Category Archives: Bakeries

Pastry Run, Part I: Parachute Bakery

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What I scored at Parachute Bakery in San Francisco.
What I scored at Parachute Bakery in San Francisco.

Sometimes it pays to be a latecomer.

When Parachute Bakery opened last summer in the Ferry Building, eager beavers with major sweet tooths swarmed the place. So much so that the bakery was selling out less than 3 hours after opening.

Now? The crowds are more manageable, especially on weekdays, which I found when I finally visited at the end of January.

It’s easy to understand the fuss. After all, Parachute is by the team behind Michelin-starred Sorrel in San Francisco, Chef Alex Hong and Joel Wilkerson, director of operations. Its co-owner and executive pastry chef is Nasir Armar, who grew up working in his father’s bakery in India. He was the former pastry chef at Sorrel, and at Michelin two-starred Saison in San Francisco.

Parchute Bakery is near Gott's in the Ferry Building.
Parchute Bakery is near Gott’s in the Ferry Building.

To say that Armar’s pastries exemplify precision is to put it mildly. These are some gorgeous creations. They are not all looks and no substance, either. The flavors hold their own.

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Rapturous Strawberries ‘N’ Cream Cookies

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Made with freeze-dried strawberries and velvety white chocolate.
Made with freeze-dried strawberries and velvety white chocolate.

There are cookbooks that offer up small snippets here and there of the author’s life.

And there are culinary memoirs of lengthy prose that are rather miserly when it comes to including but a few recipes.

“Will This Make You Happy” (Chronicle Books), of which I received an early review copy, is a welcome hybrid that debuts in March, and is already available for pre-order.

It brims with more than 50 recipes But more so, it warms the heart as it demonstrates how the simple act of baking can be so profoundly transformative.

The book was written by Tanya Bush, a Brooklyn-based writer, editor, and baker, who co-founded the publication Cake Zine. She is the pastry chef at Little Egg in Brooklyn, where her crullers have won a devoted following. No slouch in the writing department, she earned an MFA in creative writing from Hunter College in New York City.

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San Mateo’s Bonjour Bakehouse Expands With Indoor Seating

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Pastries from Bonjour Bakehouse.
Pastries from Bonjour Bakehouse.

It’s been an eventful past six years for the family-owned Bonjour Bakehouse in a warehouse area of San Mateo.

Bordeaux, France-native Francois Bernaudin was executive pastry chef of La Boulange in San Francisco before founding Bonjour Bakehouse in 2019 at Kitchentown, the food incubator hub in San Mateo. Three years ago, Paris-born Ingrid Sarlandie, a mechanical engineer who worked in executive management in Silicon Valley but had a lifelong passion for baking, joined the business.

For years, the bakery operated a pass-through window there with seating on the sidewalk. But last month, it added indoor seating for 40 with bistro tables and a communal table that afford views of the production kitchen.

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The Napa Valley’s Newest Patisserie Is A Stunner

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The beautiful pastries at Under-study.
The beautiful pastries at Under-study.

As if the Napa Valley didn’t already boast an overabundance of fine eats, along comes the new Under-study patisserie and cafe, which opened with a splash in St. Helena at the end of May in the former Dean & DeLuca building.

It’s from the team behind Michelin-starred Press restaurant just a few yards away, which includes its Chef-Partner Philip Tessier, former executive sous chef at The French Laundry and the first American chef to ascend to the podium of the prestigious international Bocuse d’Or Competition; and acclaimed Executive Pastry Chef Frank Vollkommer, a former pastry instructor at the Culinary Institute of America. So, you know this isn’t your run-of-the-mill bakery, but one with some of the most exquisite pastries around.

Executive Chef-Partner Philip Tessier (left) and Executive Pastry Chef Frank Vollkommer (right).
Executive Chef-Partner Philip Tessier (left) and Executive Pastry Chef Frank Vollkommer (right).

I finally had an opportunity to visit a few weeks ago, when I was traveling through the valley. Under-study is right off St. Helena Highway, though, it’s not easily spotted from the road. When you see Press, you know you’ve landed in the right place. To the restaurant’s left is the new MAC, the Napa Valley Museum of Art & Culture, with its very thoughtful and creative Julia Child exhibit that shouldn’t be missed. Head around the left-hand side of the MAC, and you’ll find the entrance to Under-study.

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