Dining Out

Mary Furr

Their life experiences are as international as the European breads they

bake. Keld Pedersen grew up in western Denmark, where he was in the

Queen’s Guard and where he learned baking in his mother’s kitchen.

His wife, Jodi, grew up in Rossmoor and graduated from Los Alamitos High

School. They met at a kibbutz in Israel and lived in Caneel Bay, Virgin

Islands, where he was a pastry chef. They finally moved to Los Angeles,

where Keld was the pastry chef at the Sheraton Grand Hotel.

Lucky for us, they decided to come to Huntington Beach a year and half

ago and open the Great Dane Baking Co. on the northwest corner of

Springdale Street and Warner Avenue. They recently adding cafe lunches to

the irresistible array of Danish pastry and breads that fill the baskets

and shelves.

It is an art gallery filled with inspired creations, where children peer

into the fascinating display cases and parents view the healthy European

breads, sun-dried tomato, pesto basil and Parmesan, and Swedish limpa.

Sandwiches ($4.95-$5.35) are on your choice of eight

baked-on-the-premises breads. The Great Dane club ($5.35) is fat and

satisfying, a mouthful of smoked turkey, ham and crisp bacon on a

fresh-baked butter croissant as light as a snowflake.

There’s a great vegetarian ($5.35), with chopped artichoke, diced tomato,

green onion, shredded nutty-flavored Asiago cheese tossed with pesto

vinaigrette and stuffed inside a hollow French baguette--a crusty handful

that makes you feel as if you were sitting at a cafe in Copenhagen. Here

the seating can be inside at six small tables or outside under umbrellas.

The justly popular Roasted Chicken ($5.35) with sun-dried tomato pesto,

pine nuts and goat cheese is a unique combo made in heaven, a blend

accented with the dense bead-like nuts.

For your next party, celebrate with a specialty cake such as the

marvelous Princess Torte, a pale green marzipan dome over fine-textured

white cake with raspberry filling and real whipped cream.

Customers come to buy, look, sniff and be tempted. As one man carrying a

baby said, “I want to introduce him to the finer things of life.”

MARY FURR is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have comments or

suggestions for her, call (562) 493-5062.

FYI BOX:

THE GREAT DANE BAKING CO.

WHERE: 6855 Warner Ave., Huntington Beach

HOURS: 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Saturday, and closed Sunday

CALL: 842-1130