The pain au chocolate at Café Ficelle in Ventura. | Photo: SCVFoodie.com
Missing from SCV’s food landscape is a tried-and-true French bakery. Baguettes. Batards. Flaky croissants.
If you find yourself headed out toward Ventura, Café Ficelle, located off the Main Street exit on the 101 fills the French pastry void in Santa Clarita.
The boulangerie and patisserie serves up breads and sweets and offers heartier items including crepes, the croque-monsieur/madame, and breakfast and lunch sandwiches. Though we’ve only been picking up items, we can imagine the cavernous eatery busy and bustling when we used to do things like…brunch.
The almond croissant at Café Ficelle. | Photo: SCVFoodie.com
We’ve made the drive to Café Ficelle a couple times for takeout pandemic treats. (There is another location in Camarillo, but we’ve only been to the Ventura outpost.) The croissants are American-sized (aka HUGE) —buttery and flaky; there’s a crunch on first bite and are chewy on the inside. The chocolate croissant has an extra drizzle on top for those who prefer a more-than-less approach to the sweet treat. The almond offers a generous layer of sliced almonds on top with a dusting of powdered sugar (which isn’t necessary, but doesn’t take away from pastry.
Other offerings include a Breton cake, the Kouign-amann, which is difficult to make with intricate layers of butter, dough, sugar and then more butter. The sugar becomes sticky and carmelized, adding the sweet to a a denser version of the croissant. Café Ficelle’s version is more cyclical and airier than the other Kouign-amann we’ve tried (there’s a hole in the middle where wavy layers meet to create an almost flower-like design). But whatever, the cafe’s is a buttery, decadent delight.
For savory items, SCVFoodie can attest to the hearty ham and Gruyere croissant and their homemade version of the English muffin, which has the crunch of corn nuts (yep) sprinkled on top.
Once this pandemic is over, we can’t wait to sit in the cafe, slowly sip our cappuccinos and taste its croque madame, but until then, we’ll order takeout and pretend we’re in Paris.
Café Ficelle’s offerings | Photo: SCVFoodie.com
Café Ficelle’s offerings | Photo: SCVFoodie.com
Café Ficelle’s offerings (clockwise from top left): chocolate croissant, almond croissant, English muffin, and a ham and Gruyere croissant. | Photo: SCVFoodie.com
SCVFoodie: Eats in and around Santa Clarita, Calif. 