A Taste of France on Lookout Mountain | Pinpoint Colorado

SPEAKER 02 : 0:00

Welcome to Pinpoint Colorado. I’m your host, Rachel Mains. Today, I’m in Golden, Colorado at Et Voila, a French bakery. The owners are French and they take authenticity seriously. Ruth, the pastry chef, is a true culinary professional and you can taste the craftsmanship in every bite. Let’s go inside. Well, thank you, Rachel, for coming on Pinpoint Colorado. This is just a joy. I’ve known you guys for years and I’m so happy for you. This is a gem in Colorado. Thank you, Rachel. Very happy to be here with you all. You’re in Golden and this is a perfect location in the mountains. It is like a little getaway. And then you kind of come across, you know, this little, I don’t know if you call it a cove, but you’re like, oh, there it is. And you got a lot of bikers, too, that come this way.

SPEAKER 01 : 0:57

Yeah, we are now. A beautiful location on Lookout Mountain Road. And, you know, if you ride your bike in France and you climb a mountain, it’s very common to arrive at a French bakery or a cafe and climb Lookout Mountain Road. Now you have a French bakery up there. So it’s a beautiful location.

SPEAKER 02 : 1:16

I love that. When I came into the cafe, one of the bikers introduced himself and he was just explaining how this has become a haven really for the community around here.

SPEAKER 01 : 1:26

Yes, that was one of our goals. We wanted to create a safe place for the bikers, the hikers. Sometimes we have storms on the mountain, but also the community. Families get together, people come for work meetings, kids come to buy their little shoe cap. It’s a precious, precious place.

SPEAKER 02 : 1:45

What’s so special about this is we can experience what a true French cafe really is. The authenticity here is unbelievable. So explain your thoughts towards that when you guys had the vision to this cafe.

SPEAKER 01 : 2:00

One of our goals was to create the community, but also to bring something we were missing. We love Colorado. We arrived here 18 years ago. We really love Colorado, but we were missing something. the true French bread, the French place. And the chef is my sister, and she has a lot of allergies, you know, borderline celiac, and she could not eat anything here that would fit her needs and our French taste. So yes, we went for pure French. We make everything authentic, no additive, no preservative, and we bake the old fashioned way. Someone not long ago asked me, what does this mean? It takes time, very few ingredients, very good quality ingredients, lots of time and a lot of technique. Because to bake at this altitude, we are on the top of Lookout Mountain, so very high. It’s very technical. And that’s what we wanted to bring to Golden Area, Lookout Mountain Road. So if you come to us and you want a vanilla something, something, something latte, no, we don’t have this. Because we do it the French way. We did not adapt to the American style. So very little sugar, very pure ingredient, old-fashioned way. Okay.

SPEAKER 02 : 3:11

Which I love because I try to avoid sugar and avoid the unhealthy preservatives. So here’s someone who’s gluten intolerant. They can come here and feel comfortable. Somebody like me who’s a health nut, they can come here and feel comfortable. And then someone who’s maybe not paying attention to health, but they love tasty food. And they want it the authentic way they can enjoy too. So it really caters to everybody.

SPEAKER 01 : 3:33

Yes, and it tastes so good because the flavors have time to develop because we take the time to make good bread, good croissant, good pain au chocolat. And so it’s alive in the good way. Croissant.

SPEAKER 02 : 3:46

I’d love to say it how you say it. You say it very well. Croissant. Pain au chocolat and croissant are so good. Yes. And then, you know, you guys are unique also in that Ruth studied in France. Of course, you, as listeners can tell through your accent, you’re from France, but she studied there. So explain… her preparation before coming here to be… Yeah, Ruth is very special.

SPEAKER 01 : 4:10

She’s my sister, but she’s also a PhD in econometry. And she was working on the Champs-Élysées with a firm that was predicting economics. And then when we had this idea of creating a French bakery, she said, well, one of the two of us needs to do it. And to do it well… Of course, it could be only her. So she quit her high-paying job on the Champs-Élysées to get trained in one of the best pâtisseries schools. And she was trained by two world champions, Bajart and Moncoudiol, for those who know them. And yeah, she has… learn the right way to make things. And then she studied with bakers who bake the old fashioned way in France before she was able to come here with a green card because she’s special. So she got a special green card and able to bring her knowledge and her talents to Colorado. I love that.

SPEAKER 02 : 5:05

What are, you know, when you come in here, you’re like, oh, I want to try this. I want to try that. I want to try that.

SPEAKER 01 : 5:09

But what are some of the favorites that your customers say, hey, people line up for the pain au chocolat. So the chocolate croissant, we use two techniques to make this. It takes three days. It’s sourdough based. And the chocolate is grand cru chocolat. So when you look at it, it does not dissolve in the pain au chocolat. It stays whole when it bakes. So people line up for this one. My favorite one is the lemon tart. Because it’s right. It’s a fruit. It’s so good. And the bread, of course. The bread is amazing. We also have very, very amazing teas, coffee, and hot chocolate. She makes the hot chocolate in-house with A2 milk. It’s a milk from the Colorado farm, lactose-free naturally. It’s outstanding. You do not need to add sugar to our drinks. Of course, you can if you want, but it’s so good by itself that, yeah, everything is good.

SPEAKER 02 : 6:03

I need to try that because I typically don’t do hot chocolate, especially with real milk. I usually do another source of milk. Try our hot chocolate. Yes, I will for sure. I’m excited to try many things. Rachel, what is the most surprising thing that you weren’t expecting as a business owner?

SPEAKER 01 : 6:21

That’s a very good question. We took a bet, you know, opening a French bakery, a pure, authentic French bakery on the top of the mountain here. It’s difficult. There’s not many businesses on the mountain, but we are blown away by the community and the fact that people are craving this type of food. And, you know, we say bonjour, and then now people come in and say bonjour, bye. People understand what we are doing, and that was really, really mind-blowing. The wintertime is not easy for small businesses, but the community is here supporting us and choosing to meet here and consume what we do. So we are mind-blown by the kindness and the authenticity of the community. We are very, very impressed by the people here.

SPEAKER 02 : 7:12

That’s wonderful, because I know that you guys chose Golden as a place to be, but it’s a surprise then even more of the warmness of the community.

SPEAKER 01 : 7:23

Yes, very touch. And we love the people here. The community is amazing, amazing.

SPEAKER 02 : 7:30

So your husband, yourself, and your sister co-own, but you also, which I think is beautiful, you’re talking about family and the multi-generations. You have family members work here as well. You just said hi to your grandkids. So explain that within the specialness of this place and also your role in being able to see your grandkids grow.

SPEAKER 01 : 7:49

day-to-day here yeah this is beautiful yes so my husband my sister and myself we own the bakery my son one of them i have five of them one of my sons work here he’s the front of the bakery so when you come in the beautiful gentleman here is my son and our grandkids he has three sons they live nearby of course so yeah we get to see them and they love coming here because of course they see their auntie in the back and they want chocolate as well so those three years old they eat 70 dark chocolate and love it so yes it’s part of our our you know heritage and cultural uh gem that we have as french people to share food for french people food is a six love language so It’s true. You know, the Gary Chapman book talking about only five, six language for French and food is one of them. So that we love to be able to share that with the community here. Yes.

SPEAKER 02 : 8:45

Yeah, you know, and that is something that I think is unique in America. We’re not used to seeing our, you know, in France, I’ve never been, but I’d love to go. But you just imagine like a small village community and you go into, you know, a neighborhood restaurant and you’re seeing all the locals, of course, then you’re seeing the Malta generations.

SPEAKER 01 : 9:05

So this is truly here as well. So I think that’s beautiful. Yeah, that’s something you can’t find in villages in France. You go in a French bakery in France, People are known by name. We know what they will order. Same here. You come with your grandkids. We have kids in the neighborhood. They run and they know what they want. They order by themselves. That’s very much the spirit of what we do and have in France around French bakeries.

SPEAKER 02 : 9:28

When people leave here, obviously you want them to have experienced the authenticity of the food and the atmosphere. But what else do you hope as people leave here and as they desire to come back?

SPEAKER 01 : 9:39

Yes, they leave with a smile on their face because of the warmness of the place. I think it’s a beautiful spot. And also they are getting to know each other. I’m very amazed at people meeting other people by chance. They just come to the bakery. The bikers are creating a community here. So there is this sense of community, cross-cultural. We have the American citizenship, but we are very French. But you have this cross-cultural community being created around really good food, really good bakery, because we’re not a restaurant, but really good bakery. So that’s beautiful. They live with a smile on their face. They come back for the food, the experience and the people. Yeah.

SPEAKER 02 : 10:21

Well, you guys obviously love Colorado. You chose to come to Colorado from France. Yes. What are some things that you feel is just quite unique about Colorado? You’re on Pinpoint Colorado.

SPEAKER 01 : 10:30

So I thought I’d ask that. Yeah, we we’ve been here for 18 years and we truly fell in love with the people, the beauty of the nature and the fact that it’s beautiful. health-oriented, which is very important for us. So yeah, we love the weather. I know it might be weird, but I love the weather, the sun all the time, and the people. Very friendly people here in Colorado.

SPEAKER 02 : 10:54

What do you hope to leave in terms of your culture besides the cafe? Is there anything else that you would like to pinpoint in terms of, you know, what you guys can leave Colorado in terms of the French culture?

SPEAKER 01 : 11:07

What we want to pass along to Colorado that is very French. And I think it’s a plus if people learn is to say hello when you enter a store. Because if you don’t do that when you are in a French place in France, you might pay more for the same item. Yes. And people might be rude to you if you don’t say hello. And I think here we are creating this. People step inside and start now saying bonjour. At the beginning, it was like just coming in, trying to understand what’s going on, looking around before saying bonjour. Yeah. Say bonjour. I hope we can change that in Colorado, that people step into a store and say bonjour or hello.

SPEAKER 02 : 11:45

It’s very important. That is very friendly. And I bet you when we visit France and we don’t do that because we’re not accustomed to that. We just kind of walk in. We’re like, oh, looking around.

SPEAKER 01 : 11:53

Yes. But that’s something that, please, when you go to France, say hello. Even in English. And maybe we will change that. In Colorado, when people will say hello, entering a store. Right.

SPEAKER 02 : 12:05

With a smile on your face. With a smile on your face. Bonjour. I love that. Well, Rachel, any other things that you want to leave us with on Pinpoint regarding the shop?

SPEAKER 01 : 12:14

Well, if you want to try authentic French bakery and if you have, you know, if you’re health conscious and you want to try something that normally you would not try anywhere else because you are sensitive to gluten or you don’t want any preservative, come to us. We’ll be happy to explain what we do and share our experiences with you.

SPEAKER 02 : 12:32

And I want to say to the listeners, too, you may just get a hug as well before you leave. Because it’s so friendly here and everybody is just amazing. So, Rachel, thank you so much. I know I’ll be back next time I’m going to be interviewing Ruth, the chef. So just thank you for everything that you’re doing. And it’s just wonderful. It’s a delight. Thank you. Merci. My thanks to Rachel DeVore and team at FVOLA French Bakery for sharing such a special place. What a delight. You can plan your visit and learn more by going to FVOLAFrenchBakery.com. And don’t forget to stop on by PinpointColorado.com to watch past episodes. It’s always a joy to be with you. See you next time.