The quiche special is served with a Caesar salad, a slice of cake and coffee or tea.
Chyna Blackmon
I can’t help turning my head to look at the murals plastered across Houston’s neighborhoods whenever I’m driving. But one in particular has always made me want to turn around and stop: a man in a beret, his arms full of baguettes painted across the front of what I now know is one of Houston’s oldest bakeries.
The friendly face is Chef Patrice Ramain of French Gourmet Bakery at 2250 Westheimer Rd. in River Oaks. The mural itself is relatively new, having been painted three years ago. But it represents the bakery’s decades-long legacy in Houston’s dining scene.
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The bakery had a mural of Chef Patrice Ramain painted in 2023 to commemorate its 50th anniversary.
Chyna Blackmon
Hailing from a family of bakers in France, Ramain and his wife, Mary opened French Gourmet Bakery in 1973. They set up shop in West Gray shopping center in Hyde Park before moving to their current space at 2250 Westheimer Rd. seven years later, the Houston Chronicle reported
Around that time, in the 80s, the Ramains’ bakery business expanded to multiple shops and grocery store shelves across the area. Eventually, they scaled back, limiting the bakery’s scratch-made pastries to its flagship location in River Oaks.
French Gourmet Bakery serves baked bread, cookies, cakes, tarts and other pastries.
Chyna Blackmon
Now, 53 years after opening its doors, French Gourmet Bakery is still drawing in generations of customers for the baguettes depicted in its mural, as the family’s fifth generation carries on its legacy.
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The bakery offers American-style cakes baked fresh daily for the storefront and French-style cakes by special order.
Chyna Blackmon
‘A reverence for French food with the American palette in mind’
Crossing the “Bonjour” welcome mat and stepping through the bright orange door, I was greeted by the sweet smell of freshly baked pastries and frosted cakes—enough to make me want dessert before lunch. I guess my sweet tooth was showing right along with my smile when a team member asked, “Is it your first time? We’ve got to treat you to a thumbprint cookie!”
The tiny chocolatey cookie was enough to make me think I’d be in for a treat with my meal.
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The display cases full of freshly baked baguettes, cookies, tarts and other pastries are a feast for the eyes but French Gourmet’s other bites are just as tempting and tasty.
French Gourmet Bakery’s quiche selection includes ham, bacon, spinach and sun-dried tomato all made with Swiss cheese.
Chyna Blackmon
Beyond the sweet treats, the bakery also has a full lunch menu baked fresh daily and made to order for dine in, take out or delivery. That includes boxed lunches, salad plates and sandwich and quiche specials, which, in the words of the staff, “offer a little bit of everything.”
I went for the latter, lured in by the buttery baked quiches offered in four different flavors. Like many of other pastries, I was told the quiches were prepared that morning and would be reheated before it’d be ready.
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But within five minutes, I was devouring the warm golden quiche with a crispy crust and a warm center filled with just enough bacon and Swiss cheese for each bite—a perfect contrast to the freshly-tossed chilled Caesar salad that came with it. I’d planned on taking dessert and drink to go. But after a sip of my latte and spoonful of Italian cream cake, I gave in and was left with nothing to take home but the sweet aftertaste of creamy vanilla frosting.
A latte and a slide of Italian cream cake.
Chyna Blackmon
During my random lunch visit, I was surprised to be one of only a few guests coming and going. At one point, I was the only customer dining in.
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Even so, three hours before closing, many of the display cases’ goods were disappearing quickly. French Gourmet Bakery prides itself on baking everything by hand and once it’s gone, it’s gone.
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I may have been the only one treating lunch like a European cafe date, but I clearly wasn’t the only visitor stopping by that day to get a taste of this neighborhood staple.
French Gourmet Bakery is open for breakfast and lunch.
Chyna Blackmon
