Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

La Clochette brings croissants—and cassoulet—to Mission Valley

Whatever's going on with this bakery business, Civita Park residents get a decent meal

A different kind of fish sandwich: ahi tuna pastrami on a baguette. Served at La Clochette in Mission Valley.
A different kind of fish sandwich: ahi tuna pastrami on a baguette. Served at La Clochette in Mission Valley.
Video:

FEAST!: La Clochette brings croissants—and cassoulet—to Mission Valley


I'd noticed the Pacific Beach cafe La Clochette had opened a Mission Valley location, but hadn't planned to visit. Good for Mission Valley, I thought, Everybody could use a good croissant. Even those who live in mall country.


But when I looked closer, I realized this isn't quite the same Le Clochette I was imagining, and there is ongoing messiness about its bakery. However, there was also an entirely different reason I wanted to check it out.


First thing: the La Clochette de Coin I visited in Pacific Beach two years ago has changed in that it's no longer cobranding with sensational croissant and pastry maker, Hommage Bake House. In fact, barely a week after I wrote about it, the Hommage brand announced it would be opening its own shop at Civita Park in Mission Valley.


The Civita Park café space occupied by La Clochette, not Hommage Bake House


Except it never happened. Instead, per Sandiegoville, Hommage was apparently caught up in the collapse earlier this year of crowdfunding platform MainVest, and by then it had already suspended baking operations within another brand cohabitation, with Lucky Bolt Bakery in Sorrento Valley. The three businesses appear to be intertwined, but little has been said about what happened with Hommage since its aspirational expansion announcements via Eater San Diego, and emergent conspiracy theories of people claiming to have been investors on Reddit suggest that story has yet to shake out, legally.


What's definitely true is that La Clochette is the brand that wound up opening a new shop at Civita Park in Mission Valley late this summer. And though it's still in the bread and pastry business, this café's more of an outlet for goods baked off site. Which means its kitchen can focus on making croissant breakfast sandwiches, like the Pacific Beach location of La Clochette (it's dropped the du Coin moniker, which requires being "on a street corner").


Thing is, I'm not paying attention to any of this because I like gossip. What I like is cassoulet. And in my experience, cassoulet is hard to find, whether I'm looking for it in San Diego, or whether I'm looking for it in Paris.


The French white bean stew, cassoulet, served with bacon, andouille sausage, and duck
Sponsored
Sponsored


Part of the problem is that it's not Parisian: Cassoulet hails from the southwest of France, where —as you might expect from what's essentially a baked bean casserole—it's a peasant dish. Fancy French restaurants strain to keep in on the menu because, classic though it may be, nobody goes to a fancy restaurant to order beans.


I enjoy it though, because a cassoulet's white bean stew (usually canneloni) is cooked in a seasoned chicken stock fortified with meats, usually pork, sausage, and duck. La Clochette's cassoulet, served only at its Mission Valley location, touts duck, andouille, and bacon ($17).


When I did finally track down a good cassoulet in Paris, it featured a duck leg, on the bone, and a slab of pork belly. So while I can't help being a little disappointed that La Clochette's version is a little more of a chunky soup, with little bits and occasional chunks of meat floating throughout, I'm otherwise thrilled. Because this cassoulet tastes just how I remember the French dish I enjoyed more than a decade ago. And I could eat it with a spoon (in Paris, I had to ask for a fork and knife).


Cassoulet eaten by the author in Paris 11 years ago


It was out of curiosity I decided to try one of the sandwiches offered exclusively at this La Clochette location: tuna pastrami on a baguette ($18). To my knowledge, tuna pastrami's no more a French thing than it is a Jewish deli thing. It could be taking inspiration from a pan bagnat, which likewise hails from southern France (Provence), but that sandwich usually includes cooked fish with hard boiled egg and green beans. 


This one's built around cured ahi tuna, seasoned to invoke pastrami memories, and put on a baguette with arugula, tomatoes, and basil pesto. I'm as surprised as anyone that a good, crusty baguette makes a decent vessel for basically a crudo sandwich topping—and the pesto helps—but I found it to be a terrific sandwich.


Place

La Clochette

7995 Civita Blvd suite 11, San Diego


Which is to say, being good at making food and being good at the business of making food aren't necessarily the same thing. Civita Park—north of Friar's Road in Mission Valley—is an odd place to seek out a good meal, but it worked out for me this week.


The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

How to make a hit Christmas song

Feeling is key, but money helps too
Next Article

National City to junk permissive land-use code

Airbnb regs would be like Chula Vista's
A different kind of fish sandwich: ahi tuna pastrami on a baguette. Served at La Clochette in Mission Valley.
A different kind of fish sandwich: ahi tuna pastrami on a baguette. Served at La Clochette in Mission Valley.
Video:

FEAST!: La Clochette brings croissants—and cassoulet—to Mission Valley


I'd noticed the Pacific Beach cafe La Clochette had opened a Mission Valley location, but hadn't planned to visit. Good for Mission Valley, I thought, Everybody could use a good croissant. Even those who live in mall country.


But when I looked closer, I realized this isn't quite the same Le Clochette I was imagining, and there is ongoing messiness about its bakery. However, there was also an entirely different reason I wanted to check it out.


First thing: the La Clochette de Coin I visited in Pacific Beach two years ago has changed in that it's no longer cobranding with sensational croissant and pastry maker, Hommage Bake House. In fact, barely a week after I wrote about it, the Hommage brand announced it would be opening its own shop at Civita Park in Mission Valley.


The Civita Park café space occupied by La Clochette, not Hommage Bake House


Except it never happened. Instead, per Sandiegoville, Hommage was apparently caught up in the collapse earlier this year of crowdfunding platform MainVest, and by then it had already suspended baking operations within another brand cohabitation, with Lucky Bolt Bakery in Sorrento Valley. The three businesses appear to be intertwined, but little has been said about what happened with Hommage since its aspirational expansion announcements via Eater San Diego, and emergent conspiracy theories of people claiming to have been investors on Reddit suggest that story has yet to shake out, legally.


What's definitely true is that La Clochette is the brand that wound up opening a new shop at Civita Park in Mission Valley late this summer. And though it's still in the bread and pastry business, this café's more of an outlet for goods baked off site. Which means its kitchen can focus on making croissant breakfast sandwiches, like the Pacific Beach location of La Clochette (it's dropped the du Coin moniker, which requires being "on a street corner").


Thing is, I'm not paying attention to any of this because I like gossip. What I like is cassoulet. And in my experience, cassoulet is hard to find, whether I'm looking for it in San Diego, or whether I'm looking for it in Paris.


The French white bean stew, cassoulet, served with bacon, andouille sausage, and duck
Sponsored
Sponsored


Part of the problem is that it's not Parisian: Cassoulet hails from the southwest of France, where —as you might expect from what's essentially a baked bean casserole—it's a peasant dish. Fancy French restaurants strain to keep in on the menu because, classic though it may be, nobody goes to a fancy restaurant to order beans.


I enjoy it though, because a cassoulet's white bean stew (usually canneloni) is cooked in a seasoned chicken stock fortified with meats, usually pork, sausage, and duck. La Clochette's cassoulet, served only at its Mission Valley location, touts duck, andouille, and bacon ($17).


When I did finally track down a good cassoulet in Paris, it featured a duck leg, on the bone, and a slab of pork belly. So while I can't help being a little disappointed that La Clochette's version is a little more of a chunky soup, with little bits and occasional chunks of meat floating throughout, I'm otherwise thrilled. Because this cassoulet tastes just how I remember the French dish I enjoyed more than a decade ago. And I could eat it with a spoon (in Paris, I had to ask for a fork and knife).


Cassoulet eaten by the author in Paris 11 years ago


It was out of curiosity I decided to try one of the sandwiches offered exclusively at this La Clochette location: tuna pastrami on a baguette ($18). To my knowledge, tuna pastrami's no more a French thing than it is a Jewish deli thing. It could be taking inspiration from a pan bagnat, which likewise hails from southern France (Provence), but that sandwich usually includes cooked fish with hard boiled egg and green beans. 


This one's built around cured ahi tuna, seasoned to invoke pastrami memories, and put on a baguette with arugula, tomatoes, and basil pesto. I'm as surprised as anyone that a good, crusty baguette makes a decent vessel for basically a crudo sandwich topping—and the pesto helps—but I found it to be a terrific sandwich.


Place

La Clochette

7995 Civita Blvd suite 11, San Diego


Which is to say, being good at making food and being good at the business of making food aren't necessarily the same thing. Civita Park—north of Friar's Road in Mission Valley—is an odd place to seek out a good meal, but it worked out for me this week.


Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Yellowtail show off La Jolla, Big tuna south

Spiny lobster doing well
Next Article

"Christmas Berry" is decorating our landscape, Longest meteor shower of the year

Full "cold moon," extremely high tides
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader