There’s no doubt that the pandemic wrought untold devastation, heartache, and misery.
But if there was one shining light to emerge from that trying time, it was surely Butter & Crumble in San Francisco.
Owner Sophie Smith was a line cook at San Francisco’s A16, when restaurants were forced to shutter temporarily. She started baking cakes, a side hustle during the hiatus, until she could resume working toward her dream of eventually opening her own restaurant some day.
But something unexpected happened: Her dreamy cakes, lavished with thick, creamy frosting over layers that hid crunchy, crumbly bits, became a sensation. So much so that it upended her entire trajectory.
She was soon pursuing a new goal of opening up her own bakery. In Oct. 2023, her brick-and-mortar location in North Beach debuted. From the first day, long lines stretched down the block. They haven’t dwindled since.
It isn’t unusual for people to start queuing at 7 a.m. — with their own lawn chairs, no less — even if the front door doesn’t open until 9 a.m. They know the early bird gets the tiramisu croissant — or any other tantalizing creation — as the bakery usually sells out by about 11:30 a.m. In fact, each person is limited to 10 pastries, and no more than 3 of any one kind.
To bypass the physical line outside the bakery, you could try snagging one of Butter & Crumble’s limited pre-order boxes when online ordering opens up. Yeah, good luck with that. I gave it my best shot, waiting eagerly as the clock ticked down on the site to when preorder would begin. Of course, any optimism soon faded as the website’s tally inched up to 800-plus to reveal the number of people like myself now online and poised to pounce. By the time orders did open up, in a blink of an eye they were all gone. So much for that.
A few days later, I happened to find myself in San Francisco on a rare early Friday morning. My husband indulged me by dropping me off at Butter & Crumble. When I got in line at 8:35 a.m., it was already down Francisco Street and around the corner, one third up the way on Stockton Street.
By the time I made it out of the bakery with box in hand, it was 9:55 a.m.
Was it worth it?
You betcha!
I will be the first to admit that when it comes to pastries, I automatically focus on the sweet ones. That being said, the savory ones at this bakery just floored me. Maybe it’s because Smith spent so much time as a line cook, but she has a knack for building layers of intense savory flavors.
Take her French Onion Soup Pastry ($8), which turned out to be one of my favorites. Smith changes the bakery’s menu once a month. But if you spot this one, definitely don’t pass it up. Take a bite through its crispy layers flavored with thyme butter to the center of caramelized onions, Gruyere cheese, and herb breadcrumbs, and you’d swear you’d just enjoyed a spoonful of the real-deal classic French soup from a bubbling crock. It is uncanny how much it tastes like real French onion soup.
Same for the Prime Rib Dip Croissant ($12). Close your eyes while eating it and you would think you’re back sitting at the Christmas dinner table. Tender prime rib mingles with rosemary garlic jus, more Gruyere, and a flourish of crispy fried onions to taste exactly like the centerpiece of the grand holiday.
The sweet pastries are also full of robust flavor without ever being cloying. The Banana Praline Cruffin ($8) is like Nutella meets banana cream pie. Muffin-shaped, it gets decked out with banana cream, Valrhona hazelnut praline paste and a crisp banana chip.
The cross-laminated Dulce Pain Suisse ($8) offers up a hit of warm cinnamon in its condensed milk pastry cream filling, and a toffee-like note in chocolate dulce de leche.
The bakery’s signature Pistachio Cardamom Sugar Croissant ($8) is a staple for good reason. It’s covered in cinnamon sugar like new-fallen snow, and gushes with a nutty, pale green pistachio whipped cream. Like chocolate and peanut butter, cardamom with pistachio is an unbeatable combination.
The orange semolina biscuit, brushed with an orange glaze and dimpled with a center of cranraspberry jam ($6) is actually vegan, but you’d never guess it because it’s that crispy and buttery tasting.
The chocolate chip cookie ($4.50) is thick and sturdy, studded with plenty of candied pecans and bits of dark chocolate, while the brown butter toffee cornflake cookie ($5) is a monster. It dwarfed my entire hand with fingers outstretched. Made with brown butter, homemade toffee, dark chocolate, and rolled in plenty of cornflakes, it sports the perfect crispy-chewy texture.
Even if you detest waiting in any type of line, do yourself a favor: Take a deep breath, and go with the flow at Butter & Crumble. Your patience will be sweetly rewarded.
Then, get ready for more excitement this summer when Smith is expected to open a second bakery in San Francisco, The Cake Shop by Butter & Crumble.
Plus: Pastry Run, Part I: Parachute Bakery
And: More on Butter & Crumble’s Sophie Smith In My Story in the Sept. 2021 Issue of the Nob Hill Gazette