New Owner Takes Over Baguettes Deli

, the casual sandwich shop started by the same couple that brought to Elk Grove, gained a new owner this month. Paula Hunley of Wilton took over the deli from Bret and Debora Bohlmann May 1.

Hunley, who started at Baguettes as a part-time employee, will now co-own it with her husband, Larry, and says she plans to stick to the same combination of bread baked on site, fresh ingredients and cheery atmosphere that made Baguettes a hit.

Baguettes , offering bold sandwiches like Vietnamese Banh Mi and a spicy grilled ham and cheese with apricot jam. Despite its non-descript, signless location in a shopping center on Elk Grove Florin Road, it's one of the few independently-owned restaurants in Elk Grove to provide a European-style cafe ambiance, with outdoor patio tables and bright, modern decor.

Lines were soon forming around the corner during the lunch hour, said Debora Bohlmann, and it became a little too much for the Bohlmanns to juggle on top of Boulevard Bistro, the they run on Elk Grove Blvd in Old Town. "It needed its own owner-operator that could focus and be there full-time," she said. Hunley, who owned a catering business for 17 years before taking time off to raise children, was "a natural fit because she's done this before and knew what she was getting into."

The Bohlmanns will continue to own and operate the Bistro, along with a weekend-only small plates pantry at The Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg.

New menu items: Three classic sandwiches—a pulled pork with coleslaw and jalapeños, a California turkey with Applewood bacon and avocado, and a roast beef with provolone and horseradish sauce—all made their debut this month. Unfilled baguettes can now be bought onsite to take home.

What will go: Not much. The New Orleans-style Muffaletta is no longer on the menu, and other sandwiches, like the Banh Mi, will only make occasional appearances as specials.

On the horizon: Hunley tends three gardens and said soon all the produce in Baguettes' sandwiches will come from them. She's applying for a license to serve wine and beer, and hopes to add breakfast to the menu—including Belgian waffles, coffee drinks and muffins—sometime in June. "I love to barbecue and smoke tri-tip and brisket," she said. "Hopefully in the future I'll be able to bring a smoker down and so some weekend specials like tri-tip sandwiches."