It must have been about 3 years ago that we discovered the deliciousness that is Little Bird and their amazing coffee and pastries. My Facebook memories these days are filled with Doug and I, sitting in the sunlit bakery. It was a only a ten minute walk from our house, and the variety of pastries we had yet to try kept calling us back. Since then, our lives have changed a bit. We bought a house, moved north, and had a baby. Which means no more lazy mornings, strolling through Old Town to get our butter and caffeine fix.

I woke up on a chilly, foggy morning (this happened months ago, it just took us a long time to get around to posting it), after Madeleine had let us sleep for nine, glorious uninterrupted hours, and I needed Little Bird. The smell as you get close to the little corner bakery is straight from Paris, or heaven.

When you walk in, it’s warm, bright and has a case filled with delicious sweet and savory baked goods. The espresso machine not only catches your eye, but with the help of the skilled baristas, makes one of the best espressos in town.

After some deliberation we set to ordering: the spinach and goat cheese quiche, a plain croissant, a canelé, an Americano for Doug and a cambric for me.

They warm the quiche up for you, but somehow the crust stays crispy and flaky, and the custardy egg filling redefined my idea of what a quiche can be.

The plain croissant is butter heavy, yet still airy light. Flakey, with a crispy outside and a moist interior, its about as close to Paris as you can get over here. They serve it was a side of homemade preserves (delicious, but not necessary as the croissant is great on its own).

Doug has a major sweet tooth, so he usually also wants something sugary. The canelé, a dense vanilla custard with a gooey center and a crisp, caramelized crust. The creamy flavor is perfect with a slightly bitter espresso and the different textures, crunchy and creamy meld together for a bite that has some serious layers.

Doug swears by their Americano, which he states emphatically is the best in town. But they have a huge variety of tea and coffee drinks (their cappuccino is legendary).

Its a welcoming space, with several communal tables that are easily shared, along with a couple of smaller tables and some window seating along a bar top. It’s a great spot to cozy up, gaze out over the Square as people mingle about with their friends and dogs. Its hard to imagine a coffee shop more “Fort Collins” than this.