Europane Bakery, Pasadena

Three things I miss most about France, predictably, are: bread, chocolate and cheese. Of-course you can find these things in any American supermarket, but I'm talking about chocolate that you buy freshly-made, cheese that is not pre-portioned and saran-wrapped. When it comes to daily bread, having a good and reliable bakery within walking distance is essential to well-being and I was miserable ... until I discovered Europane in our Pasadena neighborhood.

The place is run by the personable Sumi Chang, formerly of Nancy Silverton's La Brea Bakery. You often see her hopping from table to table, chatting with customers, bringing out plates and clearing them away too. Although local foodies swear by her buttery pear tarts, sticky cinnamon rolls and ginger-studded scones, what I find consistently impressive are her artisanal breads, beautiful crusty loaves that come in five variations: sourdough, multi-grain, olive, rosemary currant and walnut cranberry.

When you order a sandwich you choose the bread. Over the weeks I tried to decide what went best with what: moist chicken salad with rosemary currant, open-faced egg salad on toasted multi-grain etc. until finally I settled on a favorite -- oven-roasted turkey with walnut cranberry, shown above. The composition is simple but thought-out: bread, Dijon mustard, turkey, salt and peppered slice of ripe tomatoe, mixed baby greens, mayonnaise. The tartly sweet cranberry and crunchy walnut works particularly well with the turkey, even if it's not yet Thanksgiving. To me it's the ultimate American sandwich, something you could not get even in France.

Europane Bakery 950 Colorado Blvd. tel. (626) 577-1828