A reader was recently in a California Starbucks that offers the La Boulange baked goodies, and sent these photos. (I have not yet tried the La Boulange pastry items at Starbucks. )
I thought it was a fun early peek at what’s to come.
Since I haven’t tried them, obviously, I can’t comment on what I like or don’t like about La Boulange. I will definitely be writing about La Boulange again, as soon as I try some of their pastries.
They certainly look delicious. I do worry a little about the idea of having everything go through warming. I’m not always going to want every single pastry to be warmed up. And I haven’t heard about any La Boulange item that reminds me of the Low Fat Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake – that’s a good one! Also, I hope that the Chonga Bagel will still be around after the launch of La Boulange.
I’m willing to keep an open mind, and I’m looking forward to try these soon. In the meantime, here are some photos to give you an idea of what’s to come.
La Boulange baked goodies arrive in Starbucks stores in Seattle, Portland, and Spokane, sometime next month. Starbucks has said that it would take until 2014 before all U.S. stores are switched over – it will be a slow process of converting all U.S. stores to these pastries.
The reader indicated that the photos below show off the Blueberry Scone, Chewy Chocolate Meringue Cookie, Raspberry Passion Loaf Cake, and the Tomato and Cheese Croissant. I hope I got that right! The one that is the Raspberry Passion Loaf Cake looks just amazing.
Feel free to weigh in.
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I live in San Jose CA and virtually all of the Starbucks here now carry La Boulange. I’ve not tried any of their savory products. I’ve purchased the marble loaf, raspberry loaf, and blueberry scone. The loaves are consistently dry, warmed or not, and the scone was very dry. Some would argue a scone should be. I need to try more La Boulange products. So far I am not a fan. By the way. I can’t find any reduced fat pastry option. I’ve not compared nutrition labels for La Boulange v. traditional SB pastries, but none of La Boulange products are labeled reduced fat.
Uh oh, now I’m worried about the chonga bagel!
One thing I wonder, in all these pictures I’ve seen, there are pastries not on plates, just free standing pastries. They look like dominos just waiting to all fall over!
We do not have the chonga bagel here. Do all these pastries have to be warmed to eat? I sure hope they offer some low fat versions of pastries.
@Purple1 – The Chonga bagel is a PNW only Starbucks item. Apparently, it sells so well here, that it’s just offered here. It’s a CHeese ONion GArlic bagel.
Good question about low fat La Boulange items. I don’t know, and will ask about that when I get the chance.
The plan is for ALL pastries to go through warming before being given to the customer. That worries me a bit. I don’t even understand how that will work with the fact that Starbucks often turns off their ovens about an hour before closing for cleaning. Does this mean that would be the only time to get non-warmed pastries by default? I assume that there are answers to these things, but I just don’t know how it will work that all pastries must be warmed.
My store has 2 ovens, so maybe all stores will get another oven along with a freezer? But some stores don’t have ovens at all…
I sure hope they’re going to take labor into account with “all pastries being warmed”. Or at least add a gym membership to our benefits package! I’m going to need to be in better shape for all the sprinting from DT to the ovens.
i worked at a store last week that is launching playbook, and they clean the oven in the mornings, so the oven is on until the store closes.
@Jocelyn – That makes sense. Good to know.
@KDH – I’ve given up ranting about labor. Years back, I made nearly vitriolic posts here and there about labor. I know it’s an issue, but it doesn’t seem to be changing. I’d like to see a little more labor – partners have so little time to work on their coffee passports, to connect, to do coffee seminars. Somehow, there are stores around me that seem to function well on the tight labor, but I will always vote for a little more labor. There are ways that my thinking about Starbucks has changed over the years, and Starbucks can do a lot while being pretty lean. And I’d assume that this is going to take more labor for the La Boulange – During busy times, there will have to be someone planted at the ovens. ??
I’ve been disappointed with the pastry offerings at Starbucks for a long long time. I’m in So. Cal & I haven’t seen any of these new pastries yet. Personally I wish they would bring back some of the old pastries. I loved Raspberry scones, fruit brioche & I used to love the seeded baguettes. Not much in the pastry case excites me anymore so I just usually only get coffee.
I forgot to add that I don’t think I would like mine warm & if there is no choice I will probably skip them altogether.
I’m out of the loop on this. Is Starbucks changing all of their pastries and edible items to La Boulange, replacing the regular items like cinnamon swirl coffee cake and my favorite the cranberry orange scone?
@Steve – The answer is “yes” but from what I know, this is a slow transition, and not all areas of the US are changing at the same time. Seattle, Portland, Spokane (the PNW from what I know) switch on June 4th. Other areas switch later. And numerous areas in California have already switched to the La Boulange pastries.
I thought I was told that things would change over in Chicago in early June at the store you visited with Denise. They are waiting on a freezer to hold the pastry. I’m not sure that means this will go in effect in all the stores here at the same time. I know one thing. I don’t like dry pastry.
Thanks Melody. That’s kind of a bummer to hear. I’m always disappointed when the airport locations have the non-regular items. I wonder if the prices will be much different, not to mention if they’ll keep the hot sandwiches too. I guess we’ll see what happens as this progresses 🙂
Another thing we’ve done Melody is add an oven to our stores. A lot of the ones around me have 2 ovens now, so ideally durning the slow times (at night usually) you bring down an oven to clean, and leave the other up. Now, do you alternate them throughout the day or what, I don’t know yet – we don’t have 2 – but that makes it eaiser to clean without having a down time.
Just a random fyi, we do not have a “low fat” Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake. We have “reduced fat” one, which is NOT a regulated label in the same sense that low fat is. Saying something is “reduced fat” is an ambiguous claim that the item probably has around 25% less fat grams than the hypothetical original item. Basically an item can be labelled “reduced fat” and still be extremely high in fat.
I’ve tried all of the LaBoulange pastries, and I have to say I’m a big fan. The new pastries taste much less processed than Starbucks’ previous offerings. I think the warming policy is great: as I understand it, the new La Boulange pastries are designed to be warmed. In other words, the baking process is finished in the store, which leads to the pastries tasting exceptionally fresh. (And FWIW, even if you’re buying a pastry to eat later, they say it will taste better if you have it warmed and let it cool vs not having it warmed at all… exactly the oposite as the “former” pastries.)
In terms of health, I think the step away from highly-processed foods is better than offering a reduced fat coffee cake, but that’s just my opinion. Hopefully La Boulange will introduce a few “diet” options in the future.
I’m a partner in the SF Bay Area. We still offer the paninis alongside the La Boulange pastries. The new oven settings heat the ovens to a higher temperature so the pastries take less time to heat. It’s kind of a pain though because you have to take it out fast or else it’ll burn. During peak, we have a partner planted at the ovens.
@Krys – Thanks for weighing in. I’ve heard that the new La Boulange items go in the warming oven for just a few seconds – I can see how that means that there’s no room for error, and burning could happen. Are customers in your area liking the switch to the new La Boulange bakery items?
Very much so. I’m also a huge fan of nearly everything. I think the transition here was easier because most people are already familiar with La Boulange and trust that they make high quality products.
It won’t make any difference in my world until they address including gluten free options.
I will be writing about this again soon – I can’t wait. I am trying a bunch of La Boulange pastries tomorrow. (And Arriana, I will try to ask about the gluten-free options – I had thought that I’d heard there would be a couple of GF pastry items with La Boulange, but I am not certain. Will ask tomorrow.)
I live in Santa Cruz County and have tried these pastries. Not impressed. I miss the pumpkin bread, the lemon loaf and original scones. I actually had a battle with the manager about not wanting my pastry heated and this went back and forth. Totally unprofessional and when I returned a few days later two employees approached me to apologize for the way I was treated and gave me a free drink coupon. Which I thought was very nice of them. I have yet to send a complaint to Starbucks headquarters about this manager. Bottom line the old pastries were great. Think Starbucks jumped into this venture without testing the water. Time will tell.
Get rid of that awful pink coffee cup wraps and pink bags. Yuk!!
All Starbucks in the Seattle area have switched to to La Boulange bakery item. Gone are my two favorites, the cranberry orange scone and the very berry coffee cake. I’ve tried a few of the new loaves, and they are dry and unflavored IMO. Starbucks made a bad move on this one, and they’ll be losing probably over $1000/yr in food purchases from me. This stinks!!! I’m sure somebody got rich over the deal though!
My Seattle Starbucks switched this week and after one day I had to go to Tullys to get a decent scone. Luckily I have several other bakery choices and Starbucks now loses out on my daily business.
Everything is square so the display looks like rows of Little Debbie cakes just without the plastic wrapping. The case looks sad. The marketing materials are trying to put a positive spin on this mass-produced squareness but it just looks like automation cost-cutting. The taste is not a step up. They don’t taste bad, but are not revolutionary.
They dropped from four choices of normal looking and delicious scones to one square kind, blueberry. I’m still upset that they dropped currant scones years ago but have been surviving on the other ones. Blueberry was my least favorite.
The final pain is the heating requirement. My Starbucks is always busy so my routine is to tea or drop and a scone and be out the door, not waiting in the coffee/food pick up queue. Now my visit is five minutes longer…waiting.
@Eric – The squareness comment made me laugh. I guess I can see that. It all seems cuter to me. I like the smaller sizes. The coffee cake tastes way better to me than before, and there are finally savory croissant options. I like the new oatmeal cookie much better than before. I know, though, that not everyone will like them. A good friend of mine is really mourning the loss of the pumpkin scone, You know, you might try a licensed store? I have been meaning to check but I am not sure that all the licensed stores have switched. Let me know if you find the old pastries at licensed stores.
While the new pastries are OK the old ones I miss. Like the Lemon Pound Cake, Pumpkin Bread and the original scones had a better flavor. Not one for heating my pastry and that seems to be the norm for this new line. The little cakes are not bad.
I go to Starbucks all of the time and have been really disappointed with the La Boulange pastries. First of all, they all look like microwave pastry bricks and aren’t nearly as appetizing as the old ones.
The new Lemon Loaves are overly crumbly and filled with too much butter grease and they taste very meh. The old ones were the best!
I really, really hope that they bring back the old pastries but seeing as how SBUX spent $100 million acquiring La Boulange, they probably won’t anytime soon which is super unfortunate. I hope Tully’s or someone else partners with whichever company did the old pastries.
It’s all crap. It’s smaller food at higher prices. I hate having my food warmed up because by the time I then get to work, it’s hardened (and cold again anyway). And dropping the scones, a Starbucks staple, is just wrong.
Let’s hope this goes the way of New Coke and the old stuff comes back soon.
La Boulange pastries are a big disappointment. They are tasteless, dry and the square shape make it hard to eat and remind me of cheap bakery goods. You’ll lose my business and I’m a very long term loyal customer, this move to La Boulange is a big mistake. Please bring back the previous pastry line.
I live in Tacoma and the Boulange hype has reached here. Gone is my favourite breakfast offering and what they have rolled out is rather nasty. I had the spinach croissant thing. It had a freezer-burn after-taste and the texture of the croissant part was dense. Not worth the money. This is all hype. I sent them a message but I doubt I’ll get a response; they really don’t seem to care about their customers.
I live in the NW and have tried most of the new pastries now. This was actually difficult, as I find them much less appealing than previous offerings and a far cry from the large soft pastries you would see in a local bakery. Everything I have tried has been dense, dry, and not overly flavorful. I also feel like the “warming” may be covering up what would taste otherwise stale. I have never tried the original La Boulange foods, so maybe something got lost in the translation. Sadly, I think we will be foregoing baked goods with our coffee at Starbucks going forward. Very bad move Starbucks!
I live in Portland so I’ve had plenty of opportunities to try Starbucks new line. Sad to say I am REALLY disappointed, smaller treats at a high price point and the “everything” bagel…that was a huge disapointment. In fact I just got done eating the hard to chew, flavorless piece of cardboard. I’ve always gone between Peets and Sbux but now with the nasty baked goods and lack off free soy milk for gold card holders I’ll stick to Peets. Stbux shape up or ship out 😉
I live in Portland also and the new Pastries are really annoying. Please bring back the old pastries. Portland coffee cake, Raspberry Swirl pound cake, muffins, etc! I’d rather pick up a Safeway 60 cent muffin.
the comment by Brian is right on the money. You can find better baked goods which are far cheaper elsewhere. The Emperor has no clothes!
I live in Seattle so the new pastries rolled out a while ago. Meh. Not impressed. My regular treat at Starbucks was always their molasses cookie. The La Boulange line selection has nothing close to it. No molasses cookie? For shame! I’ll still get my drink on at Starbucks but now pick up a cookie from a competitor.
I am NOT purchasing any of these new pastries. Personally I enjoyed Starbucks previous pastries, and La Boulange’s pastries do not complement Starbucks’s pastries were…… And I don’t want every pastry warm. I want my lemon bar, & pumpkin scone back.
I was in Arizona and all of the Starbucks there have the new pastries. It’s your choice to have them warmed or not. I had the marble loaf and it was moist and good. I live in Las Vegas and nobody here even knew there are new pastries coming or the purchase of the La Boulange bakery. I find it odd that the consistency between all of the stores is non existent. Each store the drinks taste different and only the “A graded” stores” sell the salad and new sandwiches. I don’t understand.
I’m in LA in AUGUST and I don’t want a hot doughnut. What a terrible idea.
Warming previously frozen baked goods is an old trick to plump them up a bit with the steam generated. These new Boulange things clearly come in stale and frozen. The warming puts a little life back in them. They still taste nasty though and I’m not buying anymore. I’ve cancelled my auto reload on my card and plan to wean myself off the Starbucks habit completely. I can save a lot of money by tucking a couple of tea bags in my shirt pocket as I head out the door!
Tried them and terrible! Dry crumbly poor excuse for a French pastry. Not like they had great stuff before but it was much better than the new offerings. Mad at Starbucks for this change, and I’m sure they will take a bath on this one. It will be their version of “New Coke”. I watched with amusement as every…single…customer… made a negative comment. With this change it will now be easy for me to finally give up my daily Starbucks habit, as I will longer be lured in by the moist lemon loaf cake. SAD! What I do want to know is which coffee chain will carry the old bakery products so that I can switch over???
I put two tea bags in my pocket as I headed out from home this morning and stopped at Safeway to pick up a $0.59 croissant. I did not even wave as I drove right by Starbucks! Habit broken!
Absolutely appalling change. I guess it could have been worse, I just don’t know how. If Starbucks thought the ratio of food to drinks ordered was poor before, they haven’t seen anything yet.
I’m really missing the Blueberry Muffins and Loafs – they all have been delicious, fluffy and not too dry. This boulangerie-crap is a real nightmare, like you are biting in a three-week old piece of dry bread. I hope they will get back to the old pastery range, soon.
I am done with Starbucks due to this new pastry line which is awful. They have ruined all of my favorites, so time to find a new coffee and pastry shop. Who thought this was a good idea?
Truly disgusting hippified crap.
Gone is the best blueberry muffin ever, only to be replaced with a shiny dry rubbery bun containing three or four blueberries.
Why the heck does it need heating?! No thanks.
Huge mistake, until they revert to the old pastries I will be going elsewhere for coffee.
Bud, they heat them because they arrive frozen and stale. It’s an old trick to plump them up with steam as they heat in the microwave. Nasty.
Aha, charming, I also noticed (although the staff attempt to hide it) pre-nuking, the ‘pastries’ are in air sealed plastic/cellophane bags !
I have sampled most of the La Boulange pastries over the past 2 weeks while they were doing promotions in the area, and I can say that I will not be buying any La Boulange pastry at SBUX. It tastes like old stale bread; the “warming it up trick” does not mask that it is still old frozen dry pastry.
Please bring the old pastries back! I miss the pumpkin cream cheese muffin, pumpkin scone, marble loaf, lemon loaf, blueberry muffin, and my kids really miss the variety of cake pops!
Also, the holiday season is coming, and the Cranberry Bliss bar is better be back at Starbucks!