Eat: b. patisserie
This is my happy place. Belinda Leong is the queen of the Divisadero corner where she has b. patisserie (the best pastry shop in the universe), b. On The Go (a lunch spot across the way specializing in tartines) and the soon to be Routier a full on French dining restaurant.
If you’ve never been here or never have had a kouign amann (pronounced queen uh-mon) I suggest that you drop what you are doing and get there as fast as you can.
The team there is making the best pastries in the city as evidenced by the long lines and people who keep coming back for more. Start with a traditional kouign amann which literally translates to butter pastry and also grab a seasonal flavored one. These beautifully shaped pastries are so flaky, crunchy and heavenly that they melt in your mouth along with the subtle honey filling inside. Next, make sure to get one of the chocolate banana croissants. The fluffy croissant has bits of melted chocolate, just the right amount of banana flavor and a texture that will leave you in awe. Honestly, you could get anything here and it’ll be delicious. They also have locations in Hawaii (Honolulu) and Korea (Seoul).
If you didn’t already know, June 20th is National Kouign Amann Day. You’ll find customers wrapped around the block for this event. Leong and team serve only Kouign Amann’s that day and instead of just the 3 normal offerings (original, chocolate and seasonal) they create 12 flavors to celebrate this national holiday.
One year, as we stood in line, an excited couple behind us had flown in from NYC to get their kouign amanns because they couldn’t find anything comparable… in NYC… wrap your head around that! And, another woman in front of us got in line because others were in line but she wasn’t even sure what she was standing in line for. We assured her that she would not be disappointed. People love this place and it’s well deserved.
This year for Christmas, I took a 30 minute Uber ride in terrible traffic and rain for about 3 miles from my office to Pac Heights to grab some pastries to take back for my family in Colorado. I then took them on the Muni for a 20 minute ride back downtown and then hopped on BART for a 30 minute ride home with my pastries in tow. When I arrived at b.patisserie, there were only 12 left, so I asked for all of them, plus 2 banana croissants. Thanks to Lydia who has figured out how to freeze and preserve these to eat later, Elliott and I wrapped each one in saran wrap and then foil and popped them into the freezer before our flight to Colorado. We put them in an insulated bag, answered a few questions from TSA and all that effort went into to bringing these home so my family could get their b. patisserie fix until the next time they visit. It’s always the first place I take visitors to, it’s my meeting place with friends and I hope that if you go, you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.
Location - 2821 California St, San Francisco, CA 94115
The line for National Kouign Amann Day - waiting in line before it b. Patisserie opens.
2018 National Kougin Amann day flavors - Flavors of the World!
How to preserve Kouign Amanns should you need to fly them to another state.