And umm, we don't get all the love. Certain things there, we just did not like.
It's nice inside, kind of like a version of Philadelphia's Center City Dibruno's. (I'm noticing this upscale rustic aesthetic theme with Atlantan places)
It offers chocolate and desserts...
baked goods...
and has a deli counter and a counter for ready-to-go foods, as well as various little (more upscale) grocery items.
As I mentioned earlier, we stopped by a few times and managed to try a few varied items:
Lasagna - So-so. The really strange thing about the ready-to-go counter is that if you want it warm, they tell you to use a microwave in their sitting area. Perhaps this is a result of working folk getting this to go and/or of some sort of odd cost-cutting measure, but this struck me as a particularly an easy way of getting customers to nuke the hell out of what may have been decent food and mis-associate crappy ready-made food with a supposedly artisan place. Nuked or cold, we weren't really thrilled with this.
Roast beef sandwich - Okay, the bread being the best part, although the honey mustard (?) sauce was also decent. The roast beef was better tasting than the standard cold cuts from the grocery, but had a sort of crumbly texture that I found a bit odd.
Atlanta Greek Yogurt - Vanilla & Caramel. Yes, not Alon's, but something they sell. Bleh. Not a fan at all. I'm looking for the tang of greek yogurt, but all I could taste was the caramel. Plus I still hold Fage's yogurts as my standard, where I can enjoy the two distinct tastes and textures of the yogurt and the mixed elements (honey still remains my fave).
Raisin Danish - I like hazelnuts and I like raisins danishes. Inexplicably, I did not like the hazelnut and raisin combination here.
Pistachio & Blueberry gelato - Creamier and a bit sweeter than Capogiro's gelato (which is more of the "true to the ingredient" philosophy.) Here, there was the initial taste of the main ingredient, but it was somewhat marred by a more rounded creamy after-taste. Ok, but not great.
Croissant - Ugh. Not much better than what I associate with a grocery store croissant. Oily to the touch. Overly buttery and no flakiness.
Chocolate Chip Cookie - Slightly underbaked and hence more on the chewy side. Ok chocolate and pecans. Shrug, kind of another unmemorable "artisan" cookie.
All in all, we just didn't feel inclined to want to come back at all. Are there any real French bakeries in the Atlanta region? I don't mind driving...
Alon's Bakery
4505 Ashford Dunwoody Road NE Atlanta, GA 30346-1514 (Map)
(770) 730-9909
1394 N Highland Avenue Northeast Atlanta, GA 30306-3354 (Map)
(404) 872-6000
www.alons.com