Los Gatos is a sweet town for those who love their sugar. It’s home to two of the best-known bakeries in the South Bay—Icing on the Cake and Manresa Bread—and arguably some of the best artisan chocolate shops, including Deux Cranes.
Now there’s a new place in Los Gatos to indulge a sweet tooth: Croissante Bakery, a fresh-baked arrival on North Santa Cruz Avenue. As the name suggests, Croissante offers savory and sweet flavors of perfectly buttery crescent pastries, plus its mammoth “Cube” croissants—which are more like a meal, and are also offered by the half as French toast.
Owned by a former accountant at Tesla, Croissante turns out a dizzying array of sweet French pastries daily, including canelés, scones, cinnamon rolls, eclairs, kouign amann and many permutations of pinwheels, aka snails.
The first location—on El Camino Real in Santa Clara—opened in June of 2023, and is the site of the bakery. The second store has been up and running for about a month, and it appears the plan is to open up in Palo Alto as well.
The Los Gatos shop is at the site of the original Manresa Bread, which more recently was occupied by OY!, the gluten-free bakery that can now be found at the Pastaria on Victory Lane.
Their lineup of winter desserts includes a chestnut-filled Mont Blanc tart, a classic apple tarte tatin, and a galette des rois (king cake), made of buttery puff pastry and stuffed with almond cream. And fans of Basque cheesecake will be in luck. Croissanté also makes custom cakes that look absolutely showstopping.
While I’ve not scored a baguette, the country French loaf is incredibly versatile and can be enjoyed as wonderful morning toast, a nice accompaniment with soup, and a great base for sandwiches (if you don’t mind condiments leaking through the holes). Other savory selections include pepper bacon fougasse and mushroom danish.
Croissanté is located at 276 N Santa Cruz Ave. in Los Gatos. Open daily, 8am–4pm. Order online in advance from a selection of more than 80 options that rotate monthly. croissantebakery.com
