Paris Pastries in Rancho Cucamonga

Paris Pastries in Rancho Cucamonga

Flashback to May of 2013, my husband and I were homeless. 
Yes, you heard me right. Well sort of. Let me explain. We just sold our house. Unfortunately, the inspection on a house in San Dimas we were in the middle of buying did not pass so we backed out. Don't get me started on what was wrong with it; there's too many things to list! With that said, we left our worries behind in California and continued on with our trip of a lifetime. Our first stop was London and from there we took the train to Paris, France! We got a taste first hand in French culture; food, music, museums, churches. It was not hard to fall in love with everything the city had to offer. We just wished we could have stayed longer. Here are just a few photographs from our trip in Paris. 

Walking around Paris

Magazine stand next to the Seine River

Quiche aux Legumes

Genoise au Chocolat Creme Anglaise

Macarons from Laduree!

View from the Eiffel Tower

After returning from our European adventure (France, Switzerland, Italy), we were back to house hunting. It eventually led us to Rancho Cucamonga and that's where we ended up! Our experience traveling in Europe was what awoken the "foodie" in me even more. I mentioned this in my "Introduction" post. When we first move to Rancho Cucamonga, I thought that the city mostly had franchise/chain restaurants and mediocre food (sorry to say). Rancho Cucamonga did not have the greatest reputation for its local cuisine. After living here for a while, I started finding hidden gems and starting exploring any new eateries on my "foodie radar". There are a lot more eateries opening up. 

2017 is starting off good since I discovered Paris Pastries opened in January. They are located at 8220 Haven Avenue, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730 (right next to Omokase). There are many so-called French bakeries out there and when they claim to be.....there's a certain expectation. You want to get a bit of the feeling back like when you were in Paris.

Exterior

I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with the owner of Paris Pastries and get to know a little bit more about his background. Van Vi Sy (or just "Vi" for short) is Vietnamese but lived in France for nearly 40 years. If you speak French, you can converse with him in French as he is fluent in it! Unfortunately for me, the years I studied French growing up as a child did not sink in towards adulthood, but I tried! 

It took Vi nearly a year to finally open his first cafe/bakery. I know what many of you are thinking. "Why would someone from France pick Rancho Cucamonga of all places in California to open a business?" So I asked him! Well it turns out that Vi's brother (who also lived in France) moved to Rancho Cucamonga in 1997. He only had positive things to say about the city and told him it would be a wonderful place to open a bakery.

Vi, his wife and children all reside in Rancho Cucamonga now so when you step in to Paris Pastries, you are supporting a family who took a chance and are now part of the Rancho Cucamonga community. 

Vi's wife prepares the entrees to order and she always gets up around 4:00AM every morning to prepare her famous quiche, macarons, creme brulee and many of the items you see on display!. She is also responsible for the lovely interior design. There are also two French chefs who work here. One is a French pastry chef in charge of the delicate cakes etc while the other is a baker who makes all the breads, croissants, etc. 

They are still finalizing the menu options, especially the entrees so you will notice that they've removed/changed the items. Some dishes take a long time to prepare and is one of the main reasons they were removed. If you have eaten in Europe, everyone takes their time and a meal experience is long compared to here in California where everyone is in a rush! This is something they are adjusting to. 

Menu as of 02/01/2017

Note that French pastries are very rich so they pair great with a cup of coffee or tea. 

Beverage Menu

I know other people may be curious so I asked Vi if they offer any gluten free or vegan options and he said "No." He stated that if you took out those ingredients the end product would not be the same and lose its authenticity. I'm glad they are sticking to what they know, not altering any of the classic recipes and not catering to what they think people want.

I've been here multiple times already and thus far have tried the peach smoothie, orange julius, macarons (caramel, strawberry, pistachio, chocolate), croissant aux amandes, strawberry fraisier, Opera (chocolate cake), and creme brulee. Most of the items are selling around the $5.00 mark; some less, some more. 

Just a side note: If you ARE looking for vegan or gluten free baked goods, there's another bakery in the same plaza (by Active) called Caked Up Natural Dessert Bar. 

Paris Pastries offers plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. You can enjoy a latte with a baked good or pastry outside or even bring your dog.  I'm very happy to have this French family and chefs right here in Rancho Cucamonga. I still have to try the quiche, eclairs and tarts!

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