Pâtisserie in the City - Craftsman and Wolves

It was my good friend Dinah who first mentioned about Craftsman and Wolves. As always, she's the first among my friends to know the current dining trends in the city.

So one Saturday, Dinah, Karen and I went to the Mission District to sample what this new pâtisserie has to offer. Mijo and I went during the week. I totally enjoyed overloading on carbs!

I just want to be clear that the pictures here were taken from two separate trips to Crafstman and Wolves. To save on typing, I'll refer to Crafsman and Wolves as C&W in this blog.

Comparing is not my style so I am not going to go there. Yes, Tartine is really good and Destination Baking Company is also really good. But comparing these really good bakeries to C&W would be like comparing Apples to Pears. It would be hard to compare.

[click here to read about my Bakery in the City - Tartine Bakery]

My first impression of C&W is their attention to detail. I like the way they present their baked goodies. They have a counter, the one you see right away when you get in. This contains their pastries and breads. They also have what they call the box. This one is close to the registers and they contain the tarts, coupes and cakes. Or maybe those that need refrigeration?

[click here to read about my Bakery in the City - Destination Baking Company]

Here are the some of their goodies from the counter.
 

 

Here are their goodies from the case.




The first time I went to C&W was with Mijo on a Wednesday morning. We were both working from home that day and we decided to have a nice breakfast and try C&W. The second time around was with Karen and Dinah. I both enjoyed my experience on both occasions.

Here, Mijo and I ordered coffee, rebel within, croissant snail and gougere.

 

Here is a closer look at the smoked cheddar hot pepper gougere. The flavors are very subtle but it is good that way.


With Karen and Dinah, we ordered a lot since there were three people sharing. :) First, we ordered this morning bun or créme fraîche, grains of paradise, muscovado morning bun to be more precise. This morning bun is addicting!


We ordered C&W's popular item the Rebel Within and gougere.


Here's a closer look at the Rebel Within. How did they put a semi hard egg inside this muffinlike bread with asiago, sausage, green onion? People are so smart!

   

 Next, we also ordered this quiche and pickled carrots.

   

We also ordered this haute-dog with mustard see croissant bun and vinegar beet chips. I call this a designed hot dog.

   

Finally, the sweet goodies. We ordered their caramelized hazelnut financier, chocolate ganache cake, and their black sesame scone, apricot, lemon verbena.

   

   

I took this this home. It is strawberry, straus yogurt, wildflower honey.

   

And this triple delight farms' blueberry earl grey coupe. Mijo and I tried to eat them slowly through two days so as to make them last longer because they are so good and decadent.

   

This was the scene during our early Wednesday morning visit.

   

And this is what the crowd looked like that morning. Very subdued. And lots of places to seat.

   

The weekend is a popular day for C&W. Karen, Dinah and I were just lucky that a couple was leaving who were seating on one end of the main dining table.

 

All in all, I love this place. I see my self coming here when I am off or working from home on a Friday.

~rl