Le Moulin de Provence

Came all the way from NY to try the famous Obama cookie. Walked into store and it smelt great. The person working behind the counter looked at me with disdain in his eyes, clearly sizing me up as yet another tourist here to take photos and not buy anything. I bought an Obama cookie (despite this judgey Canadian bake shop boy) even tho this counter boy gave me side eye when he gave me back my change I hoped the cookie would be worth the sh*tty customer service. The cookie was bland and hard to swallow. Actually the cookie is a perfect metaphor for obamas two terms in office. they shouldn’t even bothering trying to fix it… Canadians should give up on this cookie the same way Obama gave up in this last year as prez.

I drove to Ottawa on Sunday evening. I decided to check out my surroundings, so I walked ByWard Market after I had unpacked at the hotel.
I love a good bakery. I was more interested in getting a bite to eat that night, but this patisserie caught my eye. I put it in memory to return.
Tonight was the night. I wanted dessert and deliberately walked over there. I walked into the store and was greeted by a ton of sugar cookies. The store offers polar bears, colourful leaves, Obama, Justin Trudeau, owl, and so many other types of decorated cookies. You can also get traditional oatmeal, chocolate chip cookies, and so much more. These cookies are huge.
I walked over to the croissants section. My weakness is chocolate ones, so I bought one. I also love a good, tart lemon dessert and settled for the tarte lemon. I just devoured it. It is perfect. The dark chocolate is a nice contrast.
The bakery also has tourtière, quiche, and a variety of sandwiches.
I must return. Everything is so tasty. It’s a gem of a find.

Le Moulin de Provence may have made a concession to the reality that they are a very large, attractive shop in a just off downtown location that pulls in tens of thousands of pedestrians, some of them tourists, and having had the (mis)fortune of having a POTUS buy cookies from them. It is the cross they will have to bear.
Still, for my Café Au Lait drinking and Almond Croissant eating Loonies, I can tolerate their wild success, and also concede that I enjoy the place a lot! The drinks are for real. The pastries large, French and oh so much fun to eat.
And, a better people watching lookout you would be hard pressed to find.
Sure, there are other good bakeries in Ottawa, and some that don’t require you to consider your political position vis a vis world leaders before deciding to consume there. But, choice is what we love about our culture.
Le Moulin de Provence doesn’t mind. It will continue to manage its burden with grace.

Obama Cookies! They are famous in Ottawa, as President Obama tried them on his visit to Canada’s national city. On the doors of the entrance, you can clearly see that the cookies are sold here!
Upon entering, you are greeted by a huge array of cookies that are too good to eat!
This bakery is where the Obama cookies are sold. As it was January when we visited, they still had some Christmas and Winter spirited cookies. In addition, the bakery had a great assortment of warm and flavourful breads and desserts that we could not take our eyes off of!
The cookie is shaped as the national Canadian maple leaf and red in colour. The cookie tastes really good and makes you want to grab a cup of coffee or hot tea. We ended up doing just that, and had a pot of cream earl grey tea after enjoying the cookies.
Other than the cookies, we did not try their foods or desserts, as we were not hungry.

Moulin de Provence used to be the best French bakery and inspired café on the N end of the Byward Market building. We would come here for salad and quiche finishing off with a pastry back in the day in the early 2000’s.
Now they have seriously jumped the shark with their Obama cookie visit shrine. I mean who really cares that Obama bought some Canada cookies for his daughters here! I would respect the place more if they didn’t make a big dog and pony show and homage display case to some Obama cookies!
It was a bit expensive back then and I believe it is more expensive now!
Best of luck, by the way, it was busy back in the day, maybe the Obama cookie deal makes it busier but there are many other quick and friendly places to eat in the market building!
Methinks not for this sailor, maybe you!