French disconnection

Many upscale restaurants offer at least a few dishes with Cordon Bleu lineage. Since North Augusta’s Bistro 55 closed in April, La Parisienne remains the only area restaurant that purports to be French.

A sign outside says it is a French bakery. True, but add an asterisk. There can be no doubt that the handsome pastries on La Parisienne’s shelves have only recently come from an oven. But they are not made on premises from scratch. They arrive ready to be proofed and baked, supplied by a company that makes what one advertisement calls “high quality European bakery products adapted to the North American market.” Arguable pedigree notwithstanding, they taste right; and they feel right—in hand and in mouth.