The Argentum Project

6th & Mission.  6th & Market.  Not exactly a "destination" neighborhood for most, but, one day, early in the pandemic, it was my destination.  I was headed to The Argentum Project, located on 6th, right between Market & Mission.

“Greek-style coffee cafe.”

The Argentum Project was doing takeout only, with a reduced menu, so I didn't get to experience the "cafe" aspect really.  I also didn't get to experience the item that I sought out, the item that lead me there in the first place: their Greek soft serve frozen yogurt!  You know how much I enjoy good soft serve.

However, I was still able to enjoy a Greek pastry, somewhat different from my usual dessert lineup, and met the very friendly owner.

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I ordered in advance, and ordered the soft serve greek yogurt, only to arrive and find they didn't have the machine set up (which, makes sense, given the low volume of pandemic days).

Setting

As I mentioned, the shop is located right on 6th street.

Covid Friendly Store Front.

Because my visit was early on in the pandemic, they had created a makeshift takeout only setup, by just blocking the front door with a table.  You could not enter at all.  To order, or pick up, you just kinda hollered around the corner inside.  The pastry display case was not visible from the street, sadly.

Menu.

They did have a menu posted in the window, but, it was the full regular menu, many items were not available.

The menu is full of savory lunch items like pita sandwiches, salads, and Greek platters with all their homemade dips.  You can also purchase the dips and spreads individually.  

But I had no interest in lunch, or savory food, as I was there for my dessert.  Greek yogurt is usually available 2 ways - as regular unsweetened greek yogurt, or, as soft serve, available in two flavors (original, no sugar, or vanilla).  Either way you can add honey syrup, sour cherry, baklava crumbles, fruit, or granola.   Alas, not available.

So I investigated the pastry lineup, which basically was different styles of phyllo dough wrapped around a filling, either sweet or savory.  Had I wanted slightly savory, the tyropita, filled with cheese and egg mixture sounded interesting.  But I honed in on the Bougatsa, a Greek variation of a börek, which came in both sweet and savory versions: semolina custard, cheese, or minced meat filling.

Boutgatsa Wrapped.

I was handed over my goodie, wrapped very well in paper.  Too bad I wanted to rip into it immediately ...

The serving style was odd to me, but perhaps this is common for Greek bakeries?

Sweet Custard Creme Bougatsa / Bougatsa me krema. $3.50. (Quarter)

"Flaky pastry filled with a sweet semolina custard and topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon."

Bougatsa is made in a large pan, and then cut into pieces.  I ordered just the quarter, a nice sized triangle.  It is normally served hot and fresh, but, since this was made in advance, it was cold, but she warmed it for me.

The pastry on top was just a thin layer, a bit soft, perhaps from the reheating method?  The piece on the bottom however was thicker, more layers, extremely crispy, but extremely greasy.  It wasn't a nice buttery pastry sort of grease, it just felt heavy and oily.  I'll admit I was a bit put off by the amount of grease clearly soaked up by that bottom layer.

When I reheated it later at home, I was able to get the top layer fairly crispy, and I did love how crispy the bottom stayed, but I needed to actually wipe down some of the grease to enjoy it.  I did love the texture the crispy pastry had though.

But of course, the pastry is only part of the treat.

Sweet Custard Cream Bougatsa: Side.

The inside was the sweet custard.  Thick, rich, slightly eggy.  Sorta like the filling of a Portuguese pastel de nata or a Chinese dim sum egg tart, but inside a flaky thin Greek pastry instead.  I believe it is semolina based in some way?

At room temperature, or fridge temperature, I wasn't that into the filling ... it seemed a bit too solid, a bit too much like a quiche, but when warmed up, it softened, loosened, and was quite tasty.  And the play of textures with the pastry was good.

I liked this best heated up, with a scoop of ice cream, but I realized that is entirely not how it is intended to be served.  I think I'd like to try it fresher perhaps, as it just seemed to fall a bit short, and I know that Argentum Project is known for having excellent pastries.