November 12, 2009

Photo: La Boulange Tarts It Up


[NVSF: Opening: La Boulange--November 16]

47 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. I'm not sure I'm 100% in love with the color scheme there. Kind of jarring, no?

rocky's dad said...

I love it. fabulous...and very gay.:)

elizlk said...

I hope that the actual colors are more appetizing than in this photo. Lavender with orange? Makes me nauseous!

Nicole said...

Weird! It was orange either this morning or yesterday morning.

Anonymous said...

Who cares what the color is, I'm going to be enjoying the delicious sandwiches and hazelnut croissants very soon. And by the way, whoever protested sidewalk seating for La Boulange is wack and super lame. We need more places with good sidewalk seating on 24th.

Anonymous said...

Wish they stuck with the blue like the one in the Marina but YUM, can't wait!!!!!!!

Insidesfre said...

Aren't their other stores sort of that French blue? Not sure purple is the right choice, but I'll still get my croque monsieurs there soon!

Anonymous said...

The word "fugly" comes to mind.

malia said...

Love it! Why play it safe with French blue when you can have purple and orange! This neighborhood needs some color anyway...looks tres chic (and French) to me...

Anonymous said...

I drove by it this morning and think that it looks MUCH better in person than in the photo. Can't wait for it to open!

caroline said...

love it. i can't wait!

Unknown said...

Love it! Another Noe Valley resident in support of color!

tix83 said...

Walked by this afternoon and the color is much more subtle in person. It looks really good to me too.

Anonymous said...

Well, we all know where they are.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the comment about outdoor seating. Would have been great...

Anonymous said...

Ugly Ugly Ugly.

fung62 said...

schnozberry

Unknown said...

I'm with Malia and Christopher--I like it, and I like that it adds color to the neighborhood!

(I do wish they had done something to spruce up the rest of the building as well, though--I find it looks a bit odd as is with the store front being so different from the apartments)

Unknown said...

This is the most negative, opinionated and pompous neighborhood..you people should get a life...be happy that there will be a wonderful cafe for excellent food. If you don't like it here, why don't you just move elsewhere?

Neighbor on 26th St. said...

Marilyn -

You said it so well. I was excited when I first found this blog and started reading about local neighborhood things...but that is not what this is...its people posting their negative energy about a wonderful neighborhood that I've called home for almost 9 years. These people need to get a life and move elsewhere.

Unknown said...

@ the two previous posts:

Do you really think the whining, complaining, and childish name calling in your comments is the best way to voice your displeasure at "negative" posts?

Really?

I re-read all the comments on this topic, and the most unfriendly (other than the posts the two of you made) have simply been people saying they find the colors ugly! And you know what? It's perfectly fine if people don't like the colors! It's great that there is this forum where people can talk about such fun, silly, neighborhood-gossipy things like the new color of that place down the street.

So some people like it, some don't. But I got no sense of negativity--and certainly no personal attacks--until I came to your posts. Your posts are far and away the worst in this lot.

So please stop it. If you hate the comments here, DON'T READ THEM. And certainly refrain from making negative, opinionated, and pompous posts--we can do without your negative energy.

Unknown said...

Outside Tables!!!! Yep. Saw them along Sanchez St. Sat noon. Cafe au lait et un croissant au terasse svp!

Unknown said...

Hey Rolf,

Maybe you need to get a life?
And perhaps more education since you "got no negativity"???

Anonymous said...

Definitely on the side of Rolf in that discussion. I've lived in and around this neighborhood for 30 years, finally bought my place here (if "my place" can be applied to a TIC), and I DON'T like the color scheme of a newly moving merchant I'd never heard of before.

And just for that, I'm supposed to be "negative, opinionated and pompous" and therefore I should "move elsewhere"?

Hey, sorry I'm not drinking your kool-aid.

As for "be happy that there will be a wonderful cafe for excellent food" - thanks for the supercilious imperative, but no. No one's actually tasted anything here yet and you're already treating it like the Second Coming (the First, apparently, was Whole Paycheck). I don't particularly care to grovel to local merchants. Most people with self-respect don't.

Ending on a positive note, I am looking forward to trying it out, and forming my own opinions on it. And to cap it, this blog is valuable precisely because it creates a forum where the locals can take off their corporate smiley faces and actually express what they feel about this neighborhood. I'd say it actually adds some local color.

Anonymous said...

Kudos to Rolf. Well said! If people don't like this blog they shouldn't read it. Hell, maybe they should just move out of the neighborhood!

Unknown said...

There are several La Boulange's throughout the city...the food is excellent. I do not grovel. But I do like to support my local shopkeepers. And I was sorry to see Bell go having lived her for 26years, however, Whole Foods has revitalized the neighborhood and has benefited the other stores on 24th St.

Anonymous said...

seems like some of the posters here carry politics a little too far. I'll shop at any kind of store of 24th; be it chain, a long time merchant or a new comer.

bottom line, if the have great products, are well priced, are nice to customers, then they will have my business. I dont care what kind of color you paint your storefront, long as you paint it and keep it neat..

anybody else think Tuggeys Hardware is really a dump, inside and out..? I do. the place is very cluttered and disorganized inside. the window displays are hideous and have not changed for YEARS.

Anonymous said...

For those who want table, it looks like they will have three long picnic tables on Sanchez Street with a door going out on to (or in from)Sanchez St. Oh, as for these comments----it's all good, everybody should be entitled to say whatever they want. This is Noe Valley, where everyone has an opinion.

Anonymous said...

Why did someone bring up Tuggey's Hardware store into all this? If you eat at Tuggey's, you have a screw loose... Luckily, you know where to buy new screws. That's right. At Tuggey's. That hard metal object is called a screw, not a croque-monsieur. Don't eat it. Somehow I thought we all already understood that. Let's close this thread jacking about Tuggey's. I'm sure some of us will move on to dissing yet another old-time Noe institution.

"Seems like some of the posters here carry politics a little too far" - yeah, let's practice what we preach, here.

rocky's dad said...

so who made you the self-anointed ruler of consistent threads?

Anonymous said...

Rolf wins this one. Not that it's a contest. But he's totally right.

Laney B. said...

The pink and orange color scheme was created intentionally to carry out a particular mission... and I do hope that the bright colors do what they're meant to, which is to repel the clipboard brigade away from 24th Street. Go back to the Marina or Cole Valley Unwanted Petitioners! That's where you can have the blue colored La Boulange that you love so much. And you better not petition to paint it blue. Us Noe-ites love pink, purple, & orange.

Anonymous said...

Back to the color. I just walked by. It is hideous. How could they?

Anonymous said...

@Rolf: You are so right. These blogs are where people can comment on things. If that upsets Marilyn and her precious energy, she doesn't have to read them. It seems to be that she is the one who is really unhappy with Noe Valley, not everyone else.

Anyway, I find the colors a bit garish -- they would probably work better if they rest of the building was freshly painted something neutral rather than being dumpy brown. But hey, it is still a great addition to the neighborhood.

Cheers,

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to have some Freedom Fries a la Boulange...

Francois

Anonymous said...

If eyes could have indigestion, those colors would do it. I guess I'll just have to close my eyes when I eat there.

And no, I don't think the colors are "gay" - unless that was meant to be a homophobic comment (just kidding).

Anonymous said...

It looks better in person, they have outside tables, probably won't compete with our beloved NV Bakery very much, and are a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Outside fucking seating in one of the sunniest hoods in town. It's about time someone joined Martha's in this revolution.

Unknown said...

Late notice but they're having some sort of opening thing today (Tuesday) from 4-6. Snacks and drinks I suppose.

Anyone been there yet?

murphstahoe said...

I was sent out for soup as my wife was ill. Lentil curry soup from Peasant Pies wasn't going to work. Tried Subs Inc... no soup. Was about to walk into Whole Foods when I remembered La Boulange was opening today. It was a zoo. Menu looked great, they did a great job with the space, staff was friendly which is always a plus. I predict they are going to bank $$$. Unless the food sucks - and I didn't see a lot of long faces.

Of course they had French Onion and Split Pea soup, both of which were vetoed (I'll be back to try the French Onion for myself, my wife can't eat it). I sullenly defaulted to Whole Foods, which was even more packed than La Boulange. What did we do in Noe Valley before these two places opened?

I don't think NV Bakery will be the place impacted - but Noe Valley Deli could be in trouble, they aren't far enough away to survive just on geography (cough cough Cafe Ponte cough).

I bet this sort of concept would have kicked butt in the Bistro 24 spot.

Anonymous said...

JUST CAME FROM THE BOULANGE GRAND OPENING--IT WAS FANTASTIC--IT IS FREEBIES FROM THREE TILL SIX TODAY, AND WE ARE TALKING GREAT STUFF THE PLACE IS PACKED. WOW.

Unknown said...

Yeah, just came back myself. I liked how open the space seemed--even when packed with people. Big difference from the dark decor of the Noe Valley pizza joint previously in that spot. Had various snacks, snagged a loaf of their bread--everything was tasty, and from what I saw I, too, think they will do quite well.

Glad they are in the 'hood. I honestly don't know who they will directly compete with--maybe coffee joints? Not sure about that, largely because I never frequent them. Maybe sandwich places? But as far as I can tell, their grub will be pricier (and maybe better?) than places like Shufat or Noe Valley deli, which likely means different clientele.

All and all, I'm quite happy they are there.

Despite the paint job (I kid, I kid!).

Anonymous said...

No objection to colorful paint jobs here. But couldn't they have taken the building's existing color into account?

My working theory when I see such trashy, clashy paint jobs is that the person who designed it is color blind.

Anonymous said...

Opening event was terrific - well attended, abundant tasty treats (both savory and sweet), gracious and friendly staff, including the owner, Pascal Rigo, who lives in Noe Valley himself. Welcome to 24th Street, La Boulange - we're happy to have you in the neighborhood!

rocky's dad said...

I still say the paint job is cool.. great color combination..and it's not nearly as "bright" in person as the pic on the web...I think it's fine that the rest of building was not painted.

just go and try the place. great, friendly staff, great pastries. nice addition to 24th st.

Godot said...

I walked by early this AM - paint job is cool - who cares? The $10 sandwich is the issue but otherwise the macaroons and croissants are great.

TheColorOutOfTime said...

Passed by today - that nauseous purple sure fits well with the vomit mint green next door. What have we become, a neighborhood of color-blind savages? What weasel convinced the owner to go with a color scheme straight out of H.P. Lovecraft? Well, maybe it's meant to keep pedestrian traffic down, because I'm definitely going to avert my eyes away from that corner, every time I pass by it from the other side of the street.

Having said all that, good luck to the new merchant there. Cthulhu fhtagn! Er, ahem, I just have a wee leetle suggestion...

Anonymous said...

@TheColorOutOfTime...
They don't need your business because they are crazy busy and doing very well without you! Everytime I go into this spot it is packed with people, enjoying all the delicious goodies they have to offer. I work in the neighborhood and have spoken to the manager here a couple of times--what a darling! She seems to have the staff right up to par with fantastic quality of the food. Well done, La Boulange!