Acme Bread Company

1 Ferry Bldg
Marketplace Shop #15
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 288-2978

http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/acme_bread_company.php

Founder Steve Sullivan opened Acme in 1983 and is largely responsible for the artisan bread revolution in America. Prior to his nationwide success, he attended Berkeley and bused tables at Chez Panisse. While vacationing in England, he was inspired and developed a serious passion for bread baking. In time, he would bake breads in-house for Chez Panisse, which eventually led him to open Acme with his wife.

 

There was a commercial ambiance as we walked into the Acme storefront embodied by an array of loaves displayed. Each with a description and price tags marked in the center. Della Fattoria, the bakery stall towards the back of the Farmers Market was more up our alley. It's hard to maintain that same connection to the customer when you are turning out thousands of loaves a day.

If I want good bread at home, I'll likely head to La Brea Bakery. With that as my barometer, I find La Brea more rustic and earthy in flavor. But, there were highlights at Acme. The herb slab and the walnut cranberry loaf were two that come to mind. One of the disappointments was the sourdough loaf;  I expected more depth of flavor.

(Sourdough loaf)

(Walnut Cranberry loaf)

 (Walnut Cranberry loaf- inside)

Tartine Bakery

600 Guerrero St

San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 487-2600

www.tartinebakery.com

I first heard about Tartine on the Food Network where they were showcasing their Double Pain au Chocolat. I read about the husband and wife team of Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt and was impressed by their extensive experience, not to mention the natural intrigue of their training in France.

(line about 30 minutes after opening time)

We arrived a few minutes after opening time and there was already a line out the door, albeit a steadily moving one. Our original plan was to try three or four pastries. I’m not sure what happened to that plan. Either impulse set in with the smell and sight of the pastries in full view teasing for a new home or maybe we grew hungry waiting for almost 10 minutes to get to the front of the line. As expected the seating was limited; by the time we ordered the only area available was the standing counter in clear view of the passing line outside. We placed our six pastries, each a meal in itself, on the counter knowing we still had two savory treats coming from the kitchen. I must say our gluttony may have stirred a little bit of awkwardness. One can only imagine the conversations being had outside, “Hey Becky, come look at what this fat ass ordered!”

The rundown

$3.50 Gougere (6)
Although it looked grand and had a decent flavor. I find that the smaller counterparts have a more intense cheese distribution.

$3.75 Morning Buns (4)
I'm not sure why we choose this one. It's made with their croissant dough, but the light sugary topping was not pronounced enough to compliment the dough.

$4.95 Eclair (10)
Pure heaven. Just look at how much vanilla custard filling is inside this thing. It's finished with a glaze of Valrhona chocolate.

$4.25 Frangipane Croissant (7)
Tartine's take on frangipane, or almond pastry. While this one was very good, I can't say I crave it.

$3.50 Small Bread Pudding (8)
Great quality bread pudding. Fairly simple with fresh ingredients. That seems to be the theme at Tartine.

$4.25 Double Pain au Chocolat (6)
I had high expectations for this pastry since it was the first one that attracted us to the bakery. While the croissant was light and flaky, I didn't find that the chocolate melted well enough into the buttery croissant.I would have preferred a plain version to the Pain au Chocolat.

$4.75 Ham & Cheese Quiche (8)
Quiche has its limitations, but this one shined through with quality ingredients. It was heightened with Niman smoked ham and crème fraiche.

$9.75 Croque Monsieur (10)
Open face sandwich with béchamel, gruyere, thyme and pepper topped with smoked Niman Ranch ham. What an ending to the meal, it's the simple comfort food that we seem to remember most. Just bread, béchamel, cheese, and ham, but the quality of the components were excellent and came together beautifully. The best croque monsieur I have had to date.

I got a copy of the Tartine Bakery cookbook when we got back to Los Angeles and can’t wait to try a few of the pastries we had, maybe this holiday season. I only wish they had their recipe for the croque monsieur in there.

Vanilla Bake Shop

512 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 458-6644

www.vanillabakeshop.com

Following a successful dessert catering business, Amy Berman and her husband decided to culminate their culinary dream and opened Vanilla Bake Shop a few blocks from the Santa Monica shoreline. The name came from their culinary school days, when their instructor told them vanilla was the world's most universally loved flavor. Peculiarly, the word I would most associate with vanilla is plain. But, this bake shop is far from plain vanilla.

$1.25 Chocolate Macaroon (6)
There was about five flavors present on my visit. All made in-house, with the chocolate being the only one with a homemade center, so I chose that one. I'm not much of a macaroon fan, not solely because it's French, but they have this 'day-old' taste when you first bite into them. The creaminess of filling took it above average.

$1.65 Tart (top to bottom) Chocolate Peanut Butter (8) S'mores (9),
Passion Fruit Cheesecake (6)
It wasn't the best peanut butter dish I've tried, but it's very difficult to screw up chocolate and PB together. I've never met a s'mores I liked....until now. The marshmallow, the component I find most unappealing, appeared to be lightened with some cream and caramelized to perfection. The cheesecake was just ordinary with no memorable or additive flavors.

$2 Icebox Dessert Shots - Dirt Cake (7), Southern Banana Pudding (9)
Of all the desserts we tried, I'd have to give a slight edge to the dessert shots as the best. I loved how these tiny little cups packed so much flavor between each layer. At $2 a pop, they would be perfect as a side treat when you're hosting a cocktail party. The Banana Pudding was my favorite of the visit highlighted by the pastry crumb finish.

$20 - 12 Cupcake Babies (left to right)

(top row) Bittersweet Dark Chocolate - Dark Chocolate Cake, Bittersweet Chocolate Frosting, Chocolate Sprinkles (6), Toasted Coconut - Vanilla Bean Cake, Toasted Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting (7), Spicy Carrot - Carrot Cake, Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (7), Key Lime
Yellow Butter Cake, Key Lime filling, Creamy Vanilla Frosting, Graham Cracker Crust Crumbles (9)


(middle row) Vanilla Bean - Creamy Vanilla Bean Cake, Madagascar Bourbon, Vanilla Bean Frosting (6) Mom's Birthday Cake - All American Yellow Cake, Milk Chocolate Frosting (5), Banana Chocolate Chip - Banana Chocolate Chip Cake, Cream Cheese Frosting (8), Meyer Lemon Raspberry - Yellow Butter Cake, Lemon Curd Center, Vanilla Bean Frosting & Raspberries (8)


(bottom row) Black & White - Dark Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Bean and Dark Chocolate Frosting (7) Chocolate Vanilla Bean - Dark Chocolate Cake, Creamy Madagascar Bourbon, Vanilla Bean Frosting (6) Southern Red Velvet - Southern Red Velvet Cake, Sweet Cream Cheese Frosting (6), Key Lime (see above)

Doing a sampling of the babies is a great way to go on your first visit. The cupcakes that I liked the best typically had to do with the moistness, affinity towards certain flavors, and a center filling. My favorites were the Key Lime, Lemon Raspberry, and Banana Chocolate. The only one I didn't care for was the Mom's Birthday Cake.

Röckenwagner Bakery

3 Square Cafe + Bakery
1121 Abbot Kinney
Venice, CA 90291
310-399-6504 (P)
http://www.rockenwagner.com

Hans Röckenwagner landed in Los Angeles opening his first restaurant, Röckenwagner , in 1985, followed by a more casual bistro, Röck, in 1999. It was his son, Hansi, who came up with the idea to add two dots above the O in his last name. It was rumored to resemble a chomping mouth because his dad was always eating something.

After copious awards, he appears to have elevated his lifestyle to three bakeries on the west side in Mar Vista, Santa Monica, and Venice. I haphazardly chose the Venice location tapped 3 Square Cafe, but primarily sourced with Röckenwagner bakery products. As we were selecting our treats, Hans sneaked into the bakery to steal some goods for what appeared to be a picnic with his family.

$1.50 Pretzel Roll (10)
A great pretzel is such a find. Most bakeries don't sell them and your fortuitous enough when it arrives as part of a bread basket in a restaurant, I love them. This one was up there and I expected no less from Röckenwagner , a golden crust, lightly salted and the ideal chewy center with a hint of egg yolk. It was simply perfect.

Another reason to befriend the pretzel is a little known fact that George Bush, the dumb one, was knocked unconscious after choking on a pretzel while watching a football game on TV. Kids should be very careful when eating hard pretzels; Bush was 55 at the time of the incident. FYI - April 26th was designated National Pretzel Day in the U.S.

$2.50 Pretzel Roll with Cheddar Cheese and Jalapeno (7)
Similar to the original, but I think Hans should have taken a page from the Japanese culinary book and kept it simple. The cheese and jalapeno does not add to the overall enjoyment.

$2.50 Pretzel Twist with Poppy Seed, Sesame Seed, Cheddar, and Bacon (7)
No pun intended, but this was a positive twist of the original. Adding a thin layer of cheese with the addition of the seeds was the key combination. The bacon also added some moisture and saltiness to the center.

$3 Triple Berry Cake (9)
My favorite of the sweet treats. Three kinds of reduced berries are layered within the softest of dough. Imagine biting through an expensive down pillow rubbed in butter, obviously on the heavy side and worth every calorie.

$2 Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookie (8)
An above average example of a peanut butter cookie spooning a dollop of strawberry preserves. The cookie itself has chucks of peanut in the dough, good quality and a logical marriage of two inseparable ingredients. Dare I say, it's one smart cookie.

$5 Chocolate Caramel Tart (4)
We sat outside and went for this one first. In a matter of unwrapping the dessert, the center had melted. Once we ate it, the chocolate and caramel was too soft and the crust was still dead hard. The quality of the filling could not be denied, but it was already ruined. Save for winter months.

$3 Ginger scone (6)
I'm not a big scone person. It was, however, better than an average scone. Caramelized ginger is scattered throughout the scone and an ample butter portion kept the encrusted center tasting more like a scone and less like a stone.

A highly recommended bakery offering over 20 different products ranging from pretzels to panini, but the core 10 treats displayed in the window front are executed well. Concentrate on what you know and do it well, that's the key to the success at Röckenwagner.

Sarkis Bakery

Sarkis Bakery has been in business for more than 25 years specializing in Middle Eastern and Armenian desserts. Their flagship bakery, located in the Armenian capital of Glendale, CA., is filled with dozens of diiferent treats, the most I've seen at any bakery recently.

We ordered over a dozen different treats that ranged in price between 50 cents and $1. I've organized the desserts between ones I enjoyed and the ones I did not with a few notes.

Desserts I enjoyed:

1) Deep-fried filo wrapped around creamy ishta cheese. The preparation created a crisp seal to the soft filling. The cheese, however, tasted of inferior quality, a poor man's ricotta cheese.

2) Probably my favorite, a sesame encrusted cookie with a date filling. It was the most balanced flavor combination thanks lack of simple syrup.






1)
2)



Desserts I did not enjoy:
3) The desserts are drenched in simple syrup to the point that it overwhelmed any other existent flavor.

4) The most interesting dessert of the day. Zulubia, described as yeast-leavened batter, fancifully swirled into hot oil until cooked and dipped in a special flavored syrup. After just one bite, you get nothing but sugar and you can't nor would you want to take another bite.

5) A sesame and almond cookie respectively. Dry as dirt and both had me screaming for a fresh glass of camel's milk.

6) I've vacationed in Tokyo on several occasions and this is just unappetizing baklava. It should be enjoyed the day it is prepared rather than a week later. This was evidenced in the denture tender nuts and the buttered filo top layer.

3)


3)

4)

5)


5) 6)


Sarkis should reduce the number of desserts offered and focus on the quality. It was obvious that most of the products had been on display for a while. The greatest flaw, however, is their excessive use of simple syrup and I was surprised to see it on LA magazine's list of Top 20 bakeries, very surprised.