Bay Area Bakeries

To many people, bakeries are a hobby. For some reason, my love for sweet things explodes when I travel, making it impossible to pass up a bakery of any sort. My recent trip to the San Francisco Bay Area was no exception.

My first stop was ICI – alright, it’s not a bakery, but it is the most popular creamery in Berkeley proper. I waited in line for 45 minutes for a single scoop, and to be perfectly honest, Seattle’s Molly Moon takes the ice cream cake. ICI was great – I had the pine nut praline – but its flavor variety was poor.

THE BEST part of my trip was the day I spent in Mill Valley, a city located across the Golden Gate Bridge that is home to some friendly folks named George Lucas and Tyler Florence.

In Mill Valley, I found the world’s greatest cookies and cream cupcake (see picture above) at the cupcake boutique, Frosting. Janna, the owner’s teenage daughter, let me peak in the back room to spy on the bounty of uneaten cupcakes. I wanted them all. She didn’t quite understand my eagerness. shrugs.

The final stop was Champagne, a French bakery café. After spending oh, 30 minutes deciding what to order, I picked out a mushroom and brie Panini. Il a été incroyable!

I also went to Tyler Florence’s cooking store where I found his wife working behind the counter. She made the recommendation to eat at Champagne. What a lovely lady.

Those are the highlights of last weekend. I know I only skimmed the Bay Area bakery scene, so let me know what I missed.