French Bakery Near Me on the Miami River: Ficelle's Award-Winning Baguette

Ficelle Bakery is a French boulangerie and pâtisserie at River Landing, the shopping and residential complex at 1440 NW North River Drive on the Miami River. It opens at 7 am every day, bakes its bread on site, and in 2024 took both best baguette and best croissant in a statewide French baking competition. For a french bakery near me with a real baguette and a seat by the water, this is the address.

The bakery's About page tells the story of its founder, Olivier Rizk, who started Ficelle Boulangerie & Patisserie in 2021. As a child he spent his days at his uncle's bakery in South Florida, Delices De France, watching, learning and occasionally dipping his fingers into the chocolate éclairs in the showcase. After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, he moved to New York to work under the head baker at Maison Kayser.

He started there as a baker and, according to the same page, rose to sous chef in two years. In 2019, Rizk and Maison Kayser's head baker Yann Ledoux won the Best Baguette New York Grand Jury Prize, taking first place in a city with no shortage of serious bakers. The page quotes two lines that sum up his approach: love and passion are the key to a good baguette, and bread is a daily production, but every day is different.

Miami New Times reported in November 2024 that Ficelle had won both best baguette and best croissant in Florida at the annual competition held by the French American Association of Crafts and Trades and the online magazine French Morning, on October 27 at the National Hotel in Miami Beach. Judges praised the baguettes for a golden crust and airy crumb from a sourdough starter and fine French flour, and the croissants, also built on a sourdough base, for their flakiness and nuanced flavor.

The paper described Ficelle as a family business founded with Rizk's two brothers, and quoted him saying that he and his brothers are proud to bring authentic, artisanal French baking to Miami. The same report said the family was preparing a new wholesale facility and a Bistro by Ficelle, which now has its own page on the bakery's website as Le Bistro.

The bakery's name is a clue to its priorities. In French, ficelle means string, and it is the word bakers use for a baguette rolled extra thin, so that almost every bite is crust. Naming the shop after the most crust-forward loaf in a French bakery is a statement that bread comes first here, ahead of cakes and pastries.

Start with the namesake. On the menu posted on the bakery's website, the ficelle, a thin baguette, costs $2, the classic baguette $3 and the epi baguette $3.25. A ciabatta is $3.50, a walnut raisin loaf $5.95, and the cranberry pecan and whole-wheat sourdough loaves are $7 each. Google reviewers mention the baguette almost as often as the croissants, and several call it the best in Miami. Buy two if you plan to eat one in the car.

The pastry list is long and fairly priced. The croissant is $3.50, the chocolate croissant $4, the guava croissant $4.25 and the Nutella croissant $4.50, while the almond and chocolate almond croissants are $5.50. Ham and cheese and turkey and cheese croissants are also $5.50, and a spinach quiche is $6.25. In the dessert case, a classic éclair is $4.50 and the strawberry caramel éclair, which customers keep praising in reviews, is $5.50. Fruit tarts and mousse cakes, including a Belgian chocolate mousse, are $5.95.

The sourdough base mentioned by the competition judges is the detail to taste for. A croissant leavened partly with a starter tends to have a slightly tangy, more complex flavor than one made with commercial yeast alone, and the plain $3.50 version is the cleanest way to notice it. Order one plain croissant alongside whatever filled pastry you came for and eat it first, while the outside is still crisp.

The sandwich menu covers lunch for most visitors. Le Parisien puts black forest ham, Swiss cheese, butter, Dijon and cornichons on a baguette for $9.95, the Tunisien fills a croissant with tuna, olives and capers for $10.95, and a breakfast brioche with eggs and ham or turkey is $9.95, served from 7 to 11 am. The coffee bar keeps Miami habits: espresso is $2.25, a colada $2.75, a cortado $3.50 and a latte or cappuccino $4.25.

For a sit-down meal, the bakery runs Le Bistro by Ficelle, which its website describes as classic French cuisine with Mediterranean flair. The menu includes seared salmon with beurre blanc over pomme purée, grilled octopus with romesco, a Provençal bowl of roasted vegetables and grains, chocolate chip pancakes with lemon ricotta berry compote, and a burger on a brioche bun. It makes Ficelle a full-day stop rather than only a bread run.

River Landing is easy by car, and one Google reviewer described it as a parking friendly mall, which is rare for a Miami bakery this good. The complex sits on the north bank of the Miami River, a short drive from the Civic Center and the hospitals of the Health District, and its riverfront promenade gives you a place to eat with a view of boats moving upstream. The bakery's own testimonials mention a meal overlooking the river, and an outdoor table is the best seat in the house on a cool morning.

Address: 1440 NW North River Drive, Suite 184, Miami, FL 33125, inside River Landing Shops & Residences. Hours: Monday to Friday 7 am to 7 pm, Saturday and Sunday 7 am to 6 pm. Ficelle $2, baguette $3, croissant $3.50, almond croissant $5.50, strawberry caramel éclair $5.50, Le Parisien sandwich $9.95. Breakfast sandwiches until 11 am. Outdoor seating by the river; Le Bistro by Ficelle serves a full French-Mediterranean menu.