Zeva B.
Yelp
I am a HUGE fan of everything that Marc (aka Bob) does. It all started back in the days with the opening of Juice Bar. When I saw the big baby blue awning and the communal tables and cactus and guitar, I knew someone very cool, and very competent was behind this new-for-Paris concept. Add to that an incredible talent for transmitting passion and quality and you have someone who has completely transformed Paris into a hot bed of Anglo-inspired places (for better and for worse). Holybelly, Sunken Chip, Craft, etc all owe a huge debt to Marc for paving the way for non-French food and drink concepts to find a happy home in Paris.
When Marc does something he does it 100%. He's an obsessive, detail-oriented genius who will only put his moniker on something he truly and passionately believes in. With Bob's Bake Shop, he is finally showing the French what real American baking is all about. It's not a marketing strategy, a fad, a flash in the pan concept that anyone can master, American baking is serious business if you want to do it right.
So like vegetarian food, soups and juices before, Marc is now ushering in a new era of quality American baked food with Bob's Bake Shop. And I couldn't be more thrilled about it!
Having grown up in Brooklyn around the corner from arguably the best bagel shop in NYC, I have been craving the real deal for the past 15 years I've been living in Paris. And Marc has delivered the goods. His bagels are among the best I've ever tasted. Chewy, glossy, dense, moist -- they're so good I could actually cry! And now I can have them any day of the week since Bake Shop is open 7/7 and only a 15 minute walk from my place.
What I love about Bake Shop is how on any visit you can find Marc rolling something out in the open kitchen and walking with a timer in his hand to tell him what his dough needs next -- some more kneading, a pop in the boiling water, a turn in the oven? It's all about the dough. And Marc, covered in flour as he walks around his shop, is both its slave and its master.
Bake Shop is a family space, with kids running around and people getting up and down to help themselves, or place orders. It's a real American diner (even down to to Katz deli replica tables that Marc had made to oder) with American prices to match. We're not talking 25E euro brunches with random things on the menu just to fill you up for your money, here, the most you'll pay for a homemade bagel sandwich is 8E (and that's the lox and cream cheese one!), the amazing desserts are from 1-4E depending on what it is, and you can also buy bagels to go for little over 1E.
Now that's what I'm talking about! Amazing food, genuine passion, relaxed environment, unpretentious prices.
Marc has done it again, and we're all the better for it!
