French pastries arrived on the corner of Ninth and K streets Dec. 8 when Estelle’s Patisserie opened without fanfare to gauge the market before adjusting and doing a grand opening sometime in January.

“The customers have been so supportive,” said owner Esther Son, whose first name translates to Estelle in French. “I’ve owned other businesses, and this group down here is just so dynamic and supportive.”

The staff of about 12 starts baking as early as 3 a.m., and the bakery offers about 35 items – from fruit tarts, puff pastries and croissants to soups, sandwiches and baguettes.

Image by: Brandon Darnell Cream-filled puff pastries, raspberry and blueberry tarts, buttery croissants and Madeleines in various flavors from chocolate to poppyseed top the pastry selection. Also available are shortbread cookies, caprese sandwiches – tomato, mozzarella and basil on a baguette – and a host of soups and quiches.

All items are made in-house, including sauces.

The most popular items so far have been the croissant sandwiches and the puff pastries, Son said.

Image by: Brandon Darnell Image by: Brandon Darnell Danielle Blacet, a 35-year-old Folsom resident who works across the street from the bakery at a political trade association, said the tomato bisque soup was excellent and reason enough to go back.

Image by: Brandon Darnell “I’m glad to have something here again,” she said, noting that the space previously housed Danielle’s Creperie and La Bou. “People in our office like to try new things, and having this on K Street is great.”

Sacramento real estate developer Kipp Blewett, 46, said he had Estelle’s Patisserie cater an event for him, and he was pleased with the pastries, returning Tuesday afternoon for lunch.

“What Temple is to coffee, Esther (Son) is to pastries,” he said. “We have little pieces of Paris on K Street. Who would have thought?”

Image by: Brandon Darnell Teo Judal, a 65-year-old retired Woodland resident, said he came to the pastry shop looking for a rum baba – a pastry he said is hard to find in Sacramento – but wasn’t able to get one at Estelle’s Patisserie.

“I had the almond tart instead,” he said. “It was good, and I think they have a good location.”

Linda Anderson, a 63-year-old Sacramentan who works with Blacet, has been to the pastry shop multiple times.

“The potato leek soup was the best I’ve ever had, and I make it at home,” she said. “I also had the vegetable quiche, and the crust was impeccable. The quiche was a perfect consistency.”

She said the prices aren’t the cheapest – they range from $1 for a Madeleine cookie to about $4.50 for a fruit tart – but they are a good value for the quality.

“I had the shortbread cookie, and it was the perfect mix of flour, butter and sugar,” she said. “It’s really good, and you can tell they pay a lot of attention to detail.”

Image by: Brandon Darnell Son said she is building up a following for the catering side of the business, with free deliveries throughout downtown Sacramento for orders of $80 or more, and a fee of about $10 for orders less than $80.

The pastry shop is located at Ninth and K streets and is open from 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Darnell.