Of course, there’s a bear claw in the pastry case. After all, this is Bearcat Baked, the new bakery café from Bearcat Café, and the playful pun riff feels right.
This bear claw has a delightfully crackling brown outer shell over soft waves of dough with a seam of almond paste.
An assortment of savory and sweet pastry fills the case at Bearcat Baked in downtown New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
The same case has blocks of focaccia, loaves of sandwich bread, pain au chocolat and a sausage roll crossed with a muffuletta, for starters.
Bearcat Baked officially opened in December downtown at 726 Julia St.
Significantly, it is right around the corner from Bearcat CBD, which, like the original Bearcat just off Freret Street, does a bonkers business, especially at brunch. It's typical for people to be waiting outside.
A sausage roll is filled with muffuletta ingredients for a savory treat at Bearcat Baked in downtown New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Bearcat Baked plants another option nearby for a quick bite, or maybe a coffee while waiting for that brunch table to open up. It also doubles as the commissary bakery for the Bearcat restaurants.
Bearcat Baked is a bakery cafe and specialty coffee concept in downtown New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
It's in the former home of Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop, the pizzeria that closed earlier this year.
Coffee roaster Michael Matthews and baker Cat Colby-Pariseau toast with coffee and bread respectively Bearcat Baked on Julia Street. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Bearcat partners James Reuter and Michael Matthews leapt at the chance to develop a new bakery here, for the correlation to the downtown restaurant and as a hub to do more with the brand’s baking program.
That has been the domain of baker Cat Colby-Pariseau. Heretofore she’s been working from a corner of the Bearcat CBD kitchen. Now, there’s a dedicated home for the operation, and she’s just beginning to tap its potential.
An assortment of savory and sweet pasties from Bearcat Baked in downtown New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
There is a case of bread and sweet and savory pastries. The next phase will add sandwiches and boost the grab-and-go case with salads, grain bowls and other prepared items.
There will also be an expanded breakfast menu with some dishes from the Bearcat Cafe menu.
New Orleans baker Cat Colby-Pariseau shows her affection for an oven-fresh loaf of bread at Bearcat Baked on Julia Street. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
“We started by asking what the neighborhood needs, and what we heard was more grab-and-go, more places where you can get a meal fast,” Matthews said.
A bear claw pastry and espresso from Alinea Coffee Roasters at Bearcat Baked in downtown New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Bearcat Baked is also a coffee shop and the new home base for Alinea Coffee Roasters, the brand Matthews started in 2018, which supplies Bearcat’s coffee and serves other wholesale clients.
The bakery has a liquor license so look for mimosas, espresso martinis and other drinks in addition to wine.
Churros king cake from Bearcat Cafe in downtown New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNuly, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
At Carnival time, Bearcat Baked will also field the churro king cake that Colby-Pariseau created at the Bearcat restaurants a few years ago, which is a delight of sweet, crisp ridges.
