New Venezuelan Bakery Replaces a Dry Cleaner in a Win-Win for Everybody

A dry cleaner in our neighborhood closed a while back, and the other day we noticed that a Venezuelan bakery had taken up residence in its place. Sounds like an upgrade, doesn't it? Who cares if one’s shirts need to be Martinized if there are sweet, fresh, flaky baked goods to be consumed? The laundry can wait.
Jaiver Diaz is the pastry chef and owner behind Pan Pa’ Vos, and he's totally made the space his own. It's bright and sunny with warm wood tones and even a second level with a balcony overlooking the front counter. There's also a large window where one can watch the artisans at work preparing the croissants in a space once filled with sports coats and dresses covered in plastic on a motorized conveyor belt. Again, an upgrade.

The menu is simple, offering both sweet and savory along with a coffee bar where you can indulge in that double cappuccino or espresso. The savory includes croissant sandwiches as well as loaves of fresh bread, and the sweet options include croissants and croffins of several varieties.
Sandwich options include pulled pork with coleslaw and barbecue sauce, turkey with lettuce and cream cheese, egg with bacon and cheddar, hot or mild fried chicken with ranch and pepper jack, and brisket with roasted jalapeno. All looked fantastic, but we were here for something sweet this particular day.
It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the choices. There are croissants stuffed with dulce de leche, Nutella, caramel and pistachio, as well as red velvet, and several croffins of similar flavors. We finally settled on a couple of croissants and a croffin along with a small latte.
The almond croissant was top-notch: fresh, full of almond cream and topped with a plethora of slivered almonds. Nor did the pistachio croffin disappoint; the pistachio cream inside was not overly sweet and the hybrid shape created a nice lamination.
The high point, however, was the strawberry cream croissant. Oh, my, was it good. It was full of whipped cream with a hint of strawberry flavor that was extremely light and fresh. The croissant was flaky and not dry, topped with a dollop of that same cream and a slice of strawberry. It reminded me of the cream puffs at the county fair back in the day, something that isn’t usually obtainable in a pastry that has been sitting (at best) behind a counter for hours. It was as if it had been created especially for us on demand at that moment. And maybe it had. Easily one of the top eats so far this year.

All of this, and the prices are pretty good, too. The croffin was $4.50 and the stuffed croissants $5. Pan Pa’ Vos means “bread for you.” Go get your bread.