You know how some people are “Savoury” or “Sweet” people? You overload on your salt and vinegar chips or your fudge truffle ice cream then become disenchanted with your indulgence and have a while where you mercifully begin to fit in your pants again. I am one of those diet-unfortunate/ foodie-fortunate people who vacillates between savoury and sweet with nary a fallow period. Through some delicious field work, I’ve become learned in some of the “top” bakeries to visit while travelling the Bay.
Listed in order of personal preference, I present…
Tartine: A small/ mid sized bakery located on Guerrero street, I’d definitely recommend this as a SF “place to visit” if you have some spare time in your travel schedule. Every time I visit, I’m wowed by their deliciously executed edibles. From their soft, nutty, and perfectly sweet mexican wedding cookie ($0.75 USD) to their diet-friendly chock-full-of-fresh-fruit, vanilla bean filled fruit tart (arnd $5-6), to their chocolate eclair (arnd $5 for the biggest eclair I’ve sampled) to their croissants… wow. Their croissants are the last word in croissants, winning my praise and my “croissant connoisseur” friend’s award of “Best croissant in the World”.
I’d recommend avoiding their restaurant, Bar Tartine’s brunch, in favour for Absinthe (a wonderful place for brunch which you will be hearing more of… next week!)
Miette: Located in the historic Ferry Building, you can easily sample their delightful cupcakes, macrons, or other baked treats while “seeing the city”. I tried their “Bumblebee” cake and ate it happily and steadily days after it was first cut. PS: I was on a diet on the time, a diet I shamelessly violated in regards to their cakes!
Kara’s Cupcakes: If it’s good enough for Martha, it should be good enough for you! This place is slotted in at number three because, honestly, I’m not a cupcake lover; something about the frosting to cake ratio throws me. However, regardless of whether you are an ardent cupcake lover or a lukewarm cupcake liker, I’m sure you will delight in the sophisticated girly-ness of the bakery and the cupcakes!
Patisserie Philippe: Their mille feuille is what really grabs me: flaky, light, and not too sweet, I really enjoyed this dessert. Their other desserts however, a brioche and some other forgotten-name cake failed to impress me because of their glaze-covered fruits and liberal whipped cream ratios. The patisserie is incredibly authentic however (the founder is a famed pastry chef in Par-ee!), so I recommend it if you’re searching for a bit of France in San Francisco.
http://www.patisseriephilippe.com
Sprinkles: “The Original” haute cupcake bakery propelled to greater fame by Oprah, I had to visit this place while in California. Good (am I damning this place with faint praise… you be the judge!) but I’d choose Kara’s cupcakes over Sprinkles because of frosting hardness, cake moistness, and visual xxxplicitness. What does this cupcake look like to you?! Or is that just me seeing the porn in food porn? Of course, I would guess that the true Sprinkles “Golden Standard” is down in LA, where the founder is based. Sounds like some more market research is needed!
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Kara’s cupcakes really are rated XXXplicit! Might I ask what it looks like? In a pair? I’m not much of a sweet tooth, erring more on the side of savoury. But I do enjoy cupcakes and San Francisco, the epitome of foodie heaven. I’m not surprised by the varied locations and the fact that you tried them all. This really should be considered the sweet tooth’s guide to San fransisco!
haha no no the last photo is of a Sprinkles xxxplicit cupcake!
yummmm!!!! ok, for real, i’m about to hop on a plane right now to come visit you in SF! hello…croissants and cupcakes :) i wish…