Photos by Chris Bassett

7620 E. Indian School Rd., Scottsdale
480-947-0057

My friend and I were sitting on the patio at Scratch Pastries, soaking up the sunshine and polishing off a couple of magnificent desserts, when I saw three guys leaving the fast-food sub shop next door. They had sacks and giant-size soft drinks in their hands, and as I imagined them hunkering down over their dreary little lunches, I couldn’t help feeling smug. I’d just had a yummy Brie sandwich with a simple, balsamic-dressed side salad for $7.50, and my buddy had put away the better part of a spinach-goat cheese quiche – its light, flaky crust rich with butter – plus a side salad of her own for $8. Sure, the guys probably got more food, but by comparison, their lunch was completely, well, substandard. Another nine bucks and change bought us the two aforementioned desserts – dainty and oh so French.
Weeks later, I still can’t believe our good fortune. Aside from Tempe’s Essence (where Eugenia Theodosopoulos still whips up the best French macarons on the planet), there’s not a café or bakery in town offering beautiful, distinctively French pastries and baked goods at these prices. I wonder how they do it – “they” being Duc and Noelle Liao, a charming young couple who abandoned their glamorous life in Paris to move to Scottsdale and open a restaurant. Does that sound as insanely masochistic to you as it does to me? Perhaps a little background info would clear things up.

Once upon a time, Noelle was a model whose beautiful legs and hands were used in fashion photos for Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Yves St. Laurent. She met Duc (a Vietnamese-Chinese fashion photographer who grew up in France) on the job. The two fell in love, married, had two girls and began thinking about leading a quieter, more family-oriented life near Noelle’s mother, who lived in Scottsdale. As for work, they knew they wanted to do something they’d love, and what they had always loved when they were living the high life, was indulging in wonderful pastries on the weekends. Duc (who never quit his day job as a photographer and still jets to Paris for photo shoots) attended Le Cordon Bleu for two years and, after completing internships in Paris, felt ready to make some dough.
The couple moved to Scottsdale, spent a year doing research on the area and settled on what might seem an unlikely location: the Fry’s shopping center at Indian School and Miller roads. I’m guessing the rent is decent and they like being only blocks away from the heart of Old Town. All I know is, they could have set up shop in Timbuktu and I’d drive there for the jasmine butter cookies alone – so pretty and utterly buttery.
At any rate, Scratch is far more charming than its location suggests. The black and pink color scheme hints at femininity, but the sleek black tables and chairs and the fashion photos on one wall, which tell the couple’s history, support an ambience of cool, uncluttered modernity. Of course, once you see the pastry cases, you’ll have eyes for little else.