While I was driving around rural New Mexico and eating meals that made me say, “Well, I guess this is pretty good, considering…” all of Astoria was on fire with news of the new French bakery, Le Petit Prince, on Broadway–where things are honestly good, with no qualifications whatsoever.

I can’t tell you how jealous I am that I missed all the initial flurry. Especially because I biked right past it the day before I left for New Mexico–but for some reason I thought that picking up my sewing machine was more important than discovering real French baguettes and buttery treats in my very own neighborhood.

I’ve complained about the faux-bistro phenomenon here in Astoria before, and I got burned at the supposedly authentic French bakery that was down on the other side of Broadway a couple of years back. But this is nothing like either of those things. This is real. The guys who run it are French. They’re selling French things. They’re using buckets and buckets of butter.

When I looked in the cases, at the pains au chocolat and the almond croissants, and the little pistachio macarons, I couldn’t help but gasp and clutch my hands together with glee. Tamara and Karl, who are already getting jaded, just sat and laughed while I did my little dance of joy. (For some pics, see Joey in Astoria.)

Then it was so heartwarming to sit there, sipping my espresso and nibbling my little raspberry-almond cake and watching people look in the window and react just the way I did: eyes widening, excitement growing, a half-smile conveying “I can’t believe I’m really seeing this.” And there were of course a few crotchety old ladies, who sniffed with scorn and kept walking–but they’re just part of what makes Astoria great.

For a while, I guess I wanted Astoria to have a little hipster scene, and maybe some more stylish, real-bistro restaurants. Now that Le Petit Prince is here, I realize that’s the only element of gentrification that I really wanted: great bread and pastries. And it’s a fantastic miracle that Astoria can get that without all the other byproducts of economic growth, such as cool home-decor shops, tapas bars, double-wide strollers, and lounges in converted factories. I will even quit complaining about the insanely ugly Pistilli/Eagle Electric building.

Astoria is complete.