Starter Bakery

9/15/2016

I buy my Starter baked goods at Drivers market in Sausalito. I really shouldn't tell anyone because they sell out. Or maybe I'm doing it because I need to stop buying them.  The kouign amann is delish, but the almond croissant is my favorite.

4/9/2016

I bought their Pain de Mie bread for $10.50. It's great that they use organic winter wheat, and enrich it with butter eggs & as they say "a touch" of sugar. However, there is nothing saying eggs and butter are pastured (grassfed) range free, or even organic. Who knows perhaps the butter is full of hormones and antibiotics, as very well could be true for the eggs as well. Then comes the sugar, well if not organic it's 100% gmo these days. I saved the worst ingredient for last. This is the CANOLA OIL. Canola oil is not a real oil.
It's a bi-product of the GMO corn processing industry. You can research this yourself or click here for more news on that:  
authoritynutrition.com/c…
and here:
draxe.com/canola-oil-gm
Unfortunately sites like the mayo clinic and web md say it's safe, however it is not the entire truth.
If you watch the video in the 1st link, you'll see that there is absolutely nothing natural in its manufacturing process.
Feel free to do your own research. However, as disappointed as I am that Starter Bakery even thinks to use canola oil, tells me they know very little about human health. Why would I buy that? And why on Earth would I pay over $10 for damaging toxic bread. It's worth about $2.50.

8/12/2015

Tried the Kouign Amann at Bartavelle Coffee and Wine in Berkeley and was expecting an amazing KA as articles on the internet claimed, however, I was pretty disappointed...

The KA definitely looked amazing, smelled pretty good, and the price was the same as other places, but the texture, density, and taste was not as good. The outside wasn't really flaky/crunchy, the inside felt like a half donut and five croissants smashed together, and the KA didn't taste as good as KAs from other bakeries.

If you like dense/doughy KAs, this is the place to try!

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  Kouign Amann at Bartavelle Coffee and Wine in Berkeley

  Kouign Amann at Bartavelle Coffee and Wine in Berkeley

7/5/2016

I thought this was a storefront bakery. I called and found that they sell at farmers markets and are in Philz Coffee. I got a kouign amann and was disappointed. It was heavy and dense and tasted oily not buttery like B. Patisserie. Not worth the drive.

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  Flat, doughy kouign amann.

  Flat, doughy kouign amann.

10/30/2015

That kouign amann, y'all.  When I first discovered the kouign amann, I ate like two a week for six weeks.  I sadly learned from the tightness of my pants that I can't eat the kouign amann twice a week for six weeks.  But I'd almost do it again.

5/21/2015

Yummiest kouign amann ever!  Just get the regular one.  The chocolate one is too sweet.

8/3/2015

Really delicious kouign amanns! I've never been to the actual storefront, but I've had it multiple times at different coffee shops across the bay area. I've tried hazelnut, chocolate, fruit, and plain, and they are all delicious!!

11/15/2015

Their signature item is the fabulous Kouign Amann, but they also have excellent danish, croissants and other items.  I can't resist whenever I see their baked goods at local cafe's, but you'll find more variety and unique seasonal specials at their stand at Saturday's Grand Lake and Sunday's Temescal Farmers' Markets (there is no retail location).  I'm a big fan!

6/29/2014 Updated review

Time: 10:36am/63°F sunny

Purpose: Stay at a hotel in east bay for one night have gift certificate and said it was set to expired 6/30/2014. Being a local I acted like a tourist just to see what treatment I would get. Concierge told me about a couple of places of farmers market.

Set-up: Canopy, 3 convention folding tables, hanging sneeze guards, stackable bakery racks. Assorted goods in half sheet boxes are replenish after 4-5 are sold.

Staff: Two girls having a great day signing and joking around but doing their job. They could be efficient or not and you better make up your mind when it's your turn glares from customers and eyes rolling from staff. Not much knowledge from them as to what's inside. They'll say not sure or maybe.

Cleanliness: Grade B, it's clean when it's possible. Those acrylic hanging guards looks cheesy and not very well made mostly to prevent kids from touching.

Eats/Drinks: Kouign amaan is their prize here. I thought of it as the same experience like last. Nevertheless it fails this time. The top wasn't that flaky as it was soft and chewy. I bit inside and saw the bottom under cooked. The pastry layers on top were baked the bottom rest was dough consistent when biting in no fluff at all. Very sad this time around. What happen here?

Products/Services: Morning breakfast danishes, croissants, pies/tarts,granolas, quiche, breads, cookies, quick breads, kouign amann mini/reg size. They also supplied some of the local cafes nearby.

Punch Lines: Famous kouign amann, pricey, not too fresh, some items definitely are bought frozen, friendly staff, DMV lot, items are a little boring, farmers market, neighborhood is business/residential vibe.

Tradeoffs: The amaan use to be so good now it's more like a baker mess up first batch going in oven. A lot of their croissants can be had at other places. Their amann is the catch here but be careful of over spending. Every company has an lost leader item that brings in people.

Final Thought: You feel like you're buying something special, not really. Amann is the attraction and while you're there you decided to grab this and that all of a sudden it has exceeded your bank roll. Don't think it's a deal prices are research and included in the goods.

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  Look at the unbaked bottom portion!

  Look at the unbaked bottom portion!
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12/3/2015

I was not impressed. Mine was very dry and lacked flavor. I think it was not baked all the way or I got a bad batch. Either way for the price I will not come back.

10/1/2015

Kouign amann. Kouign amann. Kouign amann. With chocolate. Favorite baked good ever.

8/1/2014

Those kouign aman like many reviewers mentioned are delish! When I found their table at the Grand Lake farmers market, I know I had to try em. I'm a sucker for buttery pastries and this one was on point.

I'm a fan

11/28/2014

• Listed in Sweet Tooth, Carboliciousness

Found them at Eat Real. They offered a dazzling selection of Kouign Amann. We opted for the original $3.50 and fig $4.50. Flaky, buttery pastry, sweet caramelized exterior, chewy, doughy center. The original was divine, but it was even better with sweet-as-honey fig nestled in the middle. I took my time to stare at the display, but the vendor didn't seem to mind. Must happen a lot! Haha. They offer quite a variety, so it's difficult to pick one or two! I'm definitely a fan!

1/4/2014

On my last carb binge of 2013, I was on a quest to end my chocolate croissant craving.   I have 2 criteria's for my chocolate croissant: that it be crispy and flaky, and that the inside is filled with lots of chocolate.  

At the Temescal Farmers Market, I scoured the market for all the pastry vendors. After speaking with one vendor and questioning about my 2 criteria, I moved on to the next. At Starter Bakery, I asked the representative there my 2 criteria questions. After both were affirmed, I purchased the chocolate croissant.  

After biting into the croissant, I found that it met only 1 of my criteria. It was flaky and crispy but did not have a lot of chocolate inside. What a disappointment for me.   Not a bad croissant if you like the texture, but if you are looking for a choco-filled middle, it may not satisfy you as it did not for me.

Craving not completely met, but time to move on for 2014.

8/22/2015

• 6 check-ins

Starter Bakery goes to Farmers' Markets, like I find at the Grand Lake, with a large assortment of baked savories and sweets.

5/22/2015

I first had it at Bica then figured saw the same almond croissant at farmers market.  It's twice baked.  It's dense and not your typical definition of a croissant but the almond flavor is so yummy.  That's all I get.  The other items look delicious but I'm so addicted to their almond croissants that I can't try anything else.  It's perfect with a latte.

7/30/2013

• Listed in Cheap Eats under $10 bucks, Anthony's Favorite Things

Kouign Amann...is that what it's called?  

Ffffff. It was good.  If u aren't hip to the game yet u better get on it.  It was so freaking good.  I have no words...words are my life..:)

People liken it to a croissant and a quiche mashed together...all I know is that it's deliciously flaky and a great harmony of sweet and flaky that's absolutely addicting.  It's actually at a stall in the Oakland farmers market, so u can pick up some groceries and get ur sugar fix all at the same time.

9/24/2013

Tried one of their signature Kouign Amaan pastries at the Temescal Farmer's Market and - OH MY GOD - to die for.  Amazing.

Go buy one now.  No, make that 3 or 4.  Once you taste this treat, you will bemoan all your prior wasted years on this planet without them.

8/18/2015

This address is wholesale only. Don't know what the other reviews were talking about but do not on any account wander over here expecting to pick up pastries. It's an industrial complex near some homeless areas

1/27/2013

You: A shrunken, condensed like croissant, probably w/an extra stick of butter, sometimes filled w/chocolate, sometimes not. And when you're toasted, the clouds part and angels sing and all of a sudden I'm having the most perfect hair day and I bite the bullet and purchase that camo pant jumpsuit.

See?
See what you do?
Pant jumpsuit. (in camo)
I would never be caught dead wearing one of those adult onesies.
But one bite of you, and I'm doing all kinds of crazy.

So now I'm fucked.
From discovering you.  
Kouign Amanns.  What kinda name is that?  I can't even pronounce it.
Stupid caca head pastries. HATE YOU!!!!!

I wish I never met you.
Might as well return that dress I bought.
Ain't gonna fit now.
Cuz of yo ass.
Tasty ass mutherfkr.
I wish I knew how to quit you.
Man...who said that. Oh yeah. That dude from Brokeback Mountain. Dang. Good ass line right there.
Yeah.
I wish I knew how to quit you.

But now I know you exist.
So what the hell do I do now??
Try to forget? Pretend we never met?
Pssshhhhhhh.
Well throw that notion out the window since my ass is now the size of Texas due to your carmelized sugary butter McFattyness.

Grocery clerk: "Excuse me, ma'am, you can't block the whole cereal aisle, it's preventing our other customers from getting what they came for."
Me: "Oh I'm sorry, it's my huge ASS, isn't it. I'll move."

Sigh.

I wonder if that jumpsuit comes in tie-dye.

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  Chocolate Kouign Amann, toasted. Yes I licked it.

  Chocolate Kouign Amann, toasted. Yes I licked it.