Red Beans And Advice For Monday, July 25

My basic culinary tests

Last week, I needed to take my Toyota Prius to the shop for a new headlamp. It was only 7 a.m., and I had basically rolled out of bed to deliver the car, so I was in need of breakfast. The repair shop sits across Magazine Street from La Boulangerie, the pastry shop and cafe that is part of chef Donald Link’s culinary empire.

I walked in, grateful for the air conditioning, and spotted the long bakery cakes. There were tarts, and Danish, muffins and numerous varieties of croissants. I’m a purist when it comes to croissants. A butter croissant is just fine with me, and as I told the cashier, it’s one of my tests of a good bakery.

If you can’t nail a butter croissant, it’s likely that the rest of your offerings are not going to be that good. It is a fundamental achievement that you need to ace in order to earn my business.

The La Boulangerie one passed my test. It was flaky, sufficiently crisp, and had a wonderfully spongy inside. The cashier kindly had offered to warm it up and that made it even better.

Here are some of my other culinary tests, depending on the time of year.