A weekly notebook about dining options during the Covid-19 shutdown, with a focus on quality and ease of pickup and delivery. Remember, the people serving up the food are part of the front line; keep it in mind when tipping.

La Saison Bakery croissants

A croissant from La Saison Bakery near Fresh Pond. (Photo: La Saison Bakery)

Recently opened La Saison Bakery, down Concord Avenue as you head toward Fresh Pond in the storefront formerly occupied by Violette Bakers (now on Massachusetts Avenue in Porter Square), serves up some of the best baked goods in a town with a bounty of good bakeries. Most specifically, go to La Saison (The Season) for the croissants, light and airy yet buttery; you can let them sit around for three days and they’re almost as fresh as when bakery owner Soheil Fathi pulls them from the oven. Perfect for breakfast (plain, or load it with scrambled eggs and cheese), use it as a sandwich bun for lunch (brie and turkey) or as a side roll for dinner. I could eat these all day long. Other big hits at Fathi’s bakery are the sinful chocolate fudge cookies, and my daughter loves the yeasty sourdough loaves – which, like the croissants, stay fresh for days. Fathi, a native of Iran who formerly worked at Flour, generously offers advice to bread fanatics and the curious on how best to keep purchases fresh. He’s also one of the most gentle, approachable proprietors you’ll find – again, in a town where we are blessed with a glut of such wonderful humans making food for us.

On thing to note about Fathi and his less-than-one-month-old bakery and chocolatier: Goods are often sold out a day or so in advance (and La Saison is open only Wednesday through Sunday); best to call and reserve in advance, and early in the day. Supply volumes may soon change, as Fathi says a second oven is on the way. I know La Saison is still ramping up, but I can’t wait to try the bakery’s many versions of sourdough cracker that look buttery, rich and satiating, specifically the sea salt flake version. In the interim, the want for those croissants is hard to shake.

La Saison Bakery (407 Concord Ave., Neighborhood 9 near Fresh Pond)

Tom Meek is a writer living in Cambridge. His reviews, essays, short stories and articles have appeared in the WBUR ARTery, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Globe, The Rumpus, The Charleston City Paper and SLAB literary journal. Tom is also a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and rides his bike everywhere.