On a mission to evaluate pastries in various panadería, Bäckerei, and Pekařství

I'll be traveling for the next few weeks, attending a wedding, and visiting kids (and grandkids!) and friends.  I probably won't be doing much biking, but I'll try to post up my impressions of baked goods encountered along the way.  I have high hopes for the wedding cake!

Rock Hard Pastries in Moraga

Well, all bakery experiences can’t be good. 

On my group Sunday ride we often stop at Terzetto’s in Moraga.  And this was the case a couple of Sundays ago.  For the past couple of years, La Boulange has sold pastries at the Moraga Farmer’s Market and often several of us in the group would get an Almond Croissant or some other fabulous treat  from there, and a coffee from Terzetto's and sit outside at Terzettos.  Unfortunately, La Boulange is no longer participating in this Farmer's Market, so we decided to be good citizens and get our pastries from Terzetto's (especially as we regularly use their outside tables).

Terzetto’s is a restaurant, but they have a pastry counter.  The pastries are usually passable, especially the morning buns, but on this day the butter croissant was rock hard, and I took it back, saying it was inedible.  So they gave me an apricot scone, which was even harder, like a hammer or some other tool used by Neanderthals (i.e. rock).  The staff said that these were ‘day old’ pastries and the price was lower.   Well, my wife makes scones (actually she makes the BEST scones) and her 'day old' scones are still quite fabulous.  The ones Terzetto was selling were more like ‘week-old’ or ‘petrified’.

Anyway, it will be awhile before I go back to that establishment.  The outside seating is nice, and they do make a good breakfast sandwich and breakfast burrito, but if you are in need of  a good café mocha accompanied by a butter croissant (the perfect combination to power me up the Pinehurst climb), then look elsewhere.

  

So now what to do on the Sunday ride. The Ranch House (in Moraga) has nice outdoor tables and the staff is friendly, but they make such lousy coffee that I just can't go there.  SiSi’s has 'illy' coffee, but  is often too crowded on Sundays.  Moreover, while they have decent scones and morning buns, those are often long gone when we arrive.

The good news is that there is a Starbuck's in the Safeway, and a new bakery is now participating in the Farmer's Market, so I can get the needed nutrition.  Now for a place to sit.

Cup'a Joe in Frisco (Colorado)

I'm always interested in a good coffee shop/bakery and usually do a group ride on Wednesday.  One of the group, Sally G., is staying with the Wednesday tradition and sends this along:

"Wednesday morning ride and coffee in Frisco Colorado. Riding at it's best except I'm missing you guys."

So far, no comment on the pastries. 

Late report - "Pastries looked amazing, quite a variety, and outstanding food."

I tried the website http://www.rmcoffeeroasters.com/ and it sorta worked.