Le Pain Quotidien, a super cozy bakery / restaurant, with lovely communal tables, deserves the “I ain’t got a clue how to pronounce your name but I friggin’ love your bread” award. According to its homepage, the name is pronounced, “luh paN koh-ti-dyaN.” I still can’t properly say it without tying my tongue in knot, but I LOVE this place. The breads here are pretty darn amazing.

On one Sunday afternoon after our Rose Bowl run, my friend Tiffany and I went to the Old Town Pasadena location for a quick lunch. We started out with the freshly squeezed mint lemonade (we loved that it wasn’t too sweet)  and shared a bread basket . With a spread like white chocolate and other seasonal jams and butters, it’s not at all difficult to polish off the large basket in one sitting.

To accompany our breads, we each ordered a plate of salad:

Tuscan White Bean and Prosciutto Salad (it was so good, I was kicking myself for not ordering this myself) …

and … Aged Goat Cheese with Arugula.

No wonder the name of the restaurant is translated to “the daily bread” because I can seriously eat here every day. I’m definitely trying its tartines next time.

Le Pain Quotidien
88 W. Colorado Boulevard, #102, Pasadena, CA 91105
★★★★★