A French Patisserie Comes to Loreto Plaza

Those wishing the French Festival ran all year can take heart since Renaud’s Patisserie and Bistro is coming to town. Moving into the former location of the Italian Bakery (3315 State St.) in Loreto Plaza, Renaud’s, which should open in the middle of September, will at first be open for breakfast and lunch. Owner Renaud Gonthier moved to the U.S. from France in 1999 and has since worked at esteemed locations like the Ritz Carlton in Washington, D.C., and the Breakers Resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Gonthier chose Santa Barbara as the location for his business as his wife is from California, with family here and in Santa Monica.

“We will offer all the traditional French pastries-eclairs, mille fleurs, croissants-all that stuff,” Gonthier said in a recent phone interview. “Everything will be high quality, made with butter and no shortening. We will use organic produce when we can.” For lunch, he said he plans to serve “great traditional French food. Some sandwiches, but with ingredients like fresh tomatoes, French bacon, and raclette cheese.”