In my origins, I’m a Colon Buay. I still am, when it comes to my standards of what makes a good michi. Colon consumers simply demand higher standards when it comes to bread. So far I have found nothing in Panama City that compares to the denser, moister loaves that you can get hot out of the oven in Colon.

But in my Panama City neighborhood a bakery that’s been there for a long time just acquired new management and the improvement has been remarkable.

On Via España past Colegio Javier and a few blocks before it bears left and turns into Avenida Central, across the street and slightly diagonal from the Pie X, you will find the Panaderia y Dulceria El Descanso. If you appreciate good bread --- whether or not that comes from exposure to Colon --- and have an especial fondness for tuna on whole wheat, this is the place to go.

I say that not because this place makes tuna sandwiches, but because they make excellent whole wheat bread, better than any other that I have encountered in Panama. It’s not the sliced industrial fare, but loaves shaped in the French bread style, not too heavy and not too light, with a smell, texture and taste that’s just right. Buy one, take it home and cut it into two to four lengths, then slice horizontally and slather on something like my favorite gooey Miracle Whip, canned tuna and diced dill pickle concoction and you have a tuna sandwich that doesn’t fit the gringo stereotype, but surpasses it.

But then, the strong point of this establishment is not so much as a panaderia but as a dulceria.

I haven’t tried all their goodies. Just their guava-filled cookies. And a slice of their pineapple pie. And a strawberry concoction. And the pineapple upside-down cake. This isn’t the half of it, or even close to that.

They really ought to put a warning on these premises, along with a phone number for Gordos Anónimos. Without self-discipline and moderation, the sweets at Panaderia y Dulceria El Descanso could be deadly. But a slice every now and then is good for you.

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