La Bastille Boulangerie Patisserie mixes French sweets with North American style.

Helmed by chef Martial Ribreau, this shop is a destination for anyone looking for quality bread in Scarborough.

Martial's baking career began in Paris. He followed his brothers, who were studying to become cooks, to the Jean Ferrandi Culinary School, where he pursued a program in pastry.

Since then, Martial has made a name for himself as an authentic French pastry chef. In 2016, he opened a wholesale bakery, sharing a kitchen with a catering service.

He and his team relocated to their current address in early 2023, citing space constraints as the main reason for the move.The elegant storefront, which is painted with white, cream and olive green, is deceptively small. The kitchen is easily three times as big, with room for more than a dozen bakers to work at once.

Take a look inside Toronto’s massive French baking facility. Visit La Bastille Boulangerie Patisserie at 760 Birchmount Rd. Unit 33 🥐 #Toronto #Patisserie pic.twitter.com/6lIGpzoSbz

— blogTO (@blogTO) May 14, 2023

La Bastille specializes in traditional French viennoiserie and desserts. Seasonal items, such as festive yule logs, rotate throughout the year.The butter croissant ($3.25) is La Bastille's most basic dish, but it's by no means boring. Crispy, flaky and incredibly light, this pastry is everything a croissant should be.The spinach and feta croissant ($4.25) takes things up a notch by adding — you guessed it — spinach and feta to the mix. Spinach is the dominant flavour, but the buttery pastry and mild feta keep it from being too overpowering.Fruit danishes ($3.75) come in a variety of different flavours, including blueberry, raspberry and apricot.Kouign-amann ($3.75) is as tasty as its name is difficult to pronounce. This hefty pastry, whose name means "butter cake" in Breton, tastes a little like a sugar-coated croissant.

Though heavier than many of the bakery's other offerings, its crunchy, caramelized exterior and soft, moist interior make it a must-try dish.

Martial tells me that this sweet treat is one of his best sellers. He also claims that its unusual name has contributed to its popularity: "People are always asking 'how do you say that?' The name makes them more interested in trying it."

Beignets come in two types: plain ($3.10) and jelly-filled ($3.85). The plain beignets come dusted with sugar or cinnamon, while the filled kind have tart raspberry jam or sweet apple compote at the centre.

Both types are denser than your everyday donuts, but just as good with coffee.

As its name might suggest, the cruffin ($6.50) is a croissant-muffin hybrid with the best qualities of both. A dollop of Nutella, sprinkled with chopped nuts, sits on top, giving the dish an interesting texture.La Bastille's tiramisu ($6.75) is expertly crafted, with layers of coffee-coated goodness underneath a blanket of mascarpone and chocolate.The almond mixed berry tart ($6.35/small, $29.50/large) is a decadent dish covered with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, with a light dusting of powdered sugar on top.With its beautiful orange colour and juicy fruit filling, the apricot almond tart ($5.75/small, $27.50/large) is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach.My personal favourite dish was the lemon meringue tart ($6.35/small, $27.50/large). Filled with lemon curd and topped with freshly torched meringue and white chocolate curls, this dessert is the perfect mix of sweet and sour flavours.La Bastille Boulangerie Patisserie is located at 760 Birchmount Rd, Unit 33.