The Placid Baker offers tasteful pastries, cheerful customer service, wide variety
In Troy, there are many small, niche shops with unique and appealing features. One of my personal favorite spots to go to in Downtown Troy is a little artisan bakery called The Placid Baker. Located on Broadway, this little bakery is a mere ten minute walk from campus and well worth the journey.
Walking into the bakery, you can immediately smell flour, chocolate, and freshly baked bread. You can almost taste the aromatic flavors permeating off the display of treats they have waiting for you. Starting from the one corner, is the beautiful display of croissants, each looking as mouthwatering as the next. Then, there is the assortment of danishes, muffins, and cornbread; each uniquely filled with a burst of savory flavor in each bite. The cookies and sablés lie next to it all: smaller but no less elegant or shy of delight. The cooled display box holds French macarons; tasting creamy, soft, and baked to perfection. The flavors of the macarons change per day, but consistently have a fruiting and nut flavor. Below the colorful array of macarons lie the creamy, chocolatey, and ever so smooth brownies. There are other treats on display within the store, all of which are just as sweet, light, and heartwarming as the last.
While being distracted by the display of food, customers are primary greeted by the wonderful staff of The Placid Baker. Each staff member has a wonderful and friendly smile on their face, and greets you with a warm “Hello, can I help you with anything?” To this, I am generally too taken back by the amazing display of food that I can only laugh and ask for more time to look at everything; they are very understanding and patiently wait for me to decide what I want. They always serve with a smile, and say “have a nice day” to every customer that orders.
The Placid Baker also has a small menu of a sandwich or two, salad, soup, tea, and coffee. They also sell baguette, ciabatta bread, and other freshly baked bread products. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, The Placid Baker makes pizzas for lunch, one that is vegetarian and one with meat. Not traditional New York style, the pizzas are baked on thick, freshly made ciabatta-like bread. Each bite of pizza has bursts of flavor in sauce, toppings, and bread—all come together and create a masterful symphony that is pizza.
The Placid Baker always has a stand in the Troy Farmer’s Market, for both indoor and outdoor markets. Each farmers market, they bake a new item that is not found in the everyday day store selection. So, to keep having a new Placid Baker treat, it is always best to go to the farmer’s market and stop by their stand. They are open from 8:30 am to 3 pm every Tuesday to Friday, and 8:30 am to 2 pm on Saturday.
Everything in the store is moderately priced and well worth the brief walk down from campus to go buy a treat and make your day better. Every time I walk in, I leave with a big, satisfied smile on my face. It is both a wonderful delight to eat, and a nice therapeutic walk to relax in the midst of being at RPI. The Placid Baker is one of my favorite places in Troy. It never ceases to live up to my expectations and leave me walking away as a very satisfied customer.