Alforno Bakery & Café
Gluten Free Vanilla Rum Raisin Cake
Almond Croissant
Banana Cornflake Muffin
Blueberry Clafoutis
Pear Frangipane Tart
Snickerdoodle
Quinoa Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
Recently opened by a longstanding local Restaurant Group, the highly polished space greeting wealthy Eau Claire residents with a fireplace for lounging and table service for breakfast, lunch, dinner or pastries, Alforno Bakery & Café purports a focus on nothing but the finest ingredients, though the actual execution reminisces more of the “Quick Casual” Panera with a touch more refinement, plus a license to serve Beer and Wine.
No doubt a spacious and pleasant environment, a small market of locally produced goods and grab n’ go options located right when facing glass cases filled with temptation, those arriving at Alforno early are greeted by shelves yet to be fully stocked plus a brief menu, the Ricotta Pancakes apparently quite popular, though the focus of this visit was entirely on the bakery.
Finding service to be low on enthusiasm…or Coffee…the young lady behind the counter’s flattened affect a rarity in the forty Alberta eateries visited during my stay, it was after some perusal that a total of seven items were selected, some of them already bagged and prepackaged including a kitchen sponge-reminiscent Vanilla Rum Raisin Cake that reaffirmed fears of gluten-free baking.
Surprising finding not a single option still warm, the overly-firm Clafoutis actually still icebox cold, better bites were found in the flaky Pear Tart with sweet Almond Paste, thought the twice-baked Croissant lightly smeared with the same came across flaccid, the exterior nicely baked but the inside neither springy nor open.
Next turning attention to a Muffin followed by two Cookies, the former well-conceived with a small stump and the top shellacked with crunchy Cornflakes over moist Banana Bread, the Cookies were a bit more hit and miss as the sugary Snickerdoodle was light in Cinnamon and a bit drier than expected while the Quinoa Oatmeal Raisin round was thankfully not over sweetened, but chewy in a way that is ‘interesting’ rather than pleasant.
www.alforno.ca/
