[Mountain View] Maison Alyzée, the fab passiano from the Sergio Ramos look-alike pastry chef

Maison Alyzee added yet another pastry shop to Castro Street in Mountain View, and is directly across the street from Alexander Patisserie. The starry credentials of its pastry chefs are mentioned extensively in the press. And the results showed. I found the pastries the best among all the shops on Castro (I didn’t find Alexander’s offering all that impressive, only expensive.)

The pièce de résistance at Maison Alyzee is the passiano, a passionfruit-lemon flavored work of art with a blackberry jelly core. It was a delicate, rich, aromatic and magnificent piece of pastry.

The chocolate tart was made with a variety of Valrhona. Most devoured by my kids, but the little pieces I ended up with was a very good piece of chocolate tart. But not as brilliant as the passiano. But then, that’s not a fair comparison :slight_smile:

The fig tart looked fantastic, but the flavors was actually a bit muted. I think it relied a lot on the figs used on the tart to provide flavors, so it tasted like…a fig.

The croissants looked pretty darn good I have to say. Would have to come back to try more. What else is good here? From a very limited sample, it is at least on par with Mademoiselle Colette, which by the way is opening up another branch in RWC. The passiano is better than anything in Mademoiselle Colette though.

Head pastry chef Jean-Victor Bellaye really looked like Sergio Ramos the Spanish football player. I mentioned that to the owner and he said that the chef knew it too. LOL.

Selection:

image

Bigger cakes:

Baked goods. Look at the color of those croissants.

Menu:

Sightings of Sergio Ramos in the picture. Good thing there isn’t a Egyptian community in Mountain View.

image

7 Likes

Looking at the pastry display, I couldn’t tell it was in California, it looked exactly as in Paris (except the price).

I can’t see the detail of the last photo very clearly, but I am certain they were selling the confiture of Maison Miot . I have been buying them for years! I had tried jam made by others, they were never as good. I like the flavours with acid fruits, so they don’t taste overly sweet, “chef’s mystery” and “King’s favourite” are the best. You need to try kiwi and lime too. Very good to eat with brioche or waffle.

https://www.francis-miot.com/fruit-preserves/fruits-preserves-60-percent-fruits/confiture-de-mystere-du-chef.html

https://www.francis-miot.com/confiture-de-la-favorite-du-roy.html

Darn you, now I have another patisserie to put on our list, LOL. My DH adores the Paris-brest and has been searching for one! And his bd is coming up…arrgh what a drive from the EBay…!

Seriously, thanks for the post and yummy photos.

This thread prompts a grateful spirit in me. We don’t pay $4 per baguette, or $8 per loaf of bread here in the Upper Midwest. :astonished:

1 Like

I hear you. Although if we apply the Upper Midwest pricing criteria here, we’d have very little to eat… :slight_smile:

2 Likes

I went last month and the Paris Brest was not particularly good. The prices aren’t any better than the high prices at Alexander (where I did have an excellent vanilla tart). The praline mousseline cream was way too soft and would not hold up, and personally I would have like a less nutty and more caramel-y balance to the flavor.

And believe me, the prices at both places still seem really high to the average bay area resident.

That is true. I can only have these as an occasional treat. Its a bit difficult to pay $4.5 for a croissant every morning when the frozen ones from Milk Pail is like $1 each, or that there are sub $2 baguette from Acme and Semifreddi’s.

Some fairly elaborate pastries from a recent visit:

Harmony- Praline crust & Valhrona chocolate mousse


Pecan pastry. The crispy biscuit on the side provided a great textural contrast. My favorite out of the three.


Red lady- pistachio cream and raspberry cake:

Inside:

1 Like

Galette des rois for the month of January, from today:

These are indeed Francis Miot.


Chatting with the owner Laurent today, Maison Alyzee is named after his 4 year old daughter Alyzee.

1 Like

That’s more acceptable if it’s the price eating at a tea salon.

I remember the most expensive croissance outside France, I paid around $2.8 at the bakery of Robuchon (Hong Kong) 3 years ago. One of the best, I must say even compared to those in France.

$1??! What the heck!
3,50 € for 10 here! (with real butter), Picard is a specialised frozen food store, good for daily breakfast!

image

2 Likes

Recently we had a some Maison Alyzee pastries from the bakery side of the house.

First time I had their croissants. It was good. Never heard their croissants brought up as a contender in the best of the bay but I think its a worthy candidate.

Their almond croissant was a bit heavy on the almond paste and wasn’t really comparable to the one from Midwife and the Baker.

I thought I had brought it up somewhere on this forum. I guess not. But yes, their croissants were the best I’ve had in the bay, maybe in California. I don’t even remember it tasting this good in Paris. I had it in the late afternoon and though it wasn’t fresh, the quality was very apparent.

Right, but you can justify the price in that it’s at least 1.5x bigger than ones you’d get in France. Warning: a lot of their desserts melt into soup when you keep it too long at room temperature. Best to eat it as soon as you get it home, especially their Paris Brest.

Edit: reading back what I wrote, I apparently didn’t care for their Paris Brest. I’ve changed my mind since then. Get it. It’s good. Just eat it before it melts into soup.

1 Like