Cream Pan, Tustin, A dream of a patisserie/boulangerie

[Priscilla]

OK, the cafe is BACK IN BLACK, and it appears to be continuing to be named Japonaise, just as I sent over the psychic transom for it to do. We stuck our heads in, looks nice, table service instead of counter ordering, and Chef Nino and all the familiar faces from the Japonaise of a few months ago sppear to be in place. Major yay.

AND over to Cream Pan, it's its 8TH ANNIVERSARY, and in combination with Japonaise grand opening, all sliced bread is 1/2 price! Of course it's a stone bargain at $2.20 or whatever, the 1/2 price is just pure gravy.

Sadly, the ciabatta bandit got there before me this a.m., and I was even early! But baguette instead for tonight's dinner ain't no compromise, is it.

Coffee was stupendously wonderful as usual, as were all the baked goods and the katsu san we brought home to Le Mangeur.

Yawn yawn yawn, Cream Pan was wonderful again. Exactly the kind of boring predictability I can live with.

[alosha7777]

I missed 1/2 price bread! #*#&$^!! I was THISCLOSE to going there this morning since I decided to make sandwiches for dinner tonight, but I ran other errands instead. Curses for not keeping up with the news.

Glad to hear about the name staying the same. I'm very curious to see what their new offerings would be, as I heard it might lean more toward the noodly side of things.

[Priscilla]

MELISSA NO WORRIES!!! It's a two-week celebration, acc. to the nice girl at the counter.

Two weeks from when, I do not know, but I GUESS from maybe yesterday Satruday 6 December? Anyway, some time available to get in on the deal.

[alosha7777]

Fantastic!

[Priscilla]

Le Mangeur and I ate in the cafe today, it was good as before. Different dishes, for instance Le Mangeur had katsudon. The new A Set is good, egg/ham san plus salade and includes cafe.

Just wonderful to have it back.

[Priscilla]

New item today, leastaways new to us since last week: Cupcakes! Specifically Red Velvet cupcakes, done in Yoshi's inimitable superior style, which is to say perfectly delicious. Very very pinky red inside, and since Yoshi does not use food coloring (which is what is reddening your run-of-the-mill cupcake chain's Red Velvets, I am here to tell you if didn't know already) I wonder what it is. Could be beet... or POSSIBLY just the original Red Velvet chemistry trick of cocoa + acid = reddish reaction.

First American-style leavened cake seen at Cream Pan. And was SO GOOD. Ivan and I bought one because we try the new things that appear, and we were so gobsmacked by its deliciousness that we went back in for moar. But the other remaining had been sold in the few-minute interim! Howevah, we were told he can have more ready in 30 min., so we just did our Whole Fooding and returned. We are not cupcakers, normally, but this was no ordinary cupcake. Wonder if it will become a regular item.

Last week too I had a favorite dish at CP that for years we depended upon Maestro inside Mitsuwa for, (until it closed, Maestro not Mitsuwa), omurice. Chef Nino's at CP is EXCELLENT, I can tell you, better than Maestro's was, owing not a little to the actual FRESH veg inside where Maestro had the trad but not as good froz peas & carrots.

Serendipitously our timing was such that it was still very warm so I didn't have to hit it with the microwave thoughtfully provided. Don't think I would have, anyways, don't use microwaves, but it was lucky nonetheless. AND good.

[Priscilla]

Ivan got a little white chocolate cheesecake from CP for me for Valentine's Day, with a strikingly normal design on it, for once. They're going to think we've turned a corner! Until the next cake occasion and our design for that is submitted, I guess.

Anyway, lovely elegant perfectly made little cake. Just right. Love love love CP cakes.

[Priscilla]

OK, new item, dunno if it's permanent or experimental... butter roll twists. The delicious butter roll dough we love in a good-looking twist shape.

And I feel compelled to say, again, how GOOD CP coffee is. We actually say it all the time, but it's worth noting in writing. AND, consistent.

[ivan]

And don't forget the as-yet untasted rustic olive breads.

As yet.

[Priscilla]

Olive bread was good, IF you like olives. Which we do. So, good.

Today at CP I was dosing my coffee and I heard somebody, somebody who I'd been mildly eavesdropping on behind us in line, hailing Ivan. Turns out until recently he was a coworker. So a brief, pleasant reunion, plus the news that music of his (he is a classical composer) is going to be performed in OC upcoming. He and his girlfriend also understood the greatness and perfection of Cream Pan, and Tustin, as a side bonus.

Just another moment of Cream Pan magic.

[Priscilla]

I seem to keep on saying this, but it bears repeating: Cream Pan coffee = good.

[Priscilla]

Had the opportunity to step in and see my birthday cake Ivan'd ordered in the pastry case, emblazoned with its weird, family-in-joke message! I LOLed. The girls were amused. They are very sweet and indulgent.

The pastry person is on maternity leave! Fortunately cakes can still be special ordered, but rose macarons, among other things, absent for now. Hope they return!

[Priscilla]

Must mention madeleines, seen for the first time by me today in Cream Pan.

So good! Really the most accurately Frenchy-French delicious madeleines I've had in this country aside from those I bake myself. Not at all surprising, considering the source. It is so nice to continually get new pleasures from an old favorite.

Madeleines are esp. good to find at CP because 1. they are good, and 2., God knows, there are far far too many so-called self-styled soi-disant REALLY BAD "madeleines" in the world.

[alosha7777]

Stopped by CP this morning to pick up some goodies for my overnight guest. He is a big fan of Asian bakeries (and grew up in Japan to boot, though I don't know what they have there...) and I counted on him appreciating the breads and whatnots. I sent him off with rolls to bring to his parent's house tonight for dinner, half a loaf of white bread, strawberry croissant (ha! I had to!), curry pan and ham and cheese. I was also craving their little sandwich box so I had an egg and the ham and he had the other egg and the tuna and loved it.

We also both tried a salmon onigiri. Holy moly, is that thing ever good! Edwin put it on the ongoing list of 100 Favorite Dishes on Stick A Fork In It and I promised him I would try one. So glad I did. The way they mix the salmon and rice together is faaantastic.

I also got my coffee while I was there since I didn't want to make a Kean run. Not bad today.

[Priscilla]

Why is the time wacky today on the site?

Melissa, we were @ CP this a.m. too! And it's only your duty, indoctrinating another w/strawberry croissantism.

One of the things we brought to La Mangeur was a salmon onigiri, a favorite of his. We were lucky to get it, they were sold out of so much quite early today.

We thought the coffee, which as you know we always love, was especially delicious today. I attributed that to Yoshi his own darn self serving it to us. Ivan was more skeptical but agreed it was delicious.

Did you walk through the flea market? Stuffed w/merch today. We only bought a couple of vintage KMET stickers, one for Ivan and one for a friend of ours.

[alosha7777]

Yes! Yoshi was serving when I went too! Very cool. And I'm already craving that onigiri again.

And I did not walk through the flea market, but my mom and I wandered around there the last day she was here in May. Kinda fun.

[Priscilla]

We ate at Japonaise last night, part of Le Mangeur's Power Birthday Weekend.

SO GOOD!

We had a range of 10 kushikatsu, the little fried bites on sticks. Frying has always been a strong point of this kitchen, and these were no exception.

Katsudon for Le Mangeur and kare udon split by Ivan and me, plus agedashi tofu, which had a delicious, fascinating mochi wrap, put me in mind of the rustic Avignonian pate with the lacy wrap of caul fat.

Fabulous junmai sake for the over-21 set.

Lovely, comfortable room, lovely service, so nice to see all our friends from the bakery in their nighttime roles. What a wonderful place.

[Priscilla]

Sunday, closing out Birthday Weekend, we had Inglorious Basterds and a beautiful tray of assorted sans from Cream Pan, plus a typically fabulous African Queen, with our latest custom message.

Le Mangeur saw it in the case and LOLed! Which was nearly the whole point. Besides the eating, later.

The fam right in front of us when we were picking these up had 2 giant trays of sans. Gorgeous. Must have been having some sizeable group of guests, and lucky guests they were, too.

[Priscilla]

CP was bustling this a.m., maybe due to the overcast? But then on fine days too it bustles. Is the nature of the wonder that is CP.

Ivan and I were able to help a good-looking young UC Berkeley grad decide to up his order to 2 hot dogs from the single he'd initially ordered; he heard Ivan ordering just after him and brief conversation ensued.

We were in need of baguette -- well, it seems like need, don't it, when nice CP baguette is what you fancy to complete your dinner menu -- and while there were none visible the nice young man behind the counter said they'd just come out and got us our two extra bien cuit. Still hot! The aroma! We carefully laid them out on top of their bags in the car to maintain crustiness.

[Priscilla]

A little Cream Pan content in Taste of Orange County... starring the very lovely cheese boule. But you know how it is @ Cream Pan, everything's FAB.

Playing the cheese boule numbers @ Cream Pan