes are out of this world! You really can’t go wrong with anything you get here.
My kids now ask for a fruit tarte on their birthdays instead of birthday cake!
Service is top notch!

Been here twice now to pick up cakes for birthdays and I’ve never been let down by service, availability, or quality here. When you get a cake, they’ll offer to customize it for you with some writing on some rolled out chocolate for free which is a nice service. Pastries here are really good too, especially the fruit tart so besides cakes, this place is also a nice breakfast stop.

Gluten free cookies to die for. INSANE IN THE MEMBRANE.
First, the bakery is ridiculously adorable and the people who work there are super sweet.
The gluten free cookies taste like gluten-​y goodness. Buy them now for all your friends who can’t eat gluten.
Thank you La Farine Bakery!!!

I only had the fruit tart from La Farine, but I immediately fell in love.
The fruits — raspberries, blueberries, blackberries — were so fresh and sweet. The crust, that crunchy, crispy crust that is so important in every pie/​tart, tastes delicious… usually I dislike eating the crust to avoid unnecessary calories, but I’m willing to put a few extra minutes at the gym for this pastry.
I can’t wait to go back and try the other ones!

I was the poor guy who when the words «French Bakery» came up, I thought: «No thanks.»
I have seen the light!
Quality baked goods and pastries. My recommendations for an ideal breakfast:
Start off with the savory bun: red onions, bits of ham, and cheese, all wound up in a flakey, cheesy, delicious bun.
Take a sip of your black coffee.
Then end your breakfast with a sweet, cinnamon and brown sugar morning bun. The caramelized sugar on the bottom gives that sticky crunch that you feel a little guilty eating. But it’s too delicious to say no.
Chug the rest of your coffee. Smile.

If you want to win someone over, buy ‘em a tasty treat from La Farine!
I went to a dinner party last night and brought with me slices of Chocolate Cheesecake, Reine de Saba and Blueberry Hollandaise. OMG, everyone absolutely loved them!!!

They prepared a wonderfully, not-​too-​sweet apricot ginger tarte for Thanksgiving. We like to swing by and grab something to accompany a hot tea or coffee… of late, the Jezebel cookie, ginger, and madeleines have been quite satisfying. There is also those tarts in the refrigerated case over yonder…
Note: nothing here at this bakery is going to be a bad choice.
Baguettes: wonderful

La Farine Bakery (the flour) is $$ but worth it… très savoureuse tarte effet.
We needed dessert and wine for a dinner engagement and @LaFarineBakery was recommended for the dessert.
We picked up a splendid peach tart for $ 24 which served 12 nicely. It had a wonderful almond marzipan that gave the sweet and tart fruit a nice vehicle.
While we were deciding on the dessert we of course had to have a madeline which was very nice as well.
The service was friendly and amiable.

They seduced me with their buns.
I was walking by and I peered inside and noticed they had morning buns.
Sugary, cinnamony, croissanty goodness. What’s not to love?
Too bad I had a morning bun at Tartine Bakery before this place. No other morning bun can ever compare to their’s! I liked La Farine’s morning bun, but I wish it wasn’t as dry. More butter, please! =)
I liked how the bakery had an open kitchen though. You don’t see that too often. Usually all the magic is hidden in the back behind a wall. The open-​ness makes the place seem bigger.

Crappy seating setup. It was raining outside so all the benches and table (yes, one table) were inside but set up in a way that actually discouraged the whole «café experience» … you know what I mean …
I wanted to sit at a table on a rainy morning with a rich cup of coffee and a pain au chocolat and gaze out the window, but it WAS ALL WRONG. :-(Hell I can get the same thing at Peet’s and they throw in free wifi!

I first heard of La Farine when somebody brought an opera cake for somebody’s birthday at a job site during my temporary employee days. I then encountered the La Farine opera cake again years later at a bridal shower. I was used to big, fancy production numbers of buttercream frosted cakes with roses, flowers, and fancy borders. And to see a small cake was a bit of a shock to what I was used to seeing at birthday parties or bridal showers. Well, thanks to the bridal shower, I love opera cake and I recall having about four small rich slices of espresso syrup, coffee buttercream, and chocolate ganache. And the coffee beans decorating the opera cake, cor and ooh la la!
I love the pastries, especially the cupcakes at La Farine! Especially when both the chocolate and vanilla cupcakes are light pink swirl frosting topped with a matching sugar flower or a a contrast of either light blue or violet. I have to allow for the cupcakes to come to room temperature so I can eat the frosting as well as the cake. The frosting is still firm and I want to eat it now. When it comes to eating cupcakes, patience, what the heck is that? What does that mean?!
If there are cream puffs or chocolate eclairs with cream, I will forget about eating the cupcakes right away. Either a cream puff or éclair for moi to eat ASAP. By the time I am ready to eat my La Farine cupcake, the cupcake frosting is at room temperature and then it is time: «Cupcake!»