Ready to break from your morning routine and delight in creamy, sweet, deliciousness? Read on for six ethnic bakeries west of I25. Everything is fresh, made from scratch, and sure to satisfy that sweet tooth craving.
Das Meyer (German)
Family-owned Das Meyer has graced this west Arvada neighborhood for almost 40 years. Find them just off 64th Street on the east side of Arbutus Street. Back open from their yearly January break, they are busy baking up a storm. Pies, cookies, strudels, and cheesecakes decorate the shelves.
However, Das Meyer is probably best known for its creation of “wow-factor” layer cakes, as well as wedding cakes. Two-layer or four-layer all-occasion cakes only require a three-day lead time. Mix and match your favorite cake flavors with an assortment of in-between jams, custards, or frostings. For example, custom fillings include chocolate mousse, Pina colada, or passionfruit to name a few.
The best part is dreaming up the cake topping decorations. Options include smooth silvery icing or bold rainbow colors. Pair the base palette with detailed dollops of flowers or intricate fruit designs. Add accessories. Possibilities are as vast as your imagination. For example, one customer created a Covid-19 cake.
Das Meyer has some outdoor seating and a wide-open parking lot. Their cottage-type building is directly beside the historical Morningside Manor event center. Note that the bakery only accepts cash and local checks.
Dolce Sicilia (Italian)
The tempting fragrance of authentic Sicilian baking will greet you. This cozy Wheat Ridge bakery is tucked into the northeast corner of Wadsworth Blvd. at West 32nd Avenue. Please drive slow, or you might whiz by it, and that would be a shame.
Dolce Sicilia is another family-owned bakery. It offers a wide assortment of pastries such as tiramisu and cannolis dipped with either chocolate chips or pistachios. The amaretto pignolia nut cookies are plump and meaty. Dolce Sicilia’s biscotti is so fresh, you can eat it like a cookie. No dunking needed.
Treat yourself to a lobster. Yes, you heard that right. The lobster resembles a cream puff only in that it conceals a delicious goo. Almost 100 layers of flaky dough compose an accordion-style shell. Fantastico!
Arriving around lunchtime? Try a piece of their incredible pizza. Five dollars gets you a 3×6 rectangle, basically two squares. Opt for the Margherita, airy, crunchy crust with tomato sauce dotted with grape tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, or choose one of their other varieties. Order to go or enjoy outdoors at a curbside table. Ciao!
La Patisserie Francaise (French)
A tiny, family-owned bakery with a big heart. That is La Patisserie Francaise, the 2016 Business of the Year recipient. Easy to spot with ample parking, find La Patisserie next to Target on Wadsworth Blvd. at 80th Avenue.
French-inspired confections and must-haves include truffles, petit fours, meringue, and glace fruit tarts. Check out their cute “swans” that sit atop a chocolate custard-filled body. The swans sprout little wings that cover creamy, vanilla mousse. Of course, no trip would be complete without at least staring at the macaroons. Go on. You know you want one.
La Patisserie’s owners, Sadie and Randy, support the Arvada Community Table. Their bakery is a big part of the community. Students at Fitzmorris Elementary School love receiving individualized birthday cookies created by La Patisserie. La Patisserie has also donated numerous goody bags for nurses at local hospitals.
Rheinlanders (German)
Another great family-owned German bakery in Denver’s west suburbs is Rheinlander Bakery. Look for them in Old Town Arvada. The smell alone walking into this place will make you want to try every single item. Well-stocked Rheinlanders presents an assortment of German strudels, coffee cakes, and cookies.
In addition, they bake holiday specialties. Preorder Thanksgiving pumpkin or fruit-filled pies. Consider Stollen, a specialty from Dresden, for Christmas. Stollen is a bread pastry dotted with candied fruits or nuts, sometimes with icing, and sometimes dipped in rum. You can put your orders in ahead of time with a contactless pickup in the back of their building.
Rheinlanders is celebrating 57 years, but another milestone is occurring in 2021. The current owners, Ed and Maro Dimmer, are retiring. In their words, they are passing the rolling pin to new owners Loren and Luke Naftz. The Naftz couple has worked at Rheinlanders for almost nine years and has officially taken over in early 2021.
So, stop by and congratulate Loren and Luke. Enjoy a pastry and sit outside. Note that some streets in Old Town have been sectioned off to make room for outdoor dining. There is still plenty of parking on side streets or the parking garage by the train off Grandview Avenue.
Royal Bakery (Polish)
Opened in 2001, Royal Bakery has firmly established itself on Ralston Road just off of West 58th Avenue. Their location is not far from Old Town Arvada. Family-run Royal Bakery is best known for their Paczki (pronounced poonch-kee) selling 8,000 on Paczki Day alone in 2020.
Heavenly soft dough concealing jam or other fillings, Paczki’s are a well-loved Polish tradition. Royal Bakery offers Paczki’s stuffed with plum, raspberry, rose hip, and custard. The plum flavor is the sweetest, followed by the raspberry. My favorite is the rose hip which has a mild, floral flavor.
Andrej (Andy) Nowotarski and his wife Janina were born in Poland but met in New Jersey. Schooled in Krakow, Andy received his master pastry chef and culinary instructor degree. He enjoyed a visit to the U.S. so much he decided to move here in 1984, where he met Janina. The couple eventually moved to Colorado, and we are lucky to have them in Arvada.
Royal Bakery also creates 14 specialty cakes, including a chocolate and lemon mousse “Polish Delight” cake. Not sure which one? Customize your own. Plus, take home some cabbage rolls and pierogies for dinner. Or choose a hand-painted egg as a gift.
Taste of Denmark (Danish)
One of my favorite secret escapes has been to grab a cream puff (or two) at Taste of Denmark and enjoy it on their sweet little patio. My getaway might be facing fierce competition since discovering the lobster and the swan.
Nevertheless, if you find yourself southwest of Denver on a Thursday through Sunday, be sure to visit Taste of Denmark. Located just before Kipling Street on West Jewell Avenue, the bakery is opposite Kendrick Lake Park. They have their own parking lot.
Taste of Denmark has been around for 21 years. Owners Ronny Tronoe and wife/business partner Diana Honoe have graduated from the best Danish pastry schools in Denmark. Ronny even won the Best Danish Young Baker award in 1990. He spent a couple of years in the “Little Scandinavia” city of Solvang, California. Moving to Colorado, Ronny set up shop in 2000 and has been teasing locals’ taste buds ever since.
Choose from light but robust croissants, flavorful pies, flaky Kringle’s and strudels, just-baked bread and rolls, an assortment of fruity tarts, and other specialties.
Do not miss those cream puffs. Sprinkles of sugar caress your lips as you bite down into an inch or more of pillowy, softness submerging deeper into not too sweet, creamy custard surrounded by airy dough. For a moment, you are floating on a cloud in confectioners heaven.
