Tartine Bakery

San Francisco, CA

We met up with Wildcat for a Friday lunch and figured it shouldn't be too busy at Tartine, the Mission's beloved bakery, right? Well the line was at least forty people deep and we were extremely lucky to get a cramped table by the time we got to the front of the line.

I'd been there once before with LoKo and brought some goodies back to Chu-Toro, but this was her's and Wildcat's first time at the San Francsicso institution and we were all very excited.

Prosciutto and Provolone

Pastrami

Sopressata, Fontina, Broccoli Rabe

We all ordered different sandwiches and since our table was right by the line, people were all interested in what we got. The sandwich, cut in three parts, was actually quite filling on crunchy, thick bread and satisfying to us all. Although my pastrami had a bit too much horseradish on it.

Fragipane and Hazelnut tart

We were too late for ham and cheese or almond croissants, but still managed to spend over $100 bucks getting a bunch of other things (Tartine is good but not cheap). And after our sandwiches, all shared the fragipane and a hazelnut tart. The fragipane was our favorite, not overly sweet, but nice almond filling, fresh tart fruit and an awesome crust. The hazelnut tart was also not too sweet and I liked the fresh nuts on top, but we were all too busy with the fragipane. 

Morning bun, Chocolate croissant, Gougere

I brought two boxes of goodies back to my family, and everyone loved the flaky, delicious chocolate croissant. The morning bun is more of a cinnamon bun, very sticky and overly sweet. The Gougere was a peppery, cheesy, hallow bread, fun to try, but not something we would repeatedly get. 

Coconut cream tart, banana cream tart, lemon tart, eclair

The box of desserts were enjoyed by my family after dinner. Many enjoyed their bite of eclair and loved the cream filling. The lemon tart was not that popular, but I though the crisp sour tang was refreshing. The coconut cream filling was probably the best I've ever had, simply delicious. And good old banana cream tart was classic and satisfying.

Tartine isn't somewhere I can afford on a regular basis, especially when buying for a bunch of people, but it is an excellent, popular bakery in the Mission and definitely must get the fragipane, croissants and coconut cream tart.

Rating 7.5/10

December, 30, 2011