By Heather L. King, Special to The Salt Lake Tribune -- I once heard Eva’s Bakery owner/chef Charlie Perry explain that his vision for the boulangerie — a French term for a bakery that specializes in breads — was to bring Paris back to Utah.

It was a lifelong dream of Perry’s to open the cafe in honor of his great-grandmother Eva Coombs, who trained him to respect the ingredients he worked with and instilled a passion for French cooking.

Just two blocks from Eva, his original restaurant, Perry opened Eva’s Bakery, which has won followers up and down Main Street and beyond.

When a northern Utah bakery stopped supplying fresh bread to stores along the Wasatch Front, the talented bread bakers at Eva’s Bakery filled the void, and their distinctive blue and white bags holding worship-worthy baguettes (made with special flour from bakery partner Central Milling) are available at many specialty stores.

But part of the magic of Eva’s Bakery is lost if you haven’t been to the small downtown location, easily identifiable by its bright blue exterior. Shelves filled with fresh loaves of bread line the wall at the front of the bakery. White subway tiles wrap around café tables and sunlight streams in from the skylight near the kitchen in the back.

Having just returned from a trip to Paris, where we rented an apartment above a French boulangerie, I’ve fallen more in love with this café/bakery because of its authenticity to the European dining culture.