Judges’ Ranking
- Parachute
- Octavia
- Compagnon Bakery
My Personal Ranking
- Compagnon Bakery
- Le Carousel Patisserie
- Sarmentine
- The French Spot
- Fournรฉe Bakery
- Parachute
Others finalists: Octavia, Le Marais, Bonjour Bakehouse, East Bay Bakery
1. Compagnon Bakery
TL;DR: I think this is the rising star of the Bay Area croissant scene (menu and story here).
Their Croissant au Beurre had everything I look for: fragrant butter, crispy exterior, airy lamination, and a light, flaky crumb. No obvious weaknesses.
The Gรขteau Beurre was a touch too sweet for me, but the butter flavor was struck me the same way their Croissant au Beurre had, I wish I had asked what butter they use.
They do not have a physical bakery, but you can find their baked goods at
- Stonestown farmers market
- Four Barrels Coffee
- the Mill
- Lady Falcon Coffee Club
- Golden Goat Coffee
- Cafe Josephine
- Farmer : Table
- Java Beach Cafe
- Java Beach at the Zoo
2. Le Carousel Patisserie
TL;DR: The bakery I’m most excited to visit next (menu here).
Their Croissant au Beurre may have had the airiest lamination of the competition. Beautiful butter flavor and excellent structure. The only reason it didn’t take my top spot was that the interior felt slightly too moist, like half baked?
Other pastries they brought to the competition:
- Pineapple Mango Flower (Mango/pineapple sauteed, mango cream, rum with Croissant dough) โ caramelized crusty exterior, mango cream that’s not too sweet, with sauteed pineapple / mango
- Pain Suisse (Chocolate croissant dough, Valhrona dark chocolate cream and Valhrona chocolate chips) โ not too sweet! dark chocolate has an interesting aftertaste that I am not sure what it is, will go back to try it again rich
- Did not try the following pastries:
- Pistachio Cherry (Croissant dough Pistachio frangipane and dark cherry jam)
- Raspberry Bow
- Mushroom Truffle (Bรฉchamel sauce, sautรฉed portobello, truffle oil, and croissant dough)
- Spicy Coppa and Cheddar (Calabrian Red Bell Pepper, Coppa, and Cheddar in a croissant dough )
3. Sarmentine
TL;DR: An organic bakery coming to the competition all the way from Santa Rosa, named after a specialty Bordeaux baguette (story here).
Their plain croissant featured excellent lamination and butter flavor. It was just slightly less crisp and flaky than Compagnon and Le Carousel.
4. The French Spot
TL;DR: Better than I remembered.
The surprise hit was their Coconut Passion Fruit Croissant, passionfruit cream filling matched well with toasted marshmallow or coconut cream on top, sprinkled with coconut shreds.
Their plain croissant also impressed me more than during my last visit. Will be returning.
5. Fournรฉe Bakery
TL;DR: Good lamination and airy structure, but the texture leaned more bread-like and soft rather than crisp and flaky.
6. Parachute
TL;DR: The judges’ champion and the most creative bakery at the event.
While their plain croissant didn’t stand out to me as much as some others, their new S’more Chocolate Croissant (chocolate croissant dough, 70% baked chocolate ganache, cinnagraham crunch and pine marshmallow) absolutely did. This new item is amazing both from the visual and the substance! The marshmallow sweetness is balanced well with the dark chocolate, the cinnagraham crunch was good even as a standalone snack bites!
Other Bakeries
The biggest difference between the top and bottom tiers came down to three things:
- Butter flavor but not oily
- Crispness
- Airy lamination
Many lower-ranked croissants lacked the deep butter aroma and had interiors that felt more bread-like than layered and airy.
Marketing Winners
Le Marais definitely is the best at marketing. Despite only the plain croissant being judged, they brought an enormous spread of 20+ savory and sweet pastries, tarts, and cakes, creating a line more than 30 minutes. They even handed out additional pastries and cute stickers while people waited.
The French Spot was the only bakery with staffs walking around the cramped room offering croissant samples, making their pastries much more accessible.
Le Carousel was one of the few bakeries that provided plates, and the only one that provided larger plates. A lifesaver when handling flaky, cream-filled pastries in a packed room.
Parachute sold out first. They gave out their bright orange bags with signature logo with a croissant parachute, made it so easy to spot their box across the whole room!
Competition was hosted in a small, packed conference room with 300+ people..
Le Marais’ wide spread of selections
Bonjour Bakery
East Bay Bakehouse – densest croissant award
