Chantilly Bakery Cafe

Chantilly Bakery Cafe

4032 S. Lamar #200, 916-0404

Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm; Saturday, 9:30am-4pm

Your business associates or book club or girlfriends are planning a daytime get-together in South Austin. You'd like to go someplace pleasant and affordable with interesting sandwiches made on fresh bread, creative salads, and tempting pastries and desserts. North of the river, you'd have plenty of choices, but these folks all live South and Southwest, so you're seeking a bakery cafe option in that area. Irwan and Sandra Ojong have solved your problem.

The Ojongs are natives of Indonesia, where Sandra grew up in a family bakery. While she and Irwan were living in San Francisco, Sandra completed a baking and pastry program at the California Culinary Academy with the dream of one day owning her own bakery. In order to realize Sandra's dream, the Ojongs decided to leave California's crowded cities and skyrocketing real estate prices behind. They relocated to Austin after visiting here in the spring of 2004. Chantilly Bakery Cafe opened in mid-2005 with Sandra running the kitchen and Irwan greeting customers at the counter. The fine food and inviting atmosphere are attracting a steadily growing clientele – turns out a full-service bakery cafe is just what this area of town needed.

Mornings at Chantilly begin with coffee or a choice of hot teas to pair with an assortment of breakfast pastries such as plain, sweet, and savory croissants; cinnamon rolls and twists; kolaches; and sweet breads. By late morning, the crowd gives over to folks hungry for lunch, and the sandwich selection here is very pleasing: We've enjoyed several. The Italian Twist ($5.95) offers salami, mortadella, spicy Capicola, and provolone dressed with a tangy olive salad on fresh focaccia. A half-sandwich paired with a hearty cup of Wild Rice and Ham Soup ($5.95) made a delightful lunch and left room and money enough for dessert. The BLT ($5.95) here is packed with crisp bacon, fresh leaf lettuce, and Roma tomatoes on honey wheat bread, while the Spicy Turkey ($5.95) comes on a split tiger roll with melted cheddar cheese and a zippy cranberry chutney. Both are worthy choices. The menu even offers grilled cheese or PB&J for kids ($2.95), and we spied some attractive salads in the case, though I've yet to try them. Everything we did try was fresh, attractive, and prepared with care. Staff members we dealt with were friendly, eager to make suggestions, and proud of the foods they're serving.

It's difficult to stand at the Chantilly counter and resist Sandra's pastries and desserts. The case is filled with both fruit and cream pies, a selection of layer cakes (whole $25, or $2.95 by the slice), several varieties of bar cookies, chocolate eclairs, and an innovative take on tiramisu in a cup. Bags of small cookies and candies adorn the countertop – I'm now addicted to the Almond Brittle ($2.95) – and, if that weren't enough, there are eight flavors of homemade gelatos and sorbettos waiting to ensnare you! Irwan says they change flavors with the seasons: pumpkin in the fall, peppermint during the holidays, etc. We sampled both the pistachio ($2.95, small) and the Butterfinger (another of my guilty pleasures) and found them to be voluptuously rich. I don't live close enough to Chantilly Bakery Cafe to eat there frequently, but I'm sure it will become a regular stop anytime I'm in the neighborhood.