Mimi Brown back with farm-to-table bakery
There are bakers. There are pastry chefs. There are farmers. Mimi Brown is all three, and she's got the acreage to prove it.
She and her husband, Ed, founded and operated the wildly popular Flower Flour bakery in San Jose's Willow Glen for 14 years, before selling the business in 2017 to devote full time to their Wine Country venture, the Napa Farmhouse Inn in St. Helena, with its lodgings and 3-acre garden.
Now she's back, with a new bakery in the original building, and this time she has bushels of produce with her. We talked with her about her organic philosophy and what customers will find in the pastry case and on the breakfast and lunch menus.
QYou're driving from the Napa Valley farm to the San Jose bakery — and back — six days a week. Why is it important to you to invest that time and effort?
Athe perfect produce and creating healthy food and beautiful cakes for my customers. Since my return, I have received tons of former customers welcoming me back to the Willow Glen neighborhood. It is so unexpected and extremely heartwarming.
QQYour new bakery is First of all, I own the called Paris Avenue. Willow Street building, What's behind the name? which needed a modern
A renovation. Second, My vision for Paris I am now a seasoned organic Avenue is a charming grower and have French bakery inspired by over 100 fruit trees and the French markets. One a 1-acre kitchen and cutflower that is full of beauty and garden, as well as charm. The atmosphere is an established herb potager welcoming, and the customer and orangeries. I is cared about. It's long to put all my beautiful a place you love to go for produce to good use. coffee or tea and enjoy a Third, I am a passionate beautiful treat and take gardener, baker and chef home a cake. and love being creative. I also care deeply about my community and my customers. Nothing brings me more joy than harvesting
Right now, you are featuring the cauliflower you grew in your homemade soup, the
broccoli you grew in the And what about the cinnamon buns, our soup You also specialize in quiche. There's a tray of summer harvest? du jour, Waldorf tuna wedding and specialevent persimmon cookies — sandwich and apple strudel cakes. What's the
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baked with persimmons Summer is abundant. with, of course, organic most interesting request from your trees — in the The heirloom apples from our orchard. you've had? bakery case. What will tomatoes will be the stars
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the spring harvest bring? of BLTs and tomato salads. We once did a huge The French Charentais What about new creations? 10-tier cake for a I grow most of my melons also steal community event that vegetables from the show as part of our towered over all of us. It
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seeds. In the spring, there French market salads. The Opera cake, was quite the show. are strawberries and mulberries, There will be a lot of “today's chocolate and almond radishes, peas, lunch specials” as cake with mocha What's the most popular Swiss chard and more summer's bounty comes mousse, is brand-new and baked breakfast broccoli. There will be into play. Of course, beautiful, the Parisian item? more beautiful lettuces — peaches will find their strawberry cake is new
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every few months, I plant way into custard-filled and the guava and mango Cinnamon buns, of about 400 assorted lettuces fresh peach tarts. And have a new French flair. course. — and edible flowers plums are delicious in Our soup du jour is always
Q for salads as well. flans. seasonal. When do you ever Radishes always find find time to sleep? their way into my sweetand-sour What are some of Which cake is your
A pickles, which the top customer best seller? Gardeners and bakers is a signature here. Of favorites that you are don't sleep. We
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course, peas will make a again making on Willow The raspberry chocolate just daydream about all beautiful bisque, perhaps Street? cake is our most the beautiful things we paired with big chunky popular cake. It is a delicious, can grow and create!
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potatoes, which we also Organic persimmon all-red stunner, grow. The broccoli is cookies, jam bars and with chocolate cake, raspberry showcased so beautifully jam cookies, our signature mousse, a chocolate in our quiche terrine. Our chocolate cake (the band, raspberry glaze, rhubarb and strawberries Midnight Ruffle), blueberry chocolate ruffles and make beautiful tarts. buttermilk scones, fresh berries.
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DETAILS >> Paris Avenue is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday at 896 Willow St., San Jose; www.parisavenue.me