Friday, October 18, 2013

b. patisserie -San Francisco


Marble topped tables, bright yellow chairs and fresh flowers- I'm in !
 On our recent visit my Aunt surprised us our first morning with amazing croissants. It was not until I scoured Chowhound for additional meal ideas that I found out that the new hot spot patisserie in her neighborhood was the source of the wonderful croissants !  She was as excited as we were to learn of all the fuss and read the background about the new(ish) store. 

The name is b.patisserie. It is closed on Mondays, which we learned on a Saturday night and this meant we would have to deal with a busy Sunday crowd. So like good tourists, we stalked the place. We walked home from Saturday night's Thai meal specifically on a route that would allow us to peek into the windows.
Macaron art above the coffee bar......
One of the wonderful things about the bakery is that it was specifically designed to have the kitchen in the open, so we could watch the "night bakers" working. 

As kismet had it, just as we stalked peeked inside, a smiling young lady came up the sidewalk and gave us a big hello.  She said she was a morning baker and was stopping by to say hi to her friends. She spoke to us for a few minutes, telling us about the bakery and asked where we were from and said she looked forward to seeing us back there in the morning.

And of course, her name was "Honey".  
lousy picture of a wonderful person- "Honey" is in the foreground.
 Even with this photo you can see the wattage of her smile !!
She was fabulous and even though the thought of a hot new bakery on a Sunday morning terrified me - we were going.

 
I was pleasantly delighted at how comfortable the busy bakery remained. And the decor- LOVE IT.  Many of the Doristas who visited Seattle recently learned or tested the famous Kouign Amann pastry at the Macrina Bakery. I had also discussed the pastry with Dorie herself (pinch me. seriously) at breakfast and needless to say I was hooked. 
Kouign Amann- "queen aman"
Guess what one of the house specialties is - yup.  Kouign Amann. We treated ourselves to the seasonal one with apple and cinnamon, and a chocolate one to boot. Oh my.

Honey was there as promised, along with other busy bakers and she gave us a huge hello and smile, treating us like long lost friends (and NOT the stalkers we were acting like).
starting to load dessert pastries for the afternoon.....
If you are ever in the Pacific Heights part of San Francisco I would heartily encourage you to pop in for a visit. And tell Honey we sent you :)

10 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Replies
    1. Not since the airlines stopped serving food.....:)

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  3. Looks great! I'll have to plan a trip to SF just to visit that bakery! Those Kouign Amann look way crispier than the ones I've been getting at Whole Foods.

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  4. Thanks for posting!! I tried going to b before leaving SF for MT last summer and they were still in the build out. Looks lovely and the crew, fabulous!

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  5. Love your review...will head over to PAC Heights and do a little stalking of my own!

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  6. I love that you stalked the place :-)

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  7. Well I'm putting this on my list of places to "stalk" in SF when I go later this week! :) Looks like you have had a lot of fun! (and good food!)

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  8. Oh gosh! I loved your account of the visits to the bakery. I need to find a bakery that makes Kouign Amanns here or in Florida stat!

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  9. macarons are my absolute favorite!!! I'll have to check this place out next time I'm in SF. Miette is also a good one if you're in SF again.

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