Mademoiselle Colette, Menlo Park, CA
Here's a crumb shot of a Costco croissant. It's cheap, costing only 42 cents each. At that price and its provenance, it's unlikely to carry the aura of a Michelin star. But as far as I'm concerned, it's properly proved and baked; it's flaky and buttery, and its honeycomb crumb looks pretty good. My only complaint was that it was too buttery to taste the bread.
And here are a few crumb shots of a croissant that we bought from a bakery run by a Michelin-starred chef. It cost more than ten times the price of a Costco croissant. However, it was under-proved, under-baked, and had a doughy/gummy, almost raw center. Not only was the honeycomb missing, but there were hardly any layers; what I saw was practically a hollow interior.
WTF
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P.S. The second croissant we had on the next day was just as shoddy as the first. 
Today was a beautiful day - comfortably sunny and mild. I felt relaxed and happy as I was looking forward to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. We'd talked about visiting this bakery for almost a year; today seemed like the perfect day. So, I put on make-up and a lovely dress and went on a "date" with my 
.
When we arrived at the bakery, there was already a line outside. We waited for about 20 minutes before it was our turn to order. I ordered as much as we could eat in a day or two. We couldn't wait to sit down and sample some of their "signature" items. While ordering, the kitchen staff brought out a new batch of classic croissants; I figured it would be pretty fresh. But its flavor and crust were mediocre, and its texture was shitty -- the center was sticky/gummy and chewy, like leather, and almost raw, which I had not expected!
You must understand that I came to this shop with high expectations as it claims that its owner had her training at Le Cordon Bleu and that a professional chef runs the bakery. But what I had today was clearly not up to professional standards, and it simply gave croissant a bad name! Can you imagine how disappointed I was? This damn croissant ruined my date!#@%*
Of all the things we ordered today, I only suggest trying the baguette and almond croissant, but don't get your hopes high. I do think they need to add CLAS to improve the baked goods' flavor.
Almond croissant
L'Irrésistible
Classic croissant
Pain au Chocolate
Chausson aux Pommes
Sweet Kouign Amann
Ture professionals put the charlatans
to shame
Hi Yippee. Sorry you were disappointed with that experience.
The whole reason I first baked croissants and kouign amman was that I had got in line at the number one bakery here in TO early in the morning to buy their stuff at a premium price and bring it home to share with my wife.
We were quite disappointed in it. I then wondered how hard it could be to do it myself and I found simple recipes on the Internet.
And so my baking adventure really began :)
Expensive stuff looks nice but doesn't have the flavour and texture. Most stuff in restaurants isn't done very well.
Sadly that means a "date" experience is a bit challenging. Last time, I made bread and we went out together to get some nice smoked salmon to put on it, then had a picnic. Which was like the very first date all those years ago when we had more fun anyway. :)
Boy that pain au chocolat is sad.
If you ever get a chance, Montreal has a croissant day. It's awesome to go across the city sampling croissants at a special price. My surprise favourite had a bit of a chew to it... it grew on me with every bite and that's the one I still remember.