Paris Bakery and Cafe: bon appetit! French cooking with a passion brings touch of class to east side of town.

• Author: Jaeger, Stephanie
• Position: SMALL BUSINESS FEATURE

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In June 2009, Antoine Amouret came to Anchorage as a French tourist. While exploring the city, he discovered the Paris Bakery and Cafe and introduced himself to the previous owner, Michel Bieri, a fellow Frenchman and chef. Bieri said he was looking for a new generation of pastry chef and asked Amouret to work for him. Amouret offered to buy the business. After receiving a work visa and completing the necessary paperwork to purchase a business in the United States, Amouret flew back to Anchorage In April 2010. He immediately bought the bakery and cafe, and became its head chef, baker and manager. For the past 10 months, Amouret's work at the Paris Bakery and Cafe has focused on improving and expanding the business.

Located in Muldoon Square at 500 Muldoon Road in northeast Anchorage between a used appliance store and a laundromat, the Paris Bakery and Cafe is in an unlikely place to look for a French restaurant. The restaurant has 15 tables and booths, and seats about 50 people. The bistro-cafe offers table service and serves anything from a cup of coffee to leisurely meals. Hints of French culture include quiet French music playing in the background, classical-appearing black, brown and white prints on the walls and an edging of Parisian city buildings at the top of the walls surrounding the dining area.

The Paris Bakery and Cafe serves a variety of foods. The lunch menu offers a mixture of American, Italian and French food, including hamburgers, cheeseburgers, Reuben sandwiches, French dip and other American sandwiches as well as salads, quiche, fettuccini and ravioli. All entrees are served with a choice of soup, salad or French fries.

The dinner menu offers all the dishes on the lunch menu plus calamari, zucchini, chicken and escargot appetizers, dinner crepes with seafood and chicken, medallion of beef, scampi Bieri, halibut Napoleon, veal and chicken marsala, citrus ginger scallops, New York steak and Dijon pork tenderloin. The cafe offers a variety of white, red, blush and sparkling wines. Domestic and imported beers are also available.

The bakery sells a variety of breads including French baguettes, whole wheat bread, seven-grain bread and brioches. Some of the pastries available include cake made with coffee butter cream layered between almond cake and covered with chocolate ganache; fruit tarts; cake made with chocolate mousse, banana mousse and coffee and vanilla flavoring; mixed berry, almandine, peach and...