If you type in ‘Sur Le Pouce’ into Google Maps, don’t be surprised if you are referred to a restaurant in France. The Perrysburg bakery shares its name with a store in Paris and the flavors you can find at the local Sur Le Pouce capture that Parisian taste. The shop, named for the French expression to have a quick bite or a snack (literally translated as ‘to eat on the thumb’), is nestled inside the Country Charm Shoppes on W. South Boundary in Perrysburg, and offers all sorts of sweet and doughy delights, from cookies to croissants.
Owner and baker Nathalie Cottier is originally from the south of France, and runs the bakery based on a motto: “If I want to eat them, I have to make them.” All of the pastries and baked goods she makes are French delicacies she either misses from home, or makes as a challenge to herself. With new treats being added all the time, you’re bound to be pleased with this French bakery.
Bread baking beginnings
Sur Le Pouce starts with the bread. Loaves of French, wheat and rosemary breads are available, ready to slice or partially baked with instructions on how to finish it at home. The breads are a great way to begin a journey with French baking and it’s how the business started.
Cottier explained how she got the idea for the bread: once when planning a surprise party for her husband, she realized she’d need to make bread. But if she made it at home, he’d suspect something. Wanting to keep the hot and fresh quality of the bread secret, Cottier went to a neighbor’s house to partially-bake the loaf, then she quickly finished it in the oven while her husband enjoyed the party.
That experience led Cottier to create Sur Le Pouce in 2016, and she’s been expanding her baking range ever since. The white loaf, her first creation, is the number one reason to visit this bakery. The bread is light and pillowy, with a distinctive taste that is heightened when eaten fresh out of the oven. Adding butter or jam can certainly improve it, but it’s absolutely delicious on its own.
A Tour of Treats
The bakery doesn’t limit itself to breads. Driven by her childhood taste memories, Cottier has various baked goods available. Flaky, buttery croissants, including an almond-topped-and-filled variety, are truly a pastry treat. Cottier has several other items she’s currently working on. The creme inside the macaron is a highlight, along with chocolate-filled brioche and an almond-chocolate-chip cookie. Another French pastry classic, the pain au chocolat, is a delight with croissant-like layers surrounding dense dark chocolate.
The shop also offers kouign-amann, a layered pastry that is a sweet cousin of the croissant. While a croissant is composed of layers of pastry with butter, the kouign-amann adds sugar to the layers, creating a thick consistency inside. It’s an incredible treat and another reason to visit Sur Le Pouce to enjoy French baking locally.
Sur Le Pouce
122 W. South Boundary St., Perrysburg.
336-508-7665.
facebook.com/SurLePouceOhio
