Eliane French Bakery has been offering its version of authentic French cuisine to Utah Valley for more than 10 years.
Eliane French Bakery is exactly what you would expect it to be. Located on State Street in Orem, Eliane’s boasts “authentic French bread” baked fresh every Wednesday and Saturday. During the week Eliane’s keep the boulangerie-pâtisserie stocked with traditional French tarts, viennoiseries and pastries. They also offer more meal-friendly options, including quiches and croque-monsieurs (the French cousin of the grilled cheese sandwich).
Eliane’s claim to French authenticity is founded on the relationship between owner and namesake Eliane Le Prado and master baker Dominique Ecale. Upon immigrating from Tahiti in French Polynesia with her husband, Leo and her son, Jacques, Le Prado opened her bakery in 2005.
Ecale has played a role in starting several French bakeries in the U.S. over the past 15 years. Le Prado began her bakery with Ecale’s help and guidance and has now taken complete control of the production of the baked goods.
The bakery has a special appeal to those who have acquired the taste for French baked goods. Sarah Waldron, a studio art major from Danville, Calif., got a taste of French cooking while serving a mission in southern France. Waldron said she averaged four pastries a week near the end of her mission and finds Eliane’s pastries comparable to the ones she ate at in France.
“(Eliane’s) pastries are good,” Waldron said. “The cream is pretty good. The frosting takes kind of American but the cream is the most authentic part.”
Eliane’s menu offers a wide variety of individual pastries that cost $2–4. A variety of French breads and larger cakes are also available for purchase.
French native Justine Carré said she would recommend the bakery to friends because the pastries are comparable to the pastries she eats back home.
“It was a good American version of a mille-feuille,” Carré said. “It looks like a true mille-feuille and the cream is pretty good. It is pretty French.”
Eliane’s bakery is housed in a small shopping center in Orem. Upon entering the bakery customers immediately notice the colorful pastries and tarts that line the shelves of the “L” shaped display case. Opposite the case customers find fresh bread displayed on the southern wall. In contrast to the tight quarters one might find in France, generous seating fills the remainder of the room.
“The ambiance is very different,” said Michael Christensen, a 24-year-old master’s student from Placerville, Calif., who backpacked in France this summer. “Eliane’s is set in a very large restaurant style room. This is different from the smaller, more intimate settings I saw in France.”
Eliane French Bakery is located at 1750 S. State in Orem and is open from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
