San Francisco Croissant Competition 2026

Background

First of all, it's been such a pleasure and honor to be invited by the organizer Frenchly(US) for the third year in row to the event. I can't be more delightedly surprised when seeing the invitation email one week before the event.

Being a Mom of two for just over two months, life has been all around kids. I barely had time for dedicated bakery review trips. The passion for exploring new spots and tracking performance in old spots is overtaken by the dedication of parenting. Attending last year's event is probably the most bakery critic thing I've done in the past year. Unfortunately, I didn't even get the chance to blog about it.

The invitation instantly brought back the fond memories of my old time passion. It was the night before our family vacation and we would come back just the day before the event. Theoretically, it's possible to go. Practically, there is a lot to plan due to the two kids. As days get closer, my older one got sick. It was almost a no-go. Eventually, I made it, thanks for the support of the whole family.

The Competition

The venue is same as the past two years, the two rooms inside The Clift Royal Sonesta. The main competition takes place in the room behind the entrance double door where bakery tables are set up (layout drawn below). Connecting to the main room is a lounge / bar where charcuterie and coffee are provided. The layout of bakeries is drawn below. There are 11 booths. All are competitors except Maison Benoit, who is last year's winner.

The competition is based on two categories: plain croissant and creative item. Each bakery presents a plain croissant and an original creation of choice. The judges blind taste test the two and rank the bakeries based on the overall performance. Aside from the two competing items, there are other offerings from bakery's normal menu or new items just for the event. It's truly an once-a-year opportunity to sample and experience.

Tasting Notes

By the physical constraint of how much you can eat in one setting, my strategy in terms of sampling order is first creative items, then interesting non-competing items, then plain croissants. The main reason for this order is that

1. Creative items might be developed specifically for the competition that wouldn't be available later.
2. The non-competing items are most likely from the regular menu of that bakery. I basically get the experience of reviewing a new bakery / new items of old bakery by trying out what catches my eye among the non-competing items.
3. Plain croissant travels well. I can taste them later at home with a cleaner palate and less hectic surrounding.

However, due to the lack of labeling when collecting plain croissants, I don't know which sample is from which bakery when tasting. Also, I don't think I collected them all. So, the focus of this competition, at least for the judges, side-by-side comparison of plain croissant, is not conducted on my side. But what I learn from blind taste testing all the samples is that what styles are there and what style I prefer.

Here I will for each bakery summarize my overall impression and review the sampled items. Competing creative items will be labeled by ⭐.

Octavia

This is the only competitor that is not a standalone bakery but rather part of a fine dining restaurant. The menu ranges from bread to pastry to dessert. Can tell it operates as the bakery department for the restaurant supplying baked goods for the prefix menu course.

Al Pastor Croissant⭐ (4.8) - Strong black sesame flavor by embedding grounded seeds in the laminated dough. Caramalized exterior.

Olive Oil Cake w/ Fig Leaf, Strawberry (4) - Moist cake base, creamy cream and bright strawberry. A classic flavor combo in cute bite size.

Le Carousel

I'm most impressed by their consistently excellent open layer structure in all laminated shapes. In my opinion, the biggest challenge when deviating from the classic shapes of crescent moon for the plain and cuboid for the chocolate is to keep layers open, creating a light envelope for the filling. The most common pitfall I've seen in creative shapes is that the base is not properly proofed or baked due to the complexity of the shape or the additional weight of the filling. The result is a dense base with layers stuck together have gummy mouth feel. Their execution of the base is impeccable for all shapes and fillings. It's rare that in the presence of more priminant fillings, croissant base still stands out as an equally looking-forward-to element. It's not just a background for the interesting filling flavor. It's a main character that shines on its perfect texture.

Farmer's Market Basket (Blueberry, Yuzu, Mint)⭐ (4.8) - Definite getting bonus points on the eye-catching aesthetics. Croissant base shaped into basket, fill with lemony curd and topped with fresh blueberries. The base is golden crispy on the outside, giving the basket texture for aesthetics as well as sturdy support for functionality. The inside layers are open, which is the key for bowl shaped croissant having light airy base to complement custardy filling. The flavor is the classic lemon blueberry combo. Yuzu is more of a fancy lemon variation. Mint adds another note. Custard is very smooth and light. There are plenty fresh unsweetened blueberries, making it truely a farmer's market basket.

Rasperberry Bow - (3.8) Very open cavity inside both sides of the bow that are filled with rasperberry jam. The construction is similar to pain suisse. The laced surface adds an extra crispy textural component on top of the tender inner layers that form the main chamber. However, the jam is a bit too much for the amount of pastry shell that it tastes overall too sweet as the jam keeps oozing out with no pastry to balance off. Maybe that is the trap of having too open structure, that there is too much room for filling. One suggestion is to make filling self-balance, e.g. adding fat component to balance sweet. In this case, adding whipped cream to the filling to balance out jam.

Pistachio Cherry - (4.3) Classic danish bowl shape with high wall. Probably the most voluminous danish I've seen thanks to good base again. The wall has lacey effect exposing clear lamination. It's filled with generous amount of light pistachio cream at the buttom and cherry jam at the top. As nut cream and jam is a good combo, it deosn't feel off balance as the bow. Unlike most danish having significant dough only rim, the filling saturates into nooks and crannies of the base, making every bite very satisfying.

Spicy Coppa and Cheddar - (4.3) Torpedo body with decorative diamond lace. The base provides such a fun textural experience that's first cirspy shattery from the outside lace and then tender soft from the inside layers. Super open cross-section. Sliced salami and cheese are rolled with the base dough. A twist to the classic ham and cheese.

Companion

They mainly focus on classic French fares. Nothing exciting all everyday offerings. Can tell they probably have decent foundational techniques. But overshadowed at the competition where there are so many interesting creative selections.

Gateau Beurre⭐ - (3.8) My first reaction "Is it a Kouign-amann?" Their reply "It's our take on it." Gateau Beurre translates to butter cake, knwon for tender crumb and buttery flavor. That's exactly what I'd describe it. Tender inner layers, sweet glazed crust, overall rich and buttery. It differs from classic Kouign-amann in that it's less caramerlized and crunchy. It's not a bad thing, just a new variation. For those who is not a big fan of "burned sugar", either the caramel flavor or the crunchy texture, this might be better.

Blueberry Scone - (4.0) I like the constrast of slightly hard dried out exterior and soft crumbly interior. You get two very different experiences. The inside is sufficiently moist by the abundant blueberry yet not too much to be soggy. The outside has more bite to it by the slightly crunchy dried out texture. Overall it's a fine version of American style scone (coined by owner of Bonjour Bakery), which by my interpretation is on the hearty side with tight dense crumb, as opposed to the light side with airy tender crumb. Personally, I prefer the latter but this is a good example of the former.

Financier - (3.8) Sweet almond cake. Tender soft yet dense crumb. Texture is on point. A tad too sweet. But that might be just the style of the cake.

East Bay Bakery

They have a relatively wide menu and give away their samples proactively. As can be seen from their decoration, their forte is the use of seasonal fruit, i.e. stone fruit for now. Overall impression, croissant dough base is decent, above average. Flavor is creative and balanced.

Peach Almond Flower⭐ (4.6) - In terms of flavor, it's one of my favorite. The peach is somewhere between jam and very ripe fresh chunks, bright and buttery soft, almost like mango. The frangipane cream is subtly sweet and nutty, perfectly complementing the vibrant peach.

Cherry Cream Croffle (4.6) - This is my first croffle. I've been intentionally avoiding it as viral trendy mixup normally doesn't live up to the hype. I was surprisingly impressed by its unique texture. It has the eggy spongy chewiness from waffle and laminated layers from croissant. Moreover, the maximized caramelly crispy surface resembles so much the best part of Kouign-amann.

Chocolate Chip Cookie (4.3) - Chewy mocha, deeply coffee, not too sweet, sophiscated and elevated.

?? Bow (3.8) - Less open crumb than the bow from Le Carousel. Filled with some type of citrusy jam. Jam to base ratio is more balanced, as a result tighter crumb having less filling space.

Bonjour

I've known them since 2024 competition. I was first affected by Francois's passion and humor. He really got me sold on their "French style" scone, tender light and soft, and made me chuckle on what he coined "American style" scone, tough dense and hard. To be fair, there are better examples of American style like the blueberry scone from Companion. It all comes down to personal preference and I do prefer the "French style". It's actually the style I'd make at home myself. A wetter dough with higher fat content, normally adding cream to the wet, for tender crumb.

Now I'd stop by to visit them if passing by San Mateo on 101 and timing is right, for not just pastries but also people.

Strawberry Lime Cream Croissant⭐ (4.5) - Nice presentation. Good croissant base, cross lamination, crispy outer laces and even open inner layers. The base is stacked with from buttom to top, strawberry jam, fresh whipped cream, fresh strawberries and wait for it, fresh grated lime zest as the final touch. During interview, they were trying to sell me the importance of the lime touch. I grin at their classic French flamboyance. Upon tasting, I have to agree that the zing indeed elevates the experience from classic strawberry cream to something special. More mature and complex. A triangle of sweet, fat and acid.

Scone (4.5) - I like their two-bite size scones. Very cute and delightful. Doesn't matter savory or sweet, their texture is melt-in-mouth light.

Chocolate Croissant (4.0) - Open even layers. Membranesnot too thick not too thin. Good demonstration of foundation. A fun touch that the outer shell has leopard chocolate pattern.

Le Marais

It's unarguably the most popular booth. It has the longest line and longest list of offerings. You know they'd win people's award just by the look. I vaguely remember an earlier news that a long-standing beloved by the neighborhood bakery in Tenderloin was burnt down. The patrons were trying to raise money to help bakery reborn from ash. Well, it's them. They have multiple locations and one of them is in Tenderloin.

They have such a long menu, croissant of so many flavors and shapes, and a full dessert menu, from tart to cake to speciality. With this wide range of options, you'd always find something. That's probably their strategy all along, giving everyone something.

However, like jack of all trades, they don't really impress in any domain. The foundational technique is just average if not less. The croissant base is not properly open in some shapes. The flavor offerings are mostly classics, nothing very original or eye-catching.

Strawberry Croissant⭐ (4.4) - Croissant cup filled with soft sponge cake, strawberry jam, vanilla whipped cream and fresh strawberry. The bottom cake layer is moist, almost like light frangipane. Upon reading the description, it's actually madeleine. It has quite the complexity in texture from all the layers. Flavor from each layer is on point and together plays well. You can tell they've spent effort in developing it to be competition worthy. As Bonjour has another version of strawberry croissant, naturally the two are compared side by side. It's very close. Both demonstrate the best craft from each bakery. Le Marais has an edge in textural complexity. Bonjour wins in flavor creativity. But upon tasting, textural complexity doesn't stand out too much while the lime touch does make the overall experience quite memorable and special. That's why I rate Bonjour's version just slightly higher

Asparagus / Salmon / Potato Danish (3.7) - The flavors of savory croissant are good, new and interesting. My most complaint is their base. The layers below the filling are stuck and thus feeling dense. This is the most common pitfall for danish that base is not as equally exciting as filling due to lamination fallen short.

Almond Croissant (4.0) - Curtesy review from A and my Dad, tasty almond cream, not too toasty, crispy double bake shell while inside layers still open.

Apple Turnover (3.7) - Apple filling is chunky gooey, just what you'd expect from apple pie. My complaint is still the base. The shell is not properly puffed. You can't see open layers.

Parachute

Parachute lands with style not just by the bright proud yellow, but also the confidence of offering only two things, plain croissant and smore croissant. You can tell smore is specifically developed for the creativity prize of the competition. I was wondering what's on their regular menu as normally you get a sneak peak from other offerings. Later after visiting their website, their menu seems to be seasonal and constantly changing. Not surprising there is nothing from regular menu as every item is a special.

I can imagine how exciting to visit the bakery having a unique experience with each pastry.

Smore Croissant⭐ (4.7) - Fun idea, perfect execution. The kind of pastry that fulfills a dream. Imagine campsite toasted mashmellow and melted chocolate sandwiched between graham crackers, this is the croissant that captures the experience. Chocolate croissant base, filled with chocolate ganache, strudel sprinkles and marshmellow, finished with a quick torch blow. The base is impeccable. The flavor is fun. The construction is perfect.

The French Spot

I remember visiting their brick and mortar shortly after their graduation from subscription-based stage. I wasn't too impressed then. Quite soggy base and not that memorable flavor. Starting from micro kitchen small batch subscription boxes, the selling point is usually creativity that's not seen in tranditional bakeries. However, their creativity doesn't quite stand out and foundational technique is at average.

Mango Passion Coconut Croissant⭐ (4.0) - Shaped as traditional chocolate croissant. Topped with browned meringue. Filled with lemony curd. The croissant shell has good honeycomb structure with thin membranes. However, the complexity is indeed on the lower side as it's a easy classic shape with flavor swap.

Sarmentine

I visited them during the trip to Sonoma two years ago when my older one was three-month. Same as the trip to Tahoe this time, it was a family vacation at the end of my parents' three-month stay for helping on the newborn. The wine country treats my bread belly well. I made a list of bakeries to visit before the trip and went to different ones every morning. They are the closest one to where we stayed. So I went there more than once. Though formal review is long overdued, I remember I was quite fond of them. Located in a main shopping dining area, it has a beautiful lawn outside. I tried morning pastries, lunch sandwiches and desserts. All are classic French done well.

Lemon Almond Croissant⭐ (4.3) - "It's a Hartree Tart in croissant form!" That's exactly what I said when I tasted it and I think it's the best description that captures the gist. For those who don't know, Hartree tart is basically lemon meringue pie coined by some Australian old-time cooking magazine. It's beloved by A's family and up till this day his favorite dessert. You basically get the same experience of Hartree tart except swapping the Arrowroot biscuit base for croissant base. It has the same tart lemon curd and sweet meringue top. According to the description, it also has almond cream layer. You can't really pick it out as it fades into background of the curd to provide more well rounded profile. I think the nutty sweet almond cream is a good pairing to lemon curd that will make the tartness more pleasant and approachable for all.

Fournee

This is an old-time favorite. They are the reason those long-drive-to-Berkeley workdays are worth looking forward to. I remember the first time standing in their line, a guy just came out with his loot loudly and proudly addressed to the waiting line "They are the best!!". They offer all the classic French fares with seasonal twist. Classics are all solid. Seasonal croissants are usually diamond danish shape with good base and intersting flavors. I like the rusty homey feel of the shop that pastries are sitting in basket instead of marble display. Instead of being hyped on social media, they are hyped by real people. In the era of going viral, they stay focused on craftsmanship. In my opinion, they've already won people's award.

Rhubard Cheesecake Crisp⭐ (4.1) - To me, rhubard is like an exotic mix of strawberry and rasperberry. The edible part is the stalk like celery just red. The raw form is mildly toxic. So it's normally cooked into jam and commonly used in baking. It's a seasonal produce. Whenever seeing rhubard flavor popping up in pastry or ice cream, you know summer is here. Strawberry cream cheese is a classic combo. The bonus touch is strudel topping, adding a fun texture element to the otherwise soft creamy filling. The base is good, even small opening. The rim is light and crispy. The bottom layers are weighed more tightly together by the filling but not to the point of dense and gummy. It's better to be more open but this is acceptable. Maybe they need to parbake the base first to let the buttom puff up before adding on filling. It's unassuming by the look but nice surprise in flavor.

Black Sesame Sourdough (4.5) - In the presence of so many exciting pastries, this piece of bread really shines to showcase their solid foundation in basics. Strong nutty black sesame really permeates throughout and stands out in the background of sourness. Textbook open crumb full of moist. Chewy crust that's not hard or burnt.

Maison Benoit

They were giving friendly appearance as last year's winner. I just visited them on our way to Tahoe. When I found out they are on route with almost no detour, I was so excited that it swept away the anxiety of the first time long drive with two boys. It immediately brought back the enthusiam of bakery review trips from before mommy time. Actually, I took the visit to them as a warmup to the competition in terms of waking up my pastry tasting bud and tummy volumn.

They don't disappoint. We sampled pain suisse, brioche, cake, bread (in the form of sandwich). All stands up to expectation. The most memorable item is Baguette Viennoise. It's basically a brioche shaped like a baguette. The chocolate version according to their description "A snack favorite for all French kids!". My older one had almost the whole one for his lunch that day after railway museum. I like the French part of him. You can also swap sandwich bread from normal baguette to the plain version of this long brioche, making it more approachable to those who are not a fan of hard crust bread like my Mom, or to those whose child side calls for it.

Chocolate Pain Suisse (4.3) - Cross lamination is very good. It's filled with chocolate baton, basically a chocolate croissant with more challenging shape.

Turkey Egg Cup (4.0) - Breakfast in one bundle. Sliced turkey rolled with croissant shell filled with egg baked together. The egg is not runny yolk but fully set, which actually works better here.

Afterthoughts

Time flies that it's been the third year I attend the competition. All started with my genuine passion and Frenchly's generous inclusion. I hope the friendship keeps going as both the event and my family grow in the years to come.

Looking back at the journey for the past three years. The first time, my old one was two-month, and my dad was babysitting while A and I had a full experience of the event from interviewing to tasting. The second time, we brought our just-started-walking egg-allergic dressed-in-croissant-onesie toddler along. It was tricky babysitting a palate-curious yet pastry-no-no toddler at a feast surrounded by what's made of his biggest enemy then, egg. It's hard to focus on tasting while distracting him from stealing a bite. This time, we left both boys to my parents and had a more planned strategy in tasting all limited creative items. And we brought back plenty samples to share with my family. My older one had three plain croissant samples and two other pastry samples later that day. He also gave his honest review which plain croissant he likes the best. Mommy is so proud of him already growing into a little bakery critic.

I look forward to this event becoming our family's annual tradition. I'd like to see the event get better. Here are some of my thoughts for organizer, attendees and bakeries. Together, I hope the French bakery community grows.

Suggestions for Organizer

The venue is a bit too small for the number of participants. If possible, a bigger place would be ideal. It feels very crowded either at the line waiting for samples or at the table tasting. Most of the time there is no place to stand or put down handful of things. The "people mountain people sea" situation discounts the experience a lot. It's like a battlefield fighting for room rushing to taste. It's much more pleasant to have enough room for everyone to enjoy and socialize.

Tips for Attendees

The venue hotel no longer has valet parking. We parked at self-service public parking Mason O'Farrell Garage one block away. Plan extra time for parking.

To create more pleasant experience for yourself and fellow participants, after collecting enough samples, it's better to eat at the tables right outside entrance double door instead of cramming in the main room.

Suggestions for Bakeries

With 11 bakeries each having multiple items, most participants would collect samples from different bakeries. When it comes to tasting later, it's hard to tell which one is from where once the samples are mixed together. It's especially true for plain croissant samples. It's better for the bakeries to label their pastries. The best way I saw is what East Bay Bakery was doing. They have a little toothpick flag written with "EB" on every sample. It's such an easy and elegant way to "sign" your work.

One regret this time is that I collected all plain croissant samples. But due to the lack of label, I can't associate my review for each sample to the corresponding bakery, or vote offline my favorite one. All I can tell after tasting so many plain croissants side by side is that what are the style out there and which one I prefer. Well, it's still meaningful to get this conclusion. But next time I'd definitely label the samples to have more systematic proper tasting if it's not labeled by the bakeries.

What Next

Thanks for the organizer Frenchly in bringing the community together. I'm glad to see there are more and more fine bakeries in the area. Every year through the event I'd add more bakeries to my review list. From this year, the new ones I plan to visit are

• Le Carousel, for the excellent lamination foundation
• Parachute, for the whimsical creativity, only you can't imagine nothing we can't make