On the corner of E. Thompson Blvd, edging Ventura’s downtown mainstreet, a once empty brick building is now filled with the savory aroma of homemade pastries and steam from warm pots of fresh ground coffee. Built on the grounds of a one-hundred year old building, Butter & Fold has a uniquely curated energy that celebrates simplistic vintage style. Sunlight falls on green-tiled countertops from the wide, green and gold framed windows, giving a warm light to the rustic wood walls.
With a variety of baked goods and quality drinks, the wide array of oven-hot buttery pastries includes croissants, danishes, tarts, and mini-french baguettes all from natural and organic ingredients made by owner, Gina Galileo.
“Everything is made from scratch, all from local California-based farms,” Galileo said. “That feeling of homemade [food] has a different taste than something that is being produced in super large quantities.
Galileo said many people speak highly of their vanilla latte which is made within house vanilla that is used to extract a rich vanilla flavor. Their latte art is also impressive and not to be missed.
Right away, I searched for my favorite thing: a matcha latte. Aside from the classic unsweetened matcha latte option, you can also add syrups such as vanilla or lavender. The tea was authentic ceremonial grade matcha which is noticeably more flavorful than many other, low-quality producers.
Alongside the matcha tea latte, I ordered the pastry for which the shop was named after, croissant. Each layer of the mini-butter croissant melted in my mouth after a crisp bite. They were so perfect looking, I almost felt guilty ruining them, but quickly got over that feeling because of how delicious it was.
“I wanted to give the community a place where they can come and relax and feel like they’re at home, and real quality croissants,” Galileo said.
With that, I thanked the owner and baristas and packed my backpack, as Butter & Fold is bound to become a weekly ritual study spot, something I think all Buena High students could get great use of in contrast to the noise of other study spaces.
