Eliane French Bakery in Orem, Utah

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This is one of those places--not much to look at on the outside, in fact, it's sort of a bad location, BUT.....

....delicious goodies on the inside. And "delicious" is sort of an understatement.

I've never been to France--not even close--so I can barely pronounce "croque monsieur," but when I saw them I knew I had to have one. I'm not sure I can explain but it's like a piece of french bread stuffed with ham, bacon, cheese, & creme. As you can see they don't skimp on the cheese, and it's the same with the creme fraiche.

Left: Napoleon Right: Lemon Cheesecake

Yes and yes.

Butter Croissant

I'm pretty sure this is the first really good croissant I've had. Flaky. Buttery. I'll take a dozen.

Raspberry Mousse

Left: Strawberry Pie pocket Right: Case of desserts.

Flavors of pie: strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, cherry, cream cheese, & almond. You heard me.

Chocolate Eclair

Saved my favorite for almost last. By this point, I had sampled all the items we purchased...I was getting full....then I had a bite of this Chocolate Eclair. I pounded the whole thing it was that good. The actual eclair was soft with a delicate texture & the chocolate was perfect. The whole thing was not too sweet--just right.

Top Left: Meringue topped w/ Chocolate & Heart-Shaped Sprinkles (my son's choice)
Bottom Right: Fruit Tart

Lovely paintings of France adorn almost the entire perimeter. 

Fruit tarts practically top my list of "favorite desserts." Sometimes the crust is too crispy or the custard is too crisco-y (a word I use when the texture is sort of waxy), but this one I fell in love with. Now I know where to go for my favorite fruit tart. Yay!

When you need a little something sweet, do stop by. You may see me often. The owner is a tad camera shy, but he is super super nice. He deserves good business & maybe he'll teach you a few French words. 

Pizzeria 712 in Orem, Utah

Favorite:

"The funny thing is we don’t need to be hip foodies or cool cats to eat well. 

All we need is a little time and a good place to sit." -Heirloom Restaurant Group

I'll tell you right now, that when we found this place in 2008--about 6 months after they opened--we finally settled into Utah County. 

Yes, Pizzeria 712, you made that big of an impression on us. 

Lemme explain......

complimentary pita & hummus

When we moved to Orem we found out it wasn't as easy in Utah County--as opposed to Salt Lake County--to find good, local places to eat.... 

We followed the crowds. 

We stood in those 50-minute-standing-room-only waiting areas *coughcoughChili's coughLosHermanos coughcoughBrickOven* and when we finally sat down for our meal, the food was sub-par, bland or too salty, low-quality, and we were shocked that people would wait so long for just okay or boring food. 

We asked locals for different places & finally realized to stop asking. 

We were going to have to find the good places with our own eyes & taste-buds.

You see, Mark became a UPS driver & suddenly he was able to seek out restaurants while en-route. With his eyes on the area & my eyes on the computer (Yelp, Urbanspoon, Foodspotting)....

....wallah, we found Pizzeria 712.

This menu changes on a regular basis according to what's fresh, local, & in-season.
My favorites are always replaced with more favorites.

appetizer: ricotta gnocchi, robert's mushrooms, corn, gremolata

Gremolata: condiment typically containing fresh chopped parsley, lemon zest, & garlic.

Wood-fired pizza made with love.

salad: arugala, squash, jacob's cove cherry tomato, crouton, feta, parsley viniagrette

Heirloom Restaurant Group's food really represents this quote well.

If you want the best ingredients you must use fresh, local, & in-season. The Heirloom Restaurant Group gets many of their ingredients from local farms & suppliers: Clifford Family Farm, Jacob's Cove, Rockhill Creamery, Amano Chocolates, Christiansen Family Farm, etc.

Pizza from a previous visit:
house-made sausage, caramelized onions, fennel, tomato sauce, hand-pulled mozzarella

We always leave this place feeling satisfied; never stuffed, nor hungry, nor gross.

pizza: clifford farm summer squash, mozzarella, ricotta, pecorino, garlic, purple basil

custard pie, allred orchard peaches

I don't think I could ever live more than 20 minutes away from this place.

previous visit

Pizzeria 712 belongs to the Heirloom Restaurant Group. They run another excellent restaurant in downtown Provo called Communal (try them for breakfast--or anytime....), and they also cater. Pizzeria 712 & Communal really tie for first place in my book. Update: They recently acquired Mountain West Burrito--my other favorite restaurant! We miss Joe, but so happy he left us in good hands.

And yes, we take our kids. As always, clean up after your children, don't let them roam around the place, bring things to keep them entertained, & if they start acting up, take them out.

Reservations recommended, but not required.

www.heirloomrestaurantgroup.com

Joe's Cafe in Orem, Utah

Favorite:

You guys.....

Such a fun place.

Located across the street on the West side of the University Mall in Orem, there you will find Joe's Cafe. Parking in front or back.

For starters, my mother & I just about ordered everything off of the breakfast menu.

My mom ordered the ABC (avocado, bacon, cheese) omelet with a side of hashbrowns. I absolutely love crispy hashbrowns. Omelet was divine.

So Joe loves being photographed. You can kinda sorta tell by the wall. The wall is PLASTERED with pictures of he & his customers. I think he's in about 99% of those photos.

I left feeling like I just gained a brand new best friend. Quite the character!

Behold, Joe's Biscuits & Gravy......  That gravy!!! This dish is seasoned & made with love. Chunks of biscuit & ground turkey throughout make it incredibly comforting.

"Slap Ya Mama" cajun seasoning is shipped in straight from the South. It's in almost every dish including the 1/2 pound hamburger patties.

Going back for lunch in the very near future.

I love a plate of silver dollar sized pancakes. You could taste the well-seasoned griddle--and very buttery!

Okay, story time about these grits. 

So my mom & I were discussing grits & how we're not a big fan because we like our hot cereal sweet. Southern grits are not sweet. I suggested we try these because maybe they are incredibly good non-sweet grits (plus, Joe almost wouldn't let us leave the counter without ordering some--almost gave us some for free, but we insisted on paying for them). So we ordered the grits, and to our surprise, they were sweet! Creamy, buttery, not-too-sweet. Way beyond my expectations. So I asked Joe,  "Do you usually make your grits sweet?" He said "No" and that he had to make them sweet for the Utahns. He even said that with love, not annoyance. He was completely happy to accommodate for our sweet tooth here in Utah. He said that before making them sweet, he was throwing out big pots of grits. Since adjusting the grits, he now goes through two large pots. In fact, people come in just for a bowl of grits, they are truly that good. 

I'm thinking Utah County finally has a location worthy of "Diner's, Drive-Ins, & Dives"?

Facebook: Joe's Cafe


Open Mon-Sat from 8am-4pm.