After months of navigating red tape and the Planning Department permitting process, artisanal French bakery Le Chat Rouge will officially open at 1314 Grant Ave. (at Vallejo) this Saturday.
As we've reported previously, owner David Carbonell first encountered problems with the Planning Department when he applied for conditional use authorization to bake on-site, something that isn't permitted due to zoning laws (he now plans to prepare and bake off-site). But when Planner Nick Foster learned that Le Chat Rouge would actually be a neighborhood-serving retailer, the Planning Department signed off on the project and moved it along through the approval process.
Carbonell told us that he has had his hands full in the kitchen prepping for the opening and training his staff, but is excited that he's finally able to open.
We asked him what set Le Chat Rouge apart from other bakeries, and he said that he will adhere to the high standards of baking one would find in his native France, and offer a wide array of quality goods. “I've noticed in San Francisco that most bakeries only offer seven or eight different types of Viennese (pastries), but we will offer 30. The same goes with the bread,” he said.
"In France, we enjoy our bread with wine and cheese, and we will have a lot of varieties to offer like bread with pave nuts, pave figs, pochon sarrasin and green and black olive breads."
One of Carbonell's recipes, the Le Chat Rouge Original recipe from France, has been in use since 1775, he told us.