Tartine, Mon Amour

Prepare yourself, I'm going to get sappy for this post is about one of my (Jen) favorite little places in the world:

Tartine Bakery has been praised repeatedly (Mark Bittman of the New York Times called it his "favorite bakery in the United States"and has more than 600 (mostly positive) reviews on Yelp--for good reason. Nearly everything I've ever tried there has been amazing. I love it all--from the homey, rustic french bakery atmosphere to the intellectuals sitting at their variously sized tables to the mysteriously good-looking staff behind the case of even better looking pastries and cakes.

After reading and researching all about the bakery (its goods and its owners) late last year, I knew I had to go. This place quickly became a place of escape (from school, people, shitty dorm food, work, you-name-it) and relaxation for me.

Thanks to a summer internship, for nearly twice (as of last week, three times) a week for the past two months, I've gone there with just those intentions of escaping and relaxing. Each day, I look forward to the moment the clock hits 12:00, I race down the steps of my building, hop onto the bus for a 15 minute ride, jump off at the stop, and whisk down Guerrero street. Armed with a good book, a fully loaded I-Pod, and a silent "thank you" to my mother for supporting me in my gourmet addiction, I order some treat(s) and prepare to be delighted with whatever delights I've decided to try that day.

Initially, I wasn't planning on including my experiences at Tartine in the blog. My lack of a working camera and laziness to write coherently (who wants to wax poetical about baked goods and sandwiches all summer??) were the main culprits. However, I soon realized that I'd regret not including Tartine in the blog. So forgive me if the few pictures are blurry (they are with my mom's old camera and were taken a while ago before it finally decided to give up--hey, it HAS survived falling into an asian-style toilet AKA hole in the ground) and the writing sucks (I've decided to just jot down my disjointed thoughts because I only remember certain things and I will have to write a lot since it has become my goal to try EVERYTHING on the menu--forcing my normally unadventurous self to try new things) but hopefully this will be helpful to those that want a taste of what Tartine has to offer...


Devils Food Cake- $4.50 Slice (picture coming soon)
3 layers of Valrhona dark chocolate butter cake, layered with caramel and chocolate ganache, topped with a dusting of large cocoa powder, Served at room temperature
Appearances can be deceiving. At first it didn’t seem like much and I was pretty positive it would settle easily and comfortably in my stomach (I even considered getting something to go alongside it). Happy I didn’t. Extremely decadent. Should be savored slowly and not with the side of the fork smashing through each layer every two movements (as I did). I enjoyed the fact that it was cooled when it was initially given to me (nice, toothy texture), but as it melted, the chocolate flavor was intensified and released even more. Milk definitely required. As much of a stomach ache as this gave me, there was nary a moment of regret as I hobbled up guerrero.
Rating: 8/10

Coppercake- $4.50 slice

Three thick layers of ganache surrounded by various lightly peppery, mocha levels, beautiful texture, not too sweet, envelops the tongue which chocolateness upon contact
Amazing flavor in the beginning, but the non-chocolate flavors just weren’t interesting enough to warrant repeated fork stabbing, in the mad rush of pastry purchases, this was the clear winner, definitely worth trying again
Rating: 6/10

Chocolate Chip with oatmeal and walnuts- $2.00 (see Bunrab's picture of it here)

Large, crisp, not too sweet, chocolate chips melted into rest of flat, ever-so-slightly bendable disk.
Tore bits and pieces off, but wasn’t interested enough to finish the whole thing. For those with “mature” tastes, this is the perfect thing to go with their Mr. Expresso coffee. For me, not really worth getting again.
Rating: 3/10

Passion Fruit Lime Bavarian- $4.50 Slice
Lime moistened genoise with passion fruit bavarian cream topped with sweetened cream
Though I could tell that everything was first rate, the tartness and the lightness of the cake just isn't what I was looking for to soothe my sweet tooth. My sister couldn't get enough though. It definitely got ignored during the passing of the pastry boxes. At least the white chocolate flakes on the outside were yummy.
Rating: 2/10

Banana Cream Tart-$5.50 (there are a bunch of pictures on Yelp)
Hard, flaky pastry coated in thick layer of dark chocolate and caramel. Filled with banana pastry cream and bananas. Topped with lightly sweetened cream and thick chocolate shards
Definitely lives up to the hype. Looks overwhelming at first, but any ideas of just eating half quickly disappear. Should be eaten there, on a plate, for the full experience. The combination of hard, buttery crust, dark chocolate, and the hint of caramel create a gourmet candy bar experience. Banana slices scale the entirety of this delicious Mount Everest of a dessert. The chocolate shards are a highlight. Only con is that there may be too much whipped cream, had to push some aside towards the end. Don't even think about sharing--the devil inside you will come out! It’s a meal in itself.
Rating: 9.5/10

Chocolate Hazelnut Tart-$5.50
Rich, dark, chocolate filling in a sweet pastry shell with toasted oregon hazelnuts.
Shared, it’s the perfect ending to a rich meal. The whole flavor was like whiff of a gourmet, less sweetened nutella. Delicious. Tart shell was a little hard and crispy. Literally broke the lovely plastic fork that came with it. Who cares? Makes it even easier to lift up to the mouth. The hazelnuts that were embedded into the ganache were a surprise texturally and taste-wise. Made me wish I drank coffee.
Rating: 7/10

Pain au Chocolate-$3.25 (picture coming soon)
A warm, ever so crisp-on-the- outside, fluffy-on-the-inside casing of croissant dough surrounding two lanes of Sharffenberger chocolate
After growing up on chocolate croissants from Safeway, I literally gasped when I tried tearing a piece of the croissant. Crisp, buttery, and light, I just kept smiling as my fingers tore off piece after piece of the crispy, soft, gooey, soft, crispy layers. Any warm chocolate that managed to escape from my fingers and the dough onto the plate were quickly consumed. Yes, I liked my fingers and then wiped the plate. No, I don’t regret a second. Like the devils cake, this is surprisingly filling. Should eat/enjoy there if you can.
Rating: 9/10

Reviews of other pastries (frangipane crossiant, bread pudding, etc) and sandwiches (percorino and almond, gruyere and pastrami, etc) coming soon!

-jenn

Tartine Bakery

600 Guerrero Street

San Francisco, CA94110