Taste It Presents Desserts

As you know by now, desserts, and baked goods in general, are pretty much my favorite things to review.  And by "review", you know I mean "eat".  For "research".  While I certainly love local small bakeries, for my group at work, we are required to order through foodservice distributors, so I've had my share of wholesale items.  Many taste like the freezers they come from, most are non-offensively average, and every once in a while I find a vendor that makes a noteworthy item.  Like Taste It Presents.

"Taste It Presents creates gloriously tempting gourmet desserts, delighting pleasure seekers across the country. "

Taste It Presents also has 4 sister brands, Cannoli Factory, Love & Quiches, Joey’s Fine Foods and Sweet Sofia’s Bakery, but I've only tried the signature Taste It Presents line.  

"We offer a full range of triumphant frozen desserts for Foodservice and Retail, including American, Italian, Spanish/Latin, Asian and other world-renowned specialties. Choose from a wide assortment of delectable cakes, trays and pies, creamy cheesecakes, individual desserts, mousse desserts, brownies, dessert bars, cookies and cupcakes, grab-n-go, gluten free, baked goods and other top-selling favorites."

The lineup from Taste It Presents is reasonably extensive, but I've only tried the cakes.

Cakes

"No major milestone in life can be passed without cake marking the occasion. Our memory-making temptations have been capturing the hearts of diners for decades.

From the Belgian chocolate in our mousse cakes and the Italian Amarettini cookies atop our Toasted Almond Cream Cake to authentic Key lime juice in our Key Lime Pie, we source only premium ingredients, ensuring each cake has just the right balance of flavor, sweetness and texture."

The lineup of cakes is quite extensive, and I've tried several.  The quality bar is high.  And, spoiler, they make my favorite lemon dessert of all time.

Limoncello Mascarpone Cake.

"Our luscious Limoncello Mascarpone cake is a rich combination of Sicilian lemon infused sponge cake and Italian mascarpone topped with European white chocolate curls. A refreshingly light creamy dessert with the perfect combination of sweet and tart."

Limoncello.  I like Limoncello.  But ... I dislike most citrus based desserts - lemon curd, key lime ... just, sorry, not my thing.  And cake?  Eh.  Its ok, but, generally I want a pie, crisp, cobbler, mousse, or just something ... more interesting.  

The first time I saw the Limoncello Mascarpone Cake, I tried it, mostly because I was desperately wanting something sweet, and I figured, if nothing else, I'd eat the creamy frosting and white chocolate off the top.

But ... this is actually really good.   Really, really good.  It is a repeat order for my team.  We all rave about it every time it is served.

Limoncello Mascarpone Cake: Side Profile.

The sponge cake is light as air.  So fluffy, yet moist.  Amazingly light.  Like I said, I don't like cake, and I genuinely like this.

The layers of filling are sweetened, rich mascarpone cream, far more interesting than just sweet buttercream.  Perfect compliment to the lightness of the cake.

The white chocolate curls on top add an extra hit of sweetness, and a bit of texture.  The manufacturer recommends serving with fresh berries, whipped cream, or raspberry coulis.  I think the sweet coulis would be overkill, and mask the lightness of the limoncello, and more whipped cream is just totally unnecessary (not something I say often!), but berries I'd like to try sometime.

Is it good for you?  Well, no.  The mascarpone and cream add up.  A single slice (4oz, as pre-sliced is 380 calories), but honestly, it feels lighter!

****+.

Limoncello Mascarpone Cake: Again!

I'm shocked every time I have this, as I genuinely like it.  I've added it to our rotation to theme alongside "Italian night" when we have it.

Most recently, I took my own suggestion and paired with fresh blueberries and raspberries, and they complimented the lemon and cream beautifully.  Definite success.

****+.

10" Mixed Berry Cake.

"Sponge cake with Mascarpone cream, topped and filled with blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, black and red currants." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Mixed Berry Cake is refreshingly light and creamy, with colorful blue, red & black wild berries." -- Taste It Presents

After the surprise success of the Limoncello Mascarpone cake, I eagerly ordered the new Mixed Berry cake, as it too promised layers of mascarpone cream.

It is a nice looking cake, loaded with berries and white chocolate garnish on top.

And it too delivered.  The cake was again light and really not bad (for cake!), although this time not soaked in anything.  The mascarpone cream with thick, rich, and pretty fantastic.

Mixed Berry Cake: Side Profile.

The fruit was also found in the layers, assorted types of berries - blueberry, raspberries, strawberries - and tiny currants.  All the assorted fruits gave great pops of flavor, and I especially appreciated the currants.  Add in a bit of sweet white chocolate curls and I was quite pleased.

Update: we have had this several other times, and I've always enjoyed it.  Best when allowed to warm up to room temperature, and soften a bit, rather than "refrigerator" temperature.

***+.

Mixed Berry Cake / Wildberry Cream Cake.

"Two layers of light, buttery sponge cake are delicately soaked in vanilla syrup, then enveloped with two layers of heavenly Italian mascarpone cream that is hand mixed with blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, black and red currants.

Topped with white chocolate curls."

Same cake, new name?  I think it is now marketed as the Wildberry Cream Cake, with a more accurate description, but I'm pretty sure this is the same cake.

I again do like the cream, but the berries weren't as great as I remembered - specifically, I wasn't into the currants, and they were dominant.

***.

Toasted Almond Cake, 10" Round.

"Delectable combination of imported ladyfingers lightly soaked in amaretto syrup, layered with smooth and creamy Italian mascarpone. Finished with crushed amaretiini cookies and roasted California Almonds." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"This 2 layer sponge cake is delicately soaked in amaretto syrup layered with imported mascarpone cream and topped with Italian amarettini cookies and roasted almonds." -- Taste It Presents

After enjoying the previous cakes, I branched out, ordering more cakes, again drawn in by teh mascarpone.

This cake is one of their signature items, and is available in a slew of formats - a full tray tiramisu style, a 7" round cake, a 10" round cake, and even individual pudding cups.  We had the larger 10" round.

Toasted Almond Cake: Side Profile.

It was a fantastic cake.

Much like the limoncello mascarpone and the berry mascarpone, it was made from light, moist ladyfingers, this time soaked in amaretto syrup.  I really don't tend to enjoy cake, but, when its this light and moist, it really is nice.  The soaked cakes from Taste It are better than the unsoaked.

And then, of course, their wonderful mascarpone cream.  Thick, rich, smooth, creamy.

Just the layers alone were a wonderful cake actually, but the crunchy amaretti cookies and bits of caramelized almond on top really pushed it over the top.

Light and moist.  Creamy and decadent.  Crispy and sweet.  Very good.

***.

Update:
I had it another time, and ... it wasn't as good.  It tasted stale in a strange way, like, the cream filling actually tasted stale, which is not a flavor I've ever associated with cream before.  I wonder if it was in a fridge with something with odor?

Tiramisu Cake.

"A light sponge cake and ladyfingers delicately soaked in espresso, alternately layered with imported mascarpone cheese and finished with a light dusting of cocoa." 

Tiramisu, as a cake?  Ok, why not?

This looked basically like a tiramisu, with layers of alternating soaked sponge cake, and mascarpone.

Tiramisu Cake: Inside.

Three layers total, but it was clear from immediate inspection that the ratio of everything was far more "cake" than I wanted.  Yes, this was a cake, not a tiramisu.

The cake was ... fine.  But boring.  Standard cake.  A bit dry.  Not a light airy one like in some of the other products.

The mascarpone filling though of course was thick, rich, and delicious.  I wanted more of it, like a real tiramisu.

The amount of cocoa on top was too aggressive for my tastes.

**+.

Tiramisu.

"A traditional Italian dessert consisting of alternating layers of imported Mascarpone and ladyfingers delicately soaked in espresso with a hint of liquor."

Taste It also makes traditional tiramisu, which comes in a large tray of pre-scored slices for banquets and catering.

It was pretty classic, decent enough tiramisu.  Unlike the layer cake, the ratios were much better, enough cake obviously, but, look at the cream topping!  Much better.

The ladyfingers were nicely soaked, moist, lots of espresso.  The mascarpone cream was thick and rich, good flavor.  Powdered cocoa on top.

Very classic, no more, no less. ***.

Update: I had it a second time, and was less thrilled.  The cake was nicely soaked, but, the cream didn't have much depth to it, and, eh, cake.

Dulce de Leche Cake.

"A rich chocolate cake topped with dulce de leche mousse, sprinkled with chocolate curls." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Savor this rich chocolate cake topped with dulce de leche mousse (caramel flavor) sprinkled with chocolate curls." -- Taste It Presents

I was excited to order this one, something totally different, featuring mousse.

Sweet. Very, very, very sweet.  That is what I have to say about this one.

It looked like such a stunner, and everyone was excited for it, but most slices wound up in the trash.

Dulce de Leche Cake: Side Profile.

The base was fairly dry, not rich as advertised, chocolate cake.  I didn't care for that, but I never really care for cake.

The rest was the "mousse".  The texture was smooth and creamy, but the flavor was overwhelmingly sweet, in a cloying way, with a strange aftertaste.

The chocolate curls on top were at least good, nice dark chocolate.

*+.

Caramel Pecan Fudge.

"The ultimate combination of rich chocolate mousse cake, topped with pecans, swirls of caramel and milk chocolate." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor.

"Caramels, pecans and fudge? Is there any BETTER combination? Put this cake on your menu, and watch the smiles come..." -- Taste It

There were some good, and some bad, parts to this.

The cake was dry and boring, not rich, not chocolately, not moist.  Throwaway component.

The chocolate mousse however was good.  Very thick, very rich, very chocolately.  Intense.

The caramel drizzle over the top was also nice, sweet, standard caramel.  I liked the crunch from the pecans too.

Overall though, it was actually ... too rich.  It needed whipped cream.  Badly.

Once I removed the cake, added whipped cream, and just had an amazing chocolate mousse with caramel and pecans and whipped cream, I really enjoyed it.

**+.

 Belgian Chocolate Mousse.

"For the chocolate lover. A satisfyingly smooth chocolate mousse on a chocolate crust." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"A chocolate lover's dream. This light and satisfying cake has smooth Belgian chocolate mousse and is finished with tasty chocolate shavings." -- Taste It Presents

This was an ok product.  The mousse was creamy and rich, not super intense chocolate, but enough.  The texture was spot on.  I really liked the dark chocolate shavings on top.

The cake crust was dry, boring, and best left behind, but chocolate mousse doesn't need chocolate cake with it anyway.

Even better with some whipped cream.  Not an amazing mousse, but not awful.

***.

Flourless Chocolate Cake.

"Indulge your senses with this decadent, flourless chocolate cake. A chocolate lover’s dream, this dessert will delight gluten and non-Gluten Free customers alike.  Made with the finest Belgian semi sweet chocolate, butter, cocoa powder and vanilla. Unlike other flourless chocolate cakes which can be gritty, flakey or dry, this cake is delicately rich, and bursting with a smooth, moist, and creamy texture."

This was one of the better flourless chocolate cakes I have ever had.  It really was remarkably smooth and creamy, almost like a really thick pudding or mousse.  Deep, rich chocolate flavor.  

I laughed at the pieces my cafe cut them into, but I understand why - this is a "little goes a long way" kind of cake.  Best paired with some whipped cream to cut the heaviness, or strawberries/raspberries if consumed cold.  I also heated up a second slice the next day and added a scoop of coffee ice cream, which worked beautifully as well.

****.

Swiss Airlines First Class Lounge, A Gates, Zurich

Um, wow.

So that happened.  You can start with my post on my First Class flight from San Francisco to Zurich to understand how it is that I wound up in the First Class lounge at Zurich Airport.  

Normally, before I travel, I do plentiful research.  I know what every lounge will have to offer, I have my lounge hoping plans all laid out.  But for this trip, I thought I was flying business class, which gave me access to only one lounge.  But then I flew First Class instead, which gave me access to a large variety of lounges.  

"Experience SWISS First before take-off, during the transfer and on arrival. Enjoy comfort, peace and relaxation far from the bustle of the airport. You'll find Swiss hospitality, a pre-flight dinner, quiet and meeting rooms and the shuttle service to the gate in the First Lounge. Let us spoil you."

But let's back up.  We landed in Zurich, in Terminal E where international flights are, and First Class passengers were met by staff at the door of the aircraft, who led us down a staircase to a waiting escort car.  They zipped us right over to Terminal A, where I'd be departing next.  We did quick passport check in our own dedicated counter, and ... that was that.  I could proceed to the adjacent First Class lounge.  

The gate-to-lounge experience was unlike anything I've ever done before, and set the stage for what a unique experience this would be.

The Space

The lounge is not huge, but, given that I was the only guest a majority of my stay, was plenty big enough.  There are decent shower suites available, all kinds of seating, individual work areas, conference rooms, a bar, and a formal dining restaurant.

Comfortable Seating.

The lounge offers several styles of seating.  In my excitement, I forgot to take a photo of the other seats, but I camped out in a corner with plush couches.

Work Stations.

There were also individual cubbies for isolated work and privacy, with their own little doors.

Bar.

In the center of the space is a bar with a feature of special brandy.  There is bar seating along several sides of this area.

Candy Jars!

Perhaps the most exciting thing to me was a large candy table.  Only downside?  The little bowls provided were too small!

I sampled everything here, and honestly wished I'd taken more.  I wish I knew what brand some of it was.  I loved it all.

The lineup:

• Pink marshmallows with white centers: Fairly standard sweet fluffy marshmallows, and, uh, I loved them with a glass of red wine.  ***+.
• Gummy peach rings: I adored these. I've had many peach gummy rings before, but these were the best I've had.  Great chew, very intense peach flavor, sweet and sour.  Loved these.  ****+.
• Gummy snakes? Not really sure what to call this shape, but, wide snakes is the best I can coem up with.  Each one was two colors/flavors, and they came in a variety of flavors.  Again, great chew, great sweet/sour ratio due to the sugary sour coating.  I liked slightly less than peaches, but still fabulous.  ****+
• Candied walnuts: These were good!  Nice for a little protein, something to munch, and bit of sweetness.  I bet would go great with a cheese platter. ****+.  
• Seasoned cashews: Also good.  Savory seasoning.  Good for something not sweet, but interesting.  ***+.
• Lindt truffles: Just classic Lindor milk chocolate truffles. 
• Swiss Airlines mini chocolate bars: Same as you get on board.  Decent creamy milk chocolate.
• White, Dark, and Milk chocolate thin chunks - Probably the least good thing on the table.   These were all wafer thin.  The dark chocolate was still quite sweet, the milk not particularly creamy. *** for those.  I did really like the white chocolate though, particularly when combined with gummy candy and red wine.  ****. Just trust me.  It worked great! 

Food & Drink

Now for the good stuff, the actual food & drink (candy doesn't count, right?)

Casual

There is no buffet in the First Class lounge, but soft drinks, juices, smoothies, and a few appetizers are available for you to grab on your own.  The main attraction is the fine dining experience.

Drinks.

Bottled drinks were available to grab right as you walked in, basic juices, soft drinks, beer, and both still and sparkling water.

The bar up ahead had a large selection of additional drinks you could order, I think this was really just for those who wanted to grab right as they came in (which, I did, a cold sparkling water was exactly what I wanted!).

Juice, Smoothies, Muesli, Cheese, Appetizers.

For those who just wanted to easily grab a little something, and were likely feeling as time zone confused as me, the lounge had a tiny little station to help yourself to juices and smoothies, two kinds of muesli, fruit salad, two types of cheese, and little appetizer nibbles (cream cheese stuffed smoked ham or peppers).

This was as close to a "buffet" as you got in the First Class lounge.

Cheeses.

I did try the Tête de Moine cheese which was really unique, kinda ruffled, strong uh, Swiss-like flavor.

Fruity Bircher Muesli.

When I first arrived, I wasn't hungry (very late big dinner on the flight, and very early decent breakfast on the flight) and it was still pre-breakfast time for me, but I wanted to try ... something.  So I grabbed a fruity bircher muesli, even though I had literally just had bircher muesli for breakfast on the flight.

It wasn't actually very good.  Mushy, sweet.  I liked the version on the flight more, and my hotel had a much better version every morning in Munich.

**+.

Plum cake, chocolate cake, apple pie.

Behind the counter were also 3 different cakes, that I didn't discover until nearly the end of my stay.  They weren't with the self-serve items, and weren't on the dining menu, but, if you came around one side of the bar, they were visible.  Staff served these to you if you knew to ask for them.

The chocolate cake looked a bit dry (but I think they added the berry sauce on top?), the plum cake looked kinda interesting (or maybe the sauce was for that?) but not likely my style, and the apple pie wasn't quite exciting because I knew I'd have lots of apple desserts in Munich and it looked more like an apple tart than American style apple pie.  So I ignored them ... at first.

After a glorious, glorious dessert from the fine dining section (keep reading!), I went to go check out the other nearby lounges (the Alpine lounge, Senator, and Business lounges, all right next door), and came back to finish my last 20 minutes or so in the First Class lounge.  I was so pleased with my meal in the dining room, not hungry (it was about 9am in my head at that point), but ... I couldn't resist at least trying one of the other desserts.

Apple Pie.

The apple pie was served just as a massive slice.  I'm all for "Parent family slices" and usually scoff at the tiny slivers people consider slices, but this really was a big one, particularly given how dense it was, and, well, the fact that I just had a cheesecake and meal right before.  Heh.

I think it was supposed to be served with an additional apple sauce, as it was in the bowl beside it, but mine came ungarnished.

It was more of an apple torte than traditional American apple pie, or maybe just a Bavarian style apple pie?  I guess it wasn't as cake-like as a torte, but it certainly didn't have the pie-like crust.  Anyway.  It was more of a soft tarte crust, and the apples were very dense, layered, and had some kind of goo in there and a little mild spicing.  The top was also not a pie crust, but more of a almond layer maybe?  Very different from things I've had before, but not altogether unfamiliar.

It was served at room temperature, and was ... fine.  It didn't taste fresh or homemade, but was perfectly fine.  However, I desperately wanted it warm and with some ice cream (or at least whipped cream).  I had to go get on my next flight, otherwise I would have asked for ice cream, as they had it on the dessert menu in the restaurant area, so I know they had it on hand.

I saved the rest, and may or may not have had it in my hotel room when jetlag hit and apple pie at 6am seemed like a great idea.

***.

Fine Dining

The real feature of the lounge is the fine dining experience, available in the dining area or bar.  Given that I was the only guest, I, uh, had my choice of seats.

"Our SWISS First Lounge is also an à la carte restaurant. Guests in SWISS First can be served from an extensive range of salads, fine sandwiches or a multi-course pre-flight dinner. A team of head chefs is constantly at your disposal."

A La Carte Menu.

The a la carte menu had plenty to pick from, much of it fairly tempting, but a bit all over the place.  For starters, a seasonal salad (with asparagus!) or Caesar salad, beef tartar, or smoked salmon, along with a seasonal asparagus cream soup.

Next came main dishes sausages with proper sides, or "veal Zurich style", both of which made sense, but then ... falafel with hummus/eggplant/pita, or how about tiger prawns in a kaffir lime sauce? Or, the real main dish of champions: fondue.

And finally, desserts.  A refreshing light lemon elderflower sorbet with Limoncello, cheeses, or a very interesting sounding "variations of milk and honey".

It was however just 8am in my world, and I already had breakfast on my flight, and a very late dinner, so, I wasn't entirely sure what made sense.  I was drawn in by the asparagus offerings, but ... there was more to come.

Tasting Menu with Wine Pairings.

The next page was a many course tasting menu, none of which came from the previous menu pages, all of which came with recommended wine pairings.  If you wanted to sit down and have a long, leisurely, five course, fine dining experience, this is for you.

I certainly didn't want 5 courses, but the  first course of marinated char sounded better than the other starters, and I loved the sound of the sides that came with the steak.   So, um, that is what I ordered.  The first course from the tasting menu, and the sides from the fourth course.  I was curious about the jellied champagne soup dessert as well, but, the previous page cheesecake-ish called out stronger.

Wine List.

And finally, the wine list.  Was it 8am for me?  Yes!  Did I drink plenty on my flight there?  Yes!  Did I still order a small pour of wine?  Yes!

The list was reasonably long, 4 champagnes, 6 whites, 1 rose, 6 reds. 

Marinated char, blinis, sour cream, dill, sunflower seeds.

I started with the first course from the tasting menu.  I knew the lounge called itself fine dining, but, I wasn't quite expecting this.  Plating alone, this was Michelin level cuisine!

The fish was fine, but I am not quite sure what the marinade was, as I didn't detect it.  I preferred the baltic salmon on my flight actually.  But the accompaniments with this were what really shined. Tiny cubes of well seasoned cucumber, high quality olive oil, delicate baby chives, little dollops of sour cream, and elaborately placed pumpkin seeds.  I mean, really.

This was a beautiful dish, and a nice choice for quasi breakfast, quasi lunch, random fine dining.

***+.

Asparagus.

And then, my requested asparagus, normally a component with the steak dish.

I actually loved this.  It was freshly cooked, well seasoned, tender, juicy, and just 100% what I wanted at the time.  Delicious as it was, given how well seasoned it was, but also fantastic with the bearnaise.

****.

Bearnaise.

My sauce was presented in a little bowl, and it was flawless.  I loved how fluffy it was, and, like everything, just well seasoned.  Gordon Ramsey would be proud.

****.

Variation of milk & honey, cheesecake, glace, dried milk foam, dulce de leche.

The meal just kept getting better and better.

This was one of the best desserts I've had in years, truly.  And yes, I eat a lot of dessert!  Like the first course, visually, it was stunning.

Every component of this was interesting.  Every component was quite tasty on its own.  Together they were glorious.

So what did we have?

The main bar shaped item was the cheesecake, perfectly smooth, sweet but not too sweet, lovely vanilla bean and honey notes.  The cream cheese flavor was not strong, I suspect they used something other than American style cream cheese.  It sat on a thin base, not mushy nor cardboardlike, just, a compressed cookie bit.  This bar alone was a truly great dessert.

But on top of it were so many goodies, each of which accented the cheesecake in a different way.  A strawberry or raspberry added a beautiful fruity note.  I found the grape to be refreshing, and not something I've ever paired with cheesecake before.  The thin wafer disks were sooo sweet, I think perhaps the dulce de leche in thin crispy form?  They added a fun crisp texture, and were just crazy delicious.

But wait, what else was on that plate?  On the other side was a pile of crumble, that didn't look like it would be good, but, was.  It wasn't just graham cracker.  On top of that was my favorite part.  I think this was the dried milk foam?  It was a fluffy and airy and cold milk like substance, that seemed almost like ice cream, but not quite.  I suspect it came out of a whipped cream charger.  I loved the cold quality, and the texture and flavor of this too.  It was great with the base it was sitting on, and of course went well with the cheesecake bar too.  And finally, a meringue like disk on top of that.  Another fun complimentary texture.

This just delivered on all fronts, and I was blown away by what a well composed, flawlessly executed, gorgeous dish it was.  Top 3 desserts I've had in several years, really.

*****.

Mixt

Mixt is small chain in the Bay Area (which you may also know as "Mixt Greens", their old name).  The concept is healthy salads, grain bowls, and plates, all very customizable, or, you can opt from their pre-designed dishes.  When you order at the store, your ingredients are tossed into a bowl, and mixed in front of you, hence the name (I think?).

Mixt is the sister restaurant to Split (previously, Split Bread), a similar concept sandwich shop.  Both have multiple locations around town.

Visit #1: Delivery, Yerba Buena Location, March 2020

Delivery.  I don't usually opt for delivery, but, the recent Shelter In Place meant more takeout for me, and, when it got cold and gloomy, it was time to finally get delivery.  I just wanted something fresh and healthy, so I ordered from Mixt, a salad place I've walked by a zillion times.  I knew salad would work fine for delivery, and I was needing vegetables, badly.

Unfortunately, this experience left me extremely grumpy.

The positive? The order was quickly prepared, and quickly delivered.  When I filled out the feedback form on the Mixt website, they offered me a free salad or sando to make up for it.  Customer service quality from both Caviar (delivery) and Mixt (merchant) was great.

The negative?  My order was missing a bunch of things, including one main ingredient in my salad, my side, and requested utensils.  All were listed on the receipt, just not included.  I understand running out of salad ingredient and just leaving it off, but the rest missing?  Boo.

It was also expensive for what it was.  With taxes (~$1), service fees (~$2), delivery fees ($0.99), and courier tip, my $10 salad quickly turned into a $20 salad, and, the portion wasn't exactly generous, and the quality wasn't great.  With my missing items too, it all just resulted in a fairly displeased customer.

I won't give much more preamble about the delivery experience though, as this was a one-off through a third-party, early in the pandemic days when everything was kinda falling apart.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of pickup and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes ...

• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

I ordered via Caviar for this, and I certainly don't fault the delivery service, as the ordering experience was simple, I was provided notifications as my order was prepared, and the delivery came quickly.  But ...

Bagged Up.

My order *should* have contained several items, so the big bag didn't seem totally extraneous, until I opened it, and found ... just one item.

I know the bag is needed for the courier, but, still, it felt so wasteful.

Design Your Own Salad. $10.45.

"Romaine Hearts / Baby Spinach base with Cabbage, Shaved Fennel, Roasted Cauliflower, Radishes

Roasted Brussels Sprouts, and Citrus Balsamic Dressing."

My salad arrived with the dressing packaged separately (as they do for all takeway orders), and the non-base ingredients perched on top, again, standard for takeaway, rather than, well, "mixt", as you get in-store.  This is what I wanted, so I could combine into my own creation anyway, adding in a bunch of ingredients I had on hand at home as well.

For the base, I had my choice of 6 types of greens, or 6 blends of grains and greens.  I could select at most two.  I opted for greens, and went for baby spinach and hearts of romaine.  I wished they had radicchio or other bitter greens, but, the selection was decent.  Both were ... fine.  Fresh enough (although the romaine had some brown spots), the romaine was torn into good size chunks, and the portion was about what I expected - this isn't a huge salad, but it isn't a side salad.  Standard, decent quality base.

Next, I could select 5 "Specialty Ingredients", ranging from raw or cooked vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, herbs, toasted nuts + seeds, or cheeses + egg.  The selection was vast, and picking just 5 was hard (of course, I could pay $1 per additional ingredient if I wanted).  I went for 3 raw vegetables (cabbage, shaved fennel, radish) and two cooked vegetables (roasted brussels sprouts and roasted cauliflower), skipping all other categories.  I had my own nuts and seeds (honey sriracha mixed nuts and seeds and wasabi peas), cheese (manchego, leftover from my incredible salad from La Fromagerie the day before), and fruit (diced pears, also from aforementioned salad) to add in anyway, although there were plenty in all those categories that appealed.

At first glance, I was ... underwhelmed by my specialty ingredients, in particular, the quantity.  At second glance, I was annoyed.  Where were my radishes?!  One of my 5 precious selections, and alas, it was entirely missing.  I can only assume they ran out, and didn't want to substitute something else in case I had an allergy?

The cabbage was just green cabbage, shredded, and the portion of fennel was meager.  I was hoping for perhaps some colorful purple cabbage to jazz up this very bland looking salad, and certainly had wanted some chunks so it gave actual crunch.  Both were lost pretty easily into the salad, due to their shredded nature, and small portion.  A bit sad.

My roast veggies were just as bland looking.  The brussels were ... fine, but not roasted nearly as much as I like.  Just, cold soft mushy brussels sprouts.  I choose not to eat them then, and roasted them more at home later.  The cauliflower was ... really not to my liking.   The portion was meager, which turns out fine, since it tasted ... odd.  I don't know what it was, but it tasted somewhat fermented.  Kinda just funky, perhaps rather old?  I'm not sure.  It was not good, didn't smell right, and I tossed it nearly immediately.

And finally, dressing, all made in house, 16 choices.  16!  All vegetarian except the anchovy containing caesar, and broken down into vinaigrettes, "dressings", and oil & vinegar.  My fridge was fully stocked with tons of creamy dressings, so I decided to pick something entirely abnormal for me, and went for the citrus balsamic dressing, just to try something new: citrus balsamic dressing.  Not a vinaigrette, no oil.  

I liked the dressing, it was tangy and slightly sweet and slightly acidic.  I chose to still finish off a miso mayo based dressing I had leftover instead with my bowl, and just throw a splash of this in for fun, but, I used it several times after, and really enjoyed it.

Overall, this was nothing special, and most certainly not worth the nearly $20 paid (and honestly, wasn't worth just the base ~$13 it would be in person either). ***.

Visit #2: April 2020, Dessert Pickup (Yerba Buena Location)

While Mixt is a healthy lunch option, and salads are the focus ... of course they have to have *some* kind of treat to round out the meal, right?

Packaged Cookie.

They normally offer three kinds of cookies: ginger molasses, cranberry oatmeal, and chocolate chip sea salt, but had only chocolate chip available when I visited, and I was told they'd only have this one flavor for a while.

Cookies were individually packaged by the register, the only treats on offer.  I'm not a cookie girl normally, but I know people like these, and I had heard a rumor that they were Anthony's Cookies (zomg, so good!), but ... they weren't.

Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookie. $2.95.

I opened my cookie and pretty much assumed it, like most cookies, would just go to a friend (again, not really a cookie girl!), or, like the one I had from Ladle & Leaf a few days prior, into the trash (such a bad cookie, wasn't even worth a review!).

The cookie certainly didn't look like much.

It was large, and soft, and had visible sea salt on top, but, I didn't see any chocolate chips (in this one, or any I saw at the register).

But the base was good - it was very buttery, very sweet, a pretty classic, but decadent, cookie base.  I loved the large size, and it was decently soft - a bit crispy around the edges, but the center was perfect for my tastes.  Really, a well made cookie.

The sea salt on top made it pop.

Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookie: Bottom

But what about the "chocolate chip" aspect of the cookie?

Well, "chip" was really not quite the right name for the cookie, as it had chunks, not chips.  It didn't exactly have many though, just one large one, and one part of one.  The chocolate was good, and I definitely prefer chunks over chips, but they certainly could do with more chocolate in here.

Overall though, lack of chocolate aside, it was good cookie.  I probably wouldn't get another, just because cookies aren't my dessert of choice, ever, but, it was a far above average cookie. ***+.

Visit #3: Pickup, Kearny Street Location, June 2020

For this visit, I decided to go in person, so I could 1) ensure that I got all my toppings and 2) see what toppings actually looked like, so I could decide on the spot if something looked good or not.  

This turned out to be a great move, as, well, at least 3 toppings I wanted weren't available (yet were there to select online, so they just wouldn't have come!), and one I did want that was no longer listed online *was* available.  

The experience was entirely different.  I was really, really pleased with my salad, the quality and freshness of ingredients, and the staff were remarkably friendly.

Given this experience, I'll definitely be returning!

Design Your Own Salad.  NOT Mixt. 9 toppings, 1 dressing, bread.  $15.45.

"Kale, garden peas, jicama, striped beets, snap peas (x2), pickled spring vegetables, grilled asparagus, mango, candied cashews, lemon dill dressing."

When you order in person, they usually mix it for you, but I requested unmixed, and I was a complete annoying customer who wanted some things separate (the wets, the fruits, the nuts), as I wasn't eating it immediately, and didn't want sogginess.  They didn't act annoyed in any way, and easily accommodated this request.

For my base, I went with kale, because I had plenty of baby spinach and romaine at home of my own (my usual choices), and I wanted to see what kind of kale they used.  I could see it was baby kale, I was really hoping for crunchy crispy curly kale, but alas, it was baby kale.  I still got it.  Fresh enough, but bo-ring.  Since I was bringing my salad home anyway, I just added some of my own crisp romaine, endive, and mixed greens, and saved half the baby kale to mix in to a salad the next day.  I'm glad I tried the kale to see what it was, but wouldn't get it again.

Next up, the raw vegetables.  I repeated nothing from my previous order, and was pleased to see the new seasonal lineup had many I wanted.

The garden peas are actually steamed (not raw as listed) but they were good, fresh, tender, nice peas.  Always on the menu.  The seasonal snap peas were great - nice sized chunks, super crisp and fresh, great flavor.  I could tell just from seeing them how great they were going to be, or at least, how great I hoped they would, and doubled up on them.  My effort paid off!  My favorite ingredient, no question.

The jicama (shredded) was fine, crisp, juicy, and she gave me tons of it.  Always on the menu, nothing special, but fine.  The seasonal striped beets really didn't look good to be honest, and I almost skipped, but I wanted more crunch, so, I still got them.  They were kinda brown, and dried out, and didn't seem the freshest, but I did really appreciate the chunk size and crunch.  Roasted beets are also available, but I dislike cooked beets, and radishes would have worked too, but those were thinly sliced.  I'm still glad I got these too.

Lastly, the "pickled spring vegetables", which I had no idea what they would be, but hey, I love pickles.  I could see how wet they were, and asked for them separate (top left container).  I still don't entirely know what was in here, greens, other things, but it was all good, nice vinegar level, and I enjoyed them later on the side.  Not sure I'd want in my salad, but great little side snack.  I also wanted pickled red onion, but alas, they were out of it.  I almost randomly got the super fresh and delicious looking pico de gallo, with really juicy ripe looking tomatoes, but, didn't.

Next up, cooked vegetables.  The caramelized onions looked good, but I have tons of onions at home, and didn't want to burn out on my onion patience, heh.  I was thrilled to see seasonal grilled asparagus though.  It was decent.  Very thin stalks, tender, slightly smoky flavor.  I'd certainly prefer larger stalks, less soft, and more flavor overall, but the asparagus was fine.  Not a star, but I was glad to have it too.

For once I was going to add a grain, not usually my thing, but I liked the sounds of the purple barley (Seasonal).  Alas, they were out of it.  So I skipped all the grains (meh to lentils and quinoa and uh, croutons, which they consider "grains").

I don't normally even bother with mango places in the US, even Thai restaurants for mango sticky rice that I love, but, the mango did look rather ripe.  Thin slices.  I asked for it on the side, not intending to really mix it into my salad, but rather, use as a dessert, or maybe breakfast, component later, if it was good.  It was ... fine.  Basically, US quality mango.  Tart.  Not juicy.  Meh.  Wouldn't get again.

For dressing, I was *really* on the fence.  I was craving ceasar, and had run out of ceasar at home, and knew theirs used real anchovy.  But I'm also *super* picky with ceasar dressing, and usually dislike it most places.  I did really like the citrus balsamic from last time, thought the whole grain mustard vinaigrette would go great with the kale and my ingredient picks (seasonal offering), and was randomly interested in the lemon dill dressing (not listed as a vinaigrette), also seasonal.

I asked about the lemon dill, saying I was deciding between it and ceasar, and was immediately offered a sample of each.  I had no idea they did that!  Of course that made it easier, a little sample provided with a few springs of the same base I had chosen.  The ceasar was ok, not as strong anchovy as I like, and more vinegary, so I'm glad I didn't go with it.  The lemon dill was a thick, rich dressing, definitely not a light style, but and definitely not what I normally go for, but I was pretty sure it would work with the spring ingredients I had chosen.  It did.  Flavorful, herby.  I wouldn't get it again, since just not my kind of dressing really, but I'm glad I tried it, particularly with all the fresh peas.

Overall, I was pleased with my salad (particularly with my own salad base added).  The ingredients were fresh, quality was high, and I'd get nearly everything again (not the dressing, not the mango).  That said, $15.45 really still does feel high for a salad to me, particularly as I make salads at home many times a week.  I likely won't visit often because I "should" just make my own, but, if I want a salad out, or want to mix up my ingredients, this was very solid. ***+.

Candied Cashews.

For my Toasted Nuts & Seeds, I went for the candied cashews (on the side).  They were good, nicely candied, I think sesame seeds in there?  Not what I wanted in this salad at all, hence getting them on the side.  I just wanted to try them!

I randomly *really* crave cashews (candied or savory), and the rest of the time tend to really not like them, so these are good to have on hand for the craving days, perhaps to throw on top of ice cream sundaes, or incorporate into my breakfast bowls.  I look forward to them.

Bread.

Bread is always optionally included.

I'm not really a bread girl at all, but, I was craving carbs actually, and had some really good chimichurri dipping sauce at home, so I decided to give it a try.

It seemed fresh enough, but alas, it was ... yup, dreaded sourdough.  My partner scored a slice of bread, heh.  I just can't do sourdough. *+.

Visit #4: March 2021, One Market location

Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookie. $2.95.

Another day, another cookie?

Yeah, not really my motto, but I was going through a cookie phase, and after having a really "meh" cookie from Chez Beesen, really wanted one I could rely on.  The Mixt cookie was good enough in my memory that I decided to get another.

And it was again pretty good.  Again didn't really look like much.  A large cookie, nice sea salt on top, but otherwise, well, looked like any cookie - albeit one that was nicely cooked, no burnt edges, not too dark, soft.  It had a fabulous chew to it.  It was extremely sweet, and basically demanded that I dunk it in a glass of milk, something I literally haven't done in years, but felt entirely appropriate.  

The chips in this one seemed different from before though - there were certainly more of them, better distributed, but they were also smaller, regular chips, and, well, milk chocolate, rather than the larger dark chocolate hunks found previously.  The chocolate was a sweet style chocolate as well, adding to the sweet nature of the cookie.

Overall, really, a good quality cookie - nicely cooked, good size, great "eating" experience.  The pop of salt sealed the deal.

***+.

Visit #5: May 2022, One Market location

Toffee Cookie.

One day, I noticed a different cookie at the register.  I always thought Mixt only had chocolate chip cookies these days, and in fact, if you order online, that is the only choice.  I asked what this one was, and was told toffee.  I gleefully grabbed one of those too.

It was similar to the chocolate chip - slightly crisp but soft, thin style.  Decent crumble.  Sweet.  Little bits of toffee.  Not much more to say about it, a fine, but average, cookie.

***.