Tartine, or, Lots of Dough

San Francisco is a special place. Within San Francisco, the Mission district is a special place. And within the Mission is a special place called Tartine.

Tartine might be the best bakery I've ever been to. If you're looking for universal acclaim, this place has it; almost everybody I spoke to who had lived in San Francisco said that this place was a must see. After going there on a rainy Tuesday, I saw why. And then I saw more why on Thursday when I stopped by again for a loaf of bread. But I digress.

My first trip I went a little nuts. I ordered $17 worth of baked goods, all of it worth at least that much. First up was the Banana Cream Tart. You can pay less for a slice of banana cream pie elsewhere, but you won't want to once you have this masterpiece. First off, it's big enough to share. I ate it all by myself, but that's just me. Imagine a banana cream pie (if you've never had one, get thee to a bakery). Basically Tartine's Banana Cream Tart just takes the classic pie - crust, bananas, custard, cream -  makes it awesomely and makes it even more awesome by adding surprises along the way. The surprises come at different depths and with different degrees of obviousness. I won't ruin the surprises for you, but I found myself saying "holy shit this is good" out loud, several times. Pro tip: don't read the ingredients before hand, on their website or on the menu, it's better to go on a journey of self-discovery.

Banana Cream Tart topped with the first of the twists

Additionally, I got two of their croissants: a pain au chocolat and a ham and gruyere filled monstrosity. At $4.75 they're almost a bargain, also big enough to share. But they're so good you'll want to eat the whole thing. After savoring the tart, I tasted both croissants, fully intending to save most of each for later. That idea dissipated quickly, especially after tasting the ham and gruyere. Again, depth is the key word. The outer layer of buttery goodness had a distinct dark but not-yet-burnt, flavor and good crispness; the inner layers almost melt in your mouth, probably containing only a perfunctory amount of flour. The filling is equally good. A touch salty to go with the slight sweetness of the butter, ham and cheese are equally as smoth in texture as the flaky dough. There is a lot going on, but yet you can completely forget it all in the bliss it brings to your mouth. The pain au chocolat is superb, but not as good as the ham and gruyere, in my humble opinion.

As I mentioned, I was so impressed by Tartine that I went back several days later for their bread and I was not disappointed. The loaf is huge. And just really damn good. Even four days later, as I write this, I have some left over still with a soft, chewy interior. The bread is as all great french style bread are: perfectly crusty on the outside and yet soft on the inside. Again, depth is the best feature of this bread. Being a wheat bread, it has a bit of a darker taste to it, along with a slight sourness that accompanies the inside. Delicious on its own, it makes one of the best peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I've ever had. Probably the only negative is that the loaf is a little hard to cut, being so big, but thats really not important.

Tartine is bakery nirvana. No trip to San Francisco should be made without a stop here. Even if you're diabetic, while this place might kill you, it might also be worth it.