Bon Ton Bakery [International Correspondent]

Bakery: Bon Ton Bakery
Address: 8720 149 St. NW, Edmonton AB
Website: http://bonton.ca/
Style: European, Jewish
Price: $$ 

Foreword (by me): Ah, this brings back a lot of childhood bakery memories! *-* Bon Ton Bakery was one of the very first European bakeries (nearing 60 years now!) in Edmonton and every weekend my grandfather would come here for the rye bread -- and not only because it was the only place in the neighbourhood to get rye bread -- and we'd get a free cookie. ;) I don't actually remember what was there besides those free cookies and bread, seeing as I don't think we ever bought any sweets, but I think they've stepped things up judging by their website (and the addition of tvs everywhere as the brother had to include) since those simpler days when I was a [freeloading] customer. :D

A few months ago, my mom took a cookbook from the library and there was a recipe for cinnamon bread inspired by the "famous" (!?) cinnamon bread from Bon Ton bakery; seeing this was an American cookbook, this was an impressive surprise and that got me thinking I need to review this place. And then these vague memories of having that cinnamon bread kind of came back to me.... Bon Ton certainly was the first place on the list of bakeries I ordered my brother to visit. Except he chose not to take my advice and did *not* buy that cinnamon bread. :/ And let's see what he has to say (bringing some of this back would have been appreciated, you know...):

Bon Ton serves all the Jewish classics like breads, cheesecakes, and cookies in addition to other treats and cakes that are a little less Eastern European and more French or typical of a usual European bakery (Opera, etc.). Everything  looked pretty good and I would have liked to have had the opportunity to try a cake. We took the poppy seed butterfly. It was softer than the typical Polish offerings [not quite sure what he means there, but I won't interrupt..], which was a good thing, but still had some dryness that kept it from brilliance. There wasn't a lot of poppy seed and instead it was rolled more into the dough. I would liken it to the small poppy seed rolls they sell at What a Bagel or similar places, only larger. I wouldn't say it was the best, but I thought it was good. Out of all the food we tried (baked goods and restaurants), Bon Ton ended up as the best.

Rating: ***