Thursday Food looks ahead to where we’ll be spending a lot of time come 2011.

IN a corner of the courtyard at the historic Devon House lies a quaint little pastry shop, with flowers hanging in window boxes and its own miniature garden. Stylish metal chairs bear the same name as that displayed on the yellow awning above the steps leading to the French doors. Welcome to the Devon House Bakery, whose doors officially opened to the public on December 10, 2010.

Designed by Andrea Spence, it’s hard not to conjure up thoughts of a French pâtisserie — albeit with the same red brick and old-world ambiance we’ve grown attached to for decades. The long lines take you inside where the incredible assortment of delights including rum and raisin and cherry cheesecakes, Black Forest and ice box cakes, banana bread, chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies, tarts, turnovers and even home-made gizzadas and grater cakes will leave you spectacularly confused as you contemplate the offerings. There are, too, piping hot lobster, chicken, beef, power and fish patties bursting with savoury meat, and tucked into a neat, golden, flaky pocket. Eschew all notions of calorie counting, ’tis the season to indulge and already, plantain tart, toto, rum and raisin cheesecake, Black Forest cake and the house specialty, the Devon Divine — a rich chocolate cake with a secret filling, topped with butter cream icing and chocolate shavings — have become customer favourites. Their bread and potato puddings are hot commodities as well, with Operations Manager Kathy Joseph commenting that “we can’t seem to get enough in here” before they’re all sold off.

Thirst quenchers include fresh juices — sorrel, lemonade and June plum — as well as a variety of other locally made beverages. Perhaps the best news of all for many is the Blue Mountain coffee served with an infectious smile by the team who’ve all been trained by Joseph herself and who assures us that it (training) will be ongoing. Tastings were carried out as well to test the recipes of the products on the shelves. And, for now, customers can enjoy a full 12 hours of service each day, with the Devon House Bakery opening its doors seven days a week between 10:00 am and 10:00 pm.

“We want to bring them back to the magical experience of the Devon House that I remember,” Joseph shares, “… the Great House, the tours, freshly baked pastries and to introduce our local favourites to tourists. Though we resemble a European pastry shop, we’re still very local in the things that we make; everything is made in-house and we use local ingredients.”

And as if we needed more convincing, as she spoke with Thursday Food, a gentleman interrupted saying, “I love your beef patty; I just had to tell you that…”