Category Archives: Bakeries

My Favorite East Bay Haunt — the Cheese Board

Posted on by 19 comments

My VERY favorite sourdough cheese rolls. Heaven! ($2 each)

If I am ever in the vicinity of the East Bay, there is one place I always have to stop — the Cheese Board Collective in Berkeley.

It doesn’t matter if I happen to be headed to Oakland or Emeryville. I gladly make the detour, put up with finding parking in Berkeley’s congested Gourmet Ghetto, and happily wait in line at this bakery.

Because the baked goods are just that good.

I’m talking sourdough cheese rolls so incredible that I almost always inhale one right when I get back into my car; the freshest English muffins with a plethora of lovely nooks and crannies; sweet, crumbly corn cherry scones the color of sunshine; and moist, deep, dark, wonderful chocolate cake loaves with a hint of coffee.

Read more

New Sourdough Specialities, McEvoy Ranch Garden Walk, Wine Crawl & More

Posted on by 5 comments

Sourdough gnocchi with lovely lobster. (Photo courtesy of Boudin Bistro)

San Francisco’s Bistro Boudin Offers New Sourdough Dishes

Bistro Boudin at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf has upped the sourdough factor on its summer menu.

A variety of new dishes highlight the tangy, wonderful bread made by the cafe’s Gold Rush-era bakery.

Look for Bistro Shrimp Salad ($14.95) with grilled avocado, tangerines, chopped romaine and cilantro vinaigrette piled into a crispy sourdough cup; Grilled Salmon Al Tagine ($25.95) with clams, spinach, cherry tomatoes, Moroccan olives and capers served with sourdough crostini; and Sourdough Gnocchi ($23.95) with decadent chunks of lobster in a creamy pesto sauce.

Grilled salmon tagine with sourdough crostini. (Photo courtesy of Bistro Boudin)

San Francisco Wine Crawl

Sure, you’ve heard of food truck crawls, where those culinary four-wheelers gather in one spot to ply their delicious wares. Now, get ready for a wine version of that.

SF Wine Crawl, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. July 24, affords you the chance to taste wines from 10 of San Francisco’s urban wineries.

Treasure Island is the location for this unique event — only appropriate since several wineries already make their home there. Sip wine, meet the winemakers and enjoy a breathtaking view of the Bay.

The event is accessible by car and #108 Muni bus.

Tickets are $40 per person; $60 VIP tickets include a VIP shuttle to ferry you around to each winery.

Enjoy a visit to McEvoy Ranch -- complete with lunch. (Photo courtesy of the ranch)

Garden Tour and Lunch at McEvoy Ranch in Marin County

McEvoy Ranch — producers of spectacular estate-grown, certified organic extra virgin olive oils — is opening up its 550-acre property in the hills west of Petaluma for a garden walk plus lunch, 10 a.m. to noon July 22.

Read more

Crazy for Custard

Posted on by 19 comments

A spoonful of maple custard will make any day better.

I know some people who turn up their nose at custard, thinking it suitable only for teething kids or seniors with denture issues.

They must be mad.

I don’t know about you, but a creamy, silky, custard is what I call one of life’s little pleasures. The moment your spoon breaks the top and scoops up some of that smooth, eggy goodness, you know you’re in for a happy mouthful.

The other good thing about custards is that they make for a fine way to use up extra egg yolks left over from baking an egg white-laden angel food cake.

In fact, that’s what prompted me to make these lovely “Maple Custards” from the classic cookbook, “Chez Panisse Desserts” (Random House). It’s by Lindsey Remolif Shere, who was the opening pastry chef at Berkeley’s Chez Panisse, before she left to open the absolutely wonderful Downtown Bakery and Creamery in Healdsburg in 1987. If you’re ever in the area, you must visit it.

Read more

Cookie-Candy in One

Posted on by 12 comments

A Dark Chocolate Lovie that's both candy- and cookie-like.

It’s a cookie. It’s a truffle. No, it’s actually both in one sweet confection known as a Lovie.

Oregon’s Leah Dancer and her mother, Denise Padgett, started creating these cookie-candy-like treats two and half years ago.

Made by their Love Bucket Baking Company, they’re akin to petit fours, only instead of cake, imagine chocolate ganache wrapped in a tender shortbread-like cookie, then dipped in chocolate.

Read more

« Older Entries Recent Entries »