Best Bakery
Artisan Francais
One of the unexpected delights about this attractive little suburban patisserie is that the owners, the youthful husband-and-wife team Sebastiene and Brianna Saint-Ouen, are just as pretty as the delicate mousse tarts, feather-light madeleines and crispy éclairs in the display case. And visuals are just as important as taste at this artistic pastry shop. Kansas City native Brianna and her French-born mate chose Overland Park for the four-month-old Artisan Francais because there wasn't a true French bakery south of 75th Street. Now there is. In addition to those pastries, artisan breads and baguettes, they serve quiche, French-bread pizza and excellent sandwiches. For non-Johnson Countians, the trip to this bountiful bake shop is well worth the outing. It's easy to ignore the setting (a strip mall dominated by a gas station) when you're sipping espresso and nibbling on a coconut and passionfruit mousse tart in a ribbon of chocolate that's almost too lovely to eat.