Whenever I discover a French or French-inflected amenity in the Twin Cities, I like to remember that we used to be France.

We were part of the old enormous Louisiana, named for Louis XIV, which stretched from the Gulf Coast to Montana, Colorado to Iowa. Robert Street in Saint Paul was named for a guy who pronounced his name Ro-bair, and "Saint Paul" itself was probably enunciated à la française (Sang-Pole) by most of our French-Canadian and métis pioneers.

So it's with a mild sense of historical entitlement that I enter a place like Chez Arnaud, on Grand Avenue in Sang-Pole. It's a small jewel box of a French bakery, the third location for ambitious baker-entrepreneur (the word is so French!) Arnaud Rambures. (The other shops are in White Bear Lake and Maple Grove.)

Design Elegance for That Sugar Rush

The Grand Avenue Chez Arnaud charms not only by virtue of its delicate, sculptural artisanal pastries (tartlets, éclairs, tiramisus, and many more), but by being one of the most serene spaces to enjoy coffee and a sugar rush in the Twin Cities. The design sense in the place has a French impeccability: pristine white walls interrupted by blue patterned wall coverings, elegant low tables in black, mirrors and good photography on the walls.

But back to the pastries. On my last visit, I began with an opéra cake (joconde pastry, coffee syrup, buttercream, ganache…), a heavenly little oblong that seems to sum up Parisian gaiety and good sense. I had, then, to try Arnaud's nod to our own little corner of the world, the "Paris-Minneapolis."

This is—what exactly? From the top it looks like a donut with sprinkles; from the side, an "everything" bagel with cream cheese. What it actually is, is nut-encrusted pâte à choux (cream-puff pastry) sliced in half and "filled" not with cream cheese but praline cream. (See photo.)

Faux-bagel? Well, no, that would be "Paris-NewYork." Faux-filled-donut rather, a tribute from France to a city on the earth of the former New France; a pastry just sophisticated enough but down-to-earth and a little ironic too, the way we like to see ourselves.

Chez Arnaud
1085 Grand Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55105