Essence Bakery Cafe [Arcadia]

The Valley of the Sun, and all that is tasty therein
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Wilbur
Posts: 23
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2023 9:41 am

Essence Bakery Cafe [Arcadia]

Post by Wilbur »

And we are back!

The Essence Bakery Cafe at 3830 East Indian School Road is one of the places you should consider when you want to get up early and eat something with subtle excellence.

The remodeled home that fronts the road isn't an obvious eatery, and I usually try to drive past it before braking sharply and turning north into the parking, more of which is available behind the cafe. Inside, the seating is comfortable, and the acoustics are reasonable so that you can have a conversation over breakfast.

The bakery goods comprise all the items you would normally expect from a patisserie rather than just a boulangerie, but they offer a selection of the breads you would expect from a boulangerie as well. Given the speed with which the pastries and bread sell out, however, you need to rise and shine in order to find the entire menu still available when you arrive. The local and fresh ingredients ensure that the pastry and bread flavors are powerful, and the techniques used to bake them mean that the texture and mouthfeel are complex and satisfying.

Now my wife and daughter have sophisticated palates, and mine is more basic. But I would draw your attention to the breakfast offerings and some of the optimal items in the Valley. For instance, the Essence French Scrambled Eggs sound like the sort of simple fare I want to eat at breakfast. Yet Essence serves up rich, lingering forkfuls of light, slightly oily eggs, each bite of which completely sates me, rather than leaving me wanting to shovel in another fork's worth immediately. A sip of water, a slug of coffee, a little discussion, and only then do I need to take another bite - Essence's offerings turn me from a boarding-school gobbler into a nearly civilized diner.

So as a summary analogy, the coffee, baked goods, and breakfast items served at Essence are the Zwinger Palace compared to the Tempe Municipal Building of most other places serving breakfast in Arcadia. Both are neat architectural structures, but one is clearly a bit fancier and possessing greater depth than the other. Essence has that extra layer that really makes dining out worthwhile.

Essence Bakery Cafe
essencebakery.com
602-296-4958
3830 E. Indian School Road
Phoenix, AZ 85018
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exit2lef
Posts: 69
Joined: Fri Sep 22, 2023 12:02 pm
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Re: Essence Bakery Cafe

Post by exit2lef »

Thanks for the update. I haven't been to Essence since it left its original location in Tempe. Speaking of Tempe, that community's city hall, which you mentioned in your analogy, is probably a model only for pineapple upside down cake in the realm of baked goods.

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Nightbloom
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2023 7:16 pm
Location: Scottsdale, AZ

Re: Essence Bakery Cafe

Post by Nightbloom »

Man, I always loved the roasted tomato topped with a mound of seasoned breadcrumbs that they [used to?] serve on the side of one of their breakfast dishes. I can't remember what was in the savory popover, mushroom and sausage, maybe? I just checked to find the dish is not on the bfast menu any loger; however, it IS the picture at the top of the menu on their website. Haven't been in ages, but I'll have to go check and see if they're still serving it. Thanks for reminding me about this place. It's been far too long.
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