Sometimes gluttony can be a byproduct of proximity. Other times, it’s thanks to an array of tantalizing choices. Both reasons intersected at Little T American Baker, a bakery from Tim “Little T” Healea that he debuted in 2008…around the corner from our Broder brunch. Little T proved too close, and its bread- and pastry-lined counters proved too tempting, for us to resist.

Healea apparently earned the nickname Little T while competing on a team that took silver at the 2002 Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie in Paris. He previously held the head baker post at locally famous Pearl Bakery before debuting his modern, glass fronted bakery on the northwest corner of the copper-sided, mixed-use Clinton Condominiums building.

The minimalist interior includes wood shelves and tables, a concrete floor and blackboard menu.

In back, they have a WP Matador deck oven, which yields many bread varietals.

The counterwoman was surprised they still had any olive loaves left, so of course we were intrigued, and subsequently glad that we snagged the bumpy focaccia studded with green olives.

Marionberry crumb cake, featured a – you guessed it – crumbly top, plenty of plump, tart berries, and a cake rich with butter and brown sugar.

Little T’s buttery croissant demonstrated good chew but wasn’t especially flaky.

Our wrapped breads also included a yellow baguette with so much chew that it was a jaw workout, which in the end was probably even more satisfying.

Little T has style to spare, plenty of pastry panache, and elements we didn’t even explore, like sandwiches on pretzel bread, and a Stumptown Coffee program.