Sweet Production Bakery

Like most wholesale bakeries, Sweet Production Bakery may not be a name you know, but, you may have enjoyed their goodies, unknowingly, if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area.

"Sweet Production provides both traditional and innovative bakery products. While our team has perfected such favorites as croissants, apple danishes, chocolate chip cookies, and carrot cake, we also love developing new recipes using fresh ingredients and local produce available in Northern California. We draw inspiration from a variety of cultural and culinary traditions. Our team at Sweet Production also works closely with customers to create custom or specialized offerings."

The bakery is located in San Carlos, and distributed throughout the region.  They offer a large lineup of baked goods, ranging from morning pastries to pies and tarts to elaborate wedding cakes.  

Morning Pastries

"Start your day with a hot cup of coffee and one of our flaky, buttery pastries.  We offer a wide variety of breakfast treats ranging from sweet cheese danishes to warm apple turnovers."

When Sweet Productions says they offer a "wide variety" of morning pastries they really mean it.  For morning pastries, we had our choice of 10 kinds of bagels, 10 kinds of breakfast loaf, 3 kinds of brioche, 12 kinds of bundt cake, 15 kinds of coffee cake (!), 8 kinds of croissants (both sweet and savory), 10 kinds of danishes (with fresh fruit or jellies), danish sticks, danish strips, danish wreaths ... 7 kinds of muffins, 7 kinds of scone (again, both sweet and savory), several types of sticky bun, cinnamon rolls, strudel strips, turnovers ... the list just goes on and on.   I was impressed by not only the large variety of types of pastry, but the flavors of each available.  It was extremely hard to narrow my choices down for my first order.

Coffee Cake

In the coffee cake department, there were not only a whopping 15 flavors to pick from, but also a variety of formats: 9" round, or several sizes of sheet cake.  The lineup:

• Almond
• Apple Cinnamon
• Banana Nut
• Blueberry
• Chocolate
• Cinnamon Swirl
• Date
• Honey Apple
• Marble
• Orange Brandy
• Pumpkin Cranberry
• Raspberry Swirl
• Strawberry Swirl
• Streusel

I mean, really.  So much choice.

Pumpkin Cranberry Coffee Cake. 9" Round. $18.70.

My first coffee cake order was in November, right before Thanksgiving, so I went for a very seasonally appropriate selection: pumpkin cranberry.

It looked a little messy, but it was tasty.

The cake was extremely moist, good pumpkin flavor, light spicing.  It tasted ... well, festive?  The cranberries added to that feeling, delivering a chewy pop of tartness whenever you got one.  The crumble topping was actually a pretty thin layer, so easily lost, and rather messy.

I know this description doesn't sound that great, but really, the moisture level and spicing of the cake really pleased me, and I found it worked equally well as a morning pastry alongside my coffee, or as a dessert once I added whipped cream.

***+.

Donuts

Oh, donuts.  A key part of office culture.  At least for me.   I was excited when we returned to our office after many months of Covid induced working from home, and I was able to order donuts for my team, particularly once I heard our catering team had switched vendors.  I wasn't ever a huge fan of the California Smart Foods donuts they had before, besides the fritter.  I adore that fritter.

Sweet Production makes all the standard donuts: raised, cake, old fashioned, filled, specialty.  No fancy flavors, but basically all the classics.

Assorted Donuts:
Boston cream, maple old fashioned, sugar coated raised,
chocolate coated raised, raised crumb.

I ordered an assortment our first time, to cover all bases, and see what Sweet Productions did (or didn't do) well.

Most were very average - they weren't below average, they were perfectly fine versions of the donuts, but they weren't anything to go out of your way for.  Solid, reliable, slightly boring.

Assorted Donuts: Boston cream bar with chocolate glaze,
raspberry jelly filled, chocolate old fashioned, apple fritter.

I do need to give a shout out to the filled donuts though, as they were filled remarkably well.  If they were on the Great British Bake Off, the judges would be pleased with the filling going all the way through.  All the donuts with coating or glaze were very well coated.

Execution wise, these donuts were all well done.

Raised. $1.30 each.

Sweet Productions makes a variety of raised donuts.  Our assortment contained 3 kinds, although I was bit surprised not to see any classic glazed.  I assume they make them, just, not selected for our batch.

The raised donuts are $1.30 each, which seems a tad high for wholesale prices.  All were fairly average quality - lofty, fluffy, fresh tasting, but otherwise unremarkable.

Sugar.

I started with the most simple donut we had, the raised, sugar coated donut.

It was fine.  Fluffy, well coated in sugar, fresh enough tasting.  I usually pick glazed over sugar coated, so this was a bit of a change for me, and mostly made me wish it had jelly filling ... in my head, sugar coating is for jelly donuts.

Anyway, a solid simple donut.  ***.

Crumb.

I skipped the crumb coated donut, as they tend to let me down (the crumb coating texture is always just odd to me), and we had many I wanted to try more than it.  One guest was very excited to see these though.

Chocolate.

The most popular donut of the platter was the chocolate glazed raised ring donut.  I would have expected the filled ones, or fritters, but, nope, my co-workers all really just wanted chocolate glazed ring donuts.

I tried part of one, and it was exactly as I expected: same decent enough fluffy raised base, plenty of chocolate coating, which, even though I love chocolate, isn't really what I want on a donut.  I was happy to leave these for the others.

***.

Raised Filled $2.20 each.

Things get more exciting in the filled category, with standard cream and jelly fillings, in both bar and round form.  These were quite pricey at $2.20 each, but, were above average in their quality, particularly just how generously stuffed they were.

Custard Filled Chocolate Glazed Bar.

Ah, the custard filled chocolate glazed bar.  Known to some as a Boston Cream, to others as an eclair.  Amusingly, most of my co-workers didn't expect this one to have filling, and were sad when it did.  Again, they just really wanted their chocolate glaze simplicity!

I thought it was ok.  Again, fairly standard raised donut, decently creamy pudding filling, plenty of chocolate glaze.  Not what I go for usually, but a decent version of a classic.   It was less well filled than its circle counterpart.

***.

Custard Filled Chocolate Glazed.

Here we have the Boston Cream donut (if you are from the east coast at least).  They just called it a custard filled chocolate glazed.

It was the same as the bar version - decent raised base, well coated in chocolate glaze, and creamy but fairly fake custard filling.  It had TONS of filling though, so if you wanted some custard pudding, this one delivered.  It was messy to eat.

***.

Raspberry Jelly Filled.

I'm a sucker for a jelly donut.  It doesn't need to be high quality.  It doesn't need to have homemade, berry forward filling.  It just needs to be generously filled.  Which, is exactly what this was.  SOOO much jelly in this.

Standard, raised fluffy donut, coated in a little glaze, and loaded with fruity raspberry jelly.  The filling was super sweet, and was definitely kinda fake tasting goo, but, that kind of filling has its place, and inside a jelly donut is one of them.  The extra glaze on the outside was totally unnecessary given how sweet it was, but, I'm not really complaining about that either.

Overall, great execution on a classic low-brow jelly donut.  My favorite of all the donuts I tried.

****.  The only other jelly donut in the area I like more is the one from Bob's, which is still my favorite of their donuts.

Old Fashioned. $1.30 each.

Old fashioned donuts come in several forms, glazed or not.  We didn't get any plain, or simple glazed, but got to try some flavored glazes.  These are the same price as regular raised or cake donuts, $1.30 each.

I found them fairly unremarkable, but it takes lot for an old fashioned to impress me (usually needs a good buttermilk tang!).  The best old fashioned in the area are still certainly from Johnny Doughnut.  Seriously, best old fashioneds ever.

Maple.

I went for a maple glazed old fashioned, even though I'd actually prefer a simple glazed or plain.  The maple glaze was very generously applied, sweet, and slightly maple flavored.  The base donut was pretty standard - crispy bits, denser cake style - and tasted fresh enough, but didn't have any real flavor to it.  I really like an old fashioned with a bit of tang in the base.

So again, another decent execution of a donut.  ***.

Chocolate.

I didn't try the chocolate glazed version, as I've mentioned, chocolate on donuts isn't my thing, and in particular, I find it clashes with old fashioned.

Other

Sweet Productions offers a few other speciality donuts as well.  I made sure we ordered "the king of donuts", the apple fritter.

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Apple Fritter. $2.55.

I'm sorry to sound so broken record at this point, but, the fritter was yet another example of a decent execution of a classic donut.

They were huge, double the size of the regular donuts.   Fried, oily, crispy, totally covered in sweet glaze, with little bits of gooey apple.  Horrible for you, but tasty when you are in the mood for such a heavy donut.  Which I often am.

***+ because I love fritters, but it wasn't particularly more interesting than any other fritter.

Pies / Tarts

"Our Pies are made with shortcrust dough in 9" angled pans and filled with flavorful fruits, nuts, custard, or lucious cream."

The pie lineup is fairly extensive, with both double crust or crumb topped fruit pies (apple, cherry, blueberry, peach), cream pies (banana, chocolate, coconut), custard pies (key lime, lemon meringue, pumpkin, sweet potato), and nut pie (only pecan).  They also make a large line of tarts with pate sucree crust as an "upscale alternative to traditional pies".

For Pi Day in March 2024, I was able to order and try a number of these pies.  Sadly,  I wouldn't order any again.  They were underwhelmingly average.

Apple Crumble.

"Apple cinnamon compote baked in a flaky shell and topped with buttered crumbs."

We've usually gotten the double crust fruit pies from Sweet Productions in the past, but they make a handful of them with crumb tops too, such as this apple crumble.

It was a very blonde pie, I give them credit for not burning the top in any way, but a bit more color would have made it look a bit more homemade.

Besides the look, this was very basic, but not bad.  Reasonably spiced apple hunks, not too mushy.  Some light goo inside, not the style that oozes tons of filling.  Light crumble top that was nicely sweet.  ***.

This is the kind of pie that does double duty equally well, chilled with a little sweetened yogurt for breakfast, warm with ice cream or whipped cream for dessert.

Pumpkin.

"A Thanksgiving tradition, our pumpkin pie is made from pumpkin puree and spices."

Somewhere along the way I kinda stopped liking pumpkin pie.  It is a pie I grew up with, and always enjoyed it ever year at Christmas and Thanksgiving, but over the last 15 years or so, I've found myself just not really caring for it.  At first I thought it was just my mom's version (classic Libby's in a Pillsbury crust), kinda thinking I had become a snob for her version, and then I thought I just had a thing against what I call "aggressive" pumpkin spicing, e.g. too much nutmeg, but I've come to think I just have moved on from liking pumpkin pie.

And so with that, I didn't really care for this.  

The crust was not a flaky buttery traditional pie crust, but rather a pale shortcrust style.  It was fairly thick.  I did like the crust, and that style of crust in particular is great with cream pies, but it was a bit boring here.  

Decent consistency filling, although slightly graining.  Although not over the top, the spicing still wasn't really my style.  There was nothing wrong with it really, but it basically tasted like generic grocery store pumpkin pie, and I wasn't into it.  **+.

Chocolate Cream.

"Silky chocolate mousse fills this pie shell centered with chocolate shavings and garnished with fluffy whipped cream rosettes."

The description didn't quite match what we got, but I didn't mind having a full whipped cream top rather than just rosettes.

The crust here was a pale style as well, but I don't mind that style for cream pies.  It didn't taste particularly fresh though.  I was surprised to find the shell lined with dark chocolate, as previous versions we have had did not have that element.  I see this as only an improvement though, as it prevents the crust from getting soggy and ups the chocolate factor even more.

The chocolate filling was fine, a thick style mousse (not a pudding), milk chocolate.  It went well with the whipped cream, although that was a bit grainy.

Overall, nothing mind blowing here, but a nicely made standard chocolate cream pie.  ***.

Chocolate Cream.

"Silky chocolate mousse fills this pie shell centered with chocolate shavings and garnished with fluffy whipped cream rosettes."

A week later I hosted another event with cream pies.  Interestingly, they came decorated differently.  This time, the chocolate cream came with COPIOUS amounts of chocolate shavings on top.

Otherwise, it was exactly the same.  Pale crust that wasn't actually that great (but was lined with thick chocolate), fine but not special chocolate mousse, average and rather grainy whipped cream.  Yay for all the chocolate garnish.  ***.

Banana Cream.

"A flaky pie shell is filled with ripe banana custard and decorated with swirls of fresh whipped cream and chopped walnuts."

The banana cream interestingly came topped with chopped walnuts, which I haven't seen done often, and was a great move.  Bananas and walnuts are a great combo (hello, Ben & Jerry Chunky Monkey!), and I loved the crunch they added.  Kudos to them for this addition.

The whipped cream was again pretty average.

Banana Cream: Cross section.

The crust was exactly the same as the chocolate cream pie, which meant, it too had a chocolate lining.  Another slightly interesting twist on standard banana cream, but I still don't really recommend this crust.

The filling was fine - thick banana custard, not too sweet but sweet enough, with a layer of fresh banana (that was lightly brown) on top.  I felt the ratio was a bit off, I wanted more whipped cream to balance it.

Overall, I'd call this a "fine" banana cream pie.  Not memorable in any way, not something I'd order again, but I didn't mind finishing it.  ***.

Strawberry Rhubarb.

This was a pretty mediocre pie.  My first time trying their double crust fruit pies.

The crust is really where the downfall was.  It isn't a flaky fresh pie crust style, but rather more like a short crust.  Which can be fine, but it just wasn't very flavorful at all.  Crumbly, dry, not buttery nor flaky, not even really sweet ... just not very good crust, and since it was on bottom, on the back, AND on top, it really dominated.

The filling was very generic.  Extremely sweet.  It did have some hunks of fruit, but was mostly a goo style.  I don't mind a goo style, but, the sweetness was cloying, and I didn't really want to cut it with the dry boring crust.  The filling was good warmed up with some ice cream, but overall, just not a very good pie.  About the quality you'd expect from a grocery store.

**.

Fruit Tart (Gluten-Free)

This was kinda odd, but I liked it.

The crust was a gluten-free chewy almond (?) crust.  Nothing like a normal tart shell, but, I liked it, my favorite element of the creation.  ***+.

Above that was a strange pear (?) goo below all the fruit, that I couldn't quite identify, and couldn't quite tell if I thought was good or awful.  It was such a strange jelly like consistency that was also slightly thick.  Not a custard, I don't think it had any dairy, and just really, well, odd.  **+ goo.

The fresh fruit on top was fine.  ***.

Overall, fascinating, better than expected.  ***.

Cookies / Bars

"We offer many irresistable cookies, from chewy-crisp oatmeal raisin and chocolate crackle to crunchy biscotti and delicate shortbread."

In the "traditional favorites" collection, Sweet Production carries 9 flavors, ranging from your basic chocolate chip or double fudge chip, M&M or macadamia, oatmeal raisin or snickerdoodle, peanut butter or almond.  Besides the last one, pretty standard cookie lineup.  The also make more speciality cookies such as biscotti, macaroons, madelines, and regional cookies such as Mexican wedding or Russian tea cakes.

On the bars side, they make a slew of items, ranging from classic brownies/blondies, to cereal bars, granola bars, nut bars, seven layer bars, and fruity bars.  The bars come in 1/4, 1/2, or full sheet pans.

M&M.

These were a soft-ish cookie.  Crispy edges.  Completely uneven in the number and color distribution of M&Ms on each, ranging from 3-5, some with 3 of the same color, etc.  I guess that made them look a bit homemade?  

They tasted kinda average homemade too.  The base was a sugar cookie but without any real flavor nor decadence.  The M&Ms were, well, M&Ms.  At least they didn't taste heavily processed or full of preservatives?  But, yeah, just not a particularly good nor interesting cookie.

**.

Double Fudge Chip.

This cookie was much the same.  Crispy style, but a bit soft.  No real interesting flavor to the base, although it was brown, the chocolate flavor in the base was minimal.  Standard chocolate chips, not even bigger hunks.  It definitely didn't deliver much chocolate, despite being a "double fudge" item.  **.

Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

Brownies don't need to be fancy.  But they do need to be moist.  And this was not.  It was dense, fairly dry, and with a very basic chocolate flavor, akin to a Little Debbie.  No real compelling aspect to this.  The fudge topping was better than the base brownie, but also not particularly great, just sweet and somewhat fudgey.  Meh.  *.

Brownies and bars are available in 1/4, 1/2, or full sheet pans.

Cupcakes

Sweet Productions makes a slew of full size cakes, but I only had their cupcakes.  These are available in standard basic flavors, "gourmet" with more detailed decorations, or cream filled.  All come in three sizes.

Cupcakes.

"An array of flavorful cupcakes topped with  sweet butter cream frosting."

For our event we had two kinds of cupcake, which I'll just call "white" and chocolate, as I don't think the white one was really vanilla.

The also make "groumet" ones with chocolate shaving toppings, or cream filled, and can add a logo for a surcharge, which our hosts did.

White Cupcake.

The white cupcake looked decent, a nice moist cake, relatively good crumb structure, although it was a bit oddly greasy, as if it was made with a lot of oil.  But I really disliked the taste of the cake.  It didn't look like angel food, but it tasted like it, just, a very dense version of it.  I really loathe angel food cake, so for me, this was just not good, and, as I said, it was strangely greasy.

The butter cream was average grocery store quality, the kind that tastes like Crisco more than anything else.  It was very fluffy though.  

For me, *, but perhaps if you like the taste of this cake, it could raise a star.

Chocolate Cupcake.

I wish I could say the chocolate one was better.  It was marginally I guess, but, not meaningfully so.

The cake again somehow tasted like angel food, even though it was more dense.  Very mild chocolate flavor.  I really didn't like it.  The buttercream was again sweet and smooth, but really didn't have any chocolate flavor at all, even though colored as if it did.   This buttercream was slightly better than the plain one, so this gets a *+, but I wouldn't recommend it either, unless you like strange dense angel food. 

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Special Event @ Local Kitchen & Wine Merchant

Update Reviews, April 2024

Local Kitchen & Wine Merchant is a restaurant I walk by every single day.  It really is my "local" restaurant.  And yet ... I somehow never go there.  In the 14 years they have been open, I have been there several times for special events, I've gotten takeout maybe twice, and had their pizza at other events a few times.  But I haven't really sought it out, despite it being such an easy option. 

"Inspired by global cuisine and the bounty of California produce in our backyard, we proudly offer seasonal dishes and wood-fired pizzas with American comfort mediterranean flavors and the freshest ingredients. Our produce, meats, and cheeses are all locally sourced from Northern California and "Local" is truly our mantra."

The concept at Local Kitchen is, well, "Local".  In practice that seems to mean a fairly basic menu of American / Italian cuisine, with scatterings of Mediterranean ingredients, and more recently, Mexican.  It is the sort of menu you read and yawn, as there is nothing particularly interesting about it.  Sure, everyone can find something they want, but there isn't a single dish that sounds particularly unique.  Not the sort of cuisine you'll ever remember.  There was a *very* brief time, around 2019, when they brought in a new exec chef who added some Singaporean dishes, which was actually very exciting to me, but sadly, she, and the menu, did not stay long.  Although "and Wine Merchant" still remains in the business name, they have certainly pivoted away from the strong wine program focus, and are mostly the "kitchen" now.

Local Kitchen is open for dinner most nights.  At different times in the past, they've also been open for brunch on weekends.  I'm honestly not quite sure how they stayed in business for so long, as 14 years is a looong time in the SF restaurant scene, and in particular, how they weathered the pandemic, as it never seems actually busy.  They also have a sister restaurant, Buena Vida Cantina, that moved in to the old Oola space down the street on Folsom.  It has a Mexican focus, and you can see elements of that influence on the Local Kitchen menu (and, at the event, they brought some dishes from there as well).

I finally returned this year when they hosted a 3 night long open house for the neighborhood, to celebrate their 14 years in business (and, presumably, to remind us all they are still there!).  I was able try a very large portion of the menu, spanning from appetizers to entrees to pizzas to pastas AND dishes from Buena Vida.  I was pleasantly surprised by the above average quality of the food I sampled over the course of two nights at the open house.  Again, fairly boring and basic menu, but, well prepared food.  It made me actually want to return to order a real meal.

A few weeks later, they launched a preview of their Supper Club, a service where you can order meals from the restaurant delivered cold, ready for you to heat up and finish at home.  For that event, they offered smaller versions of the intended menu, and again, I was pleased with the quality, even if the dishes weren't exciting.

Bites / Small Plates

The menu at Local starts with a section of "Bites" (if you are reading the online menu) or "Small Plates" (if in person).  The lineup isn't extensive, but has a couple Italian appetizer style items (meatballs, arancini, whipped ricotta) that go well with the mostly Italian focus of the restaurant, a somewhat generic cheese & charcuterie plate that makes sense alongside wine, a Middle Eastern spiced flatbread that seems like a bit of an odd match for the rest of the menu, and truffle fries.  I was able to try a few items from this section, and I've had the meatballs in the past (although I didn't review then, nor really remember them).

Mushroom Arancini.  $14.

"Fried risotto balls | mozzarella | mushroom aioli."

Arancini of some form have been on the menu at Local for quite a while.  I've seen slightly different mushroom ones, and butternut in the past.  As I'm not one for rice (unless in dessert rice pudding!), and really not into risotto (mushy rice? Meh), I don't generally go for arancini, but for some reason I decided to try one.  I'm glad I did.

These were actually pretty good.  I had one when it was hot and fresh, and enjoyed it more than expected.  Super crispy shell.  Molten cheese inside.  Soft (but not mushy) mushroom forward risotto ball.  Better than average arancini, probably the best I've had in ... the past 10 or so years, but I haven't really sought aranini out that much.  High ***.

I had another once they had been sitting a few minutes, so not quite as fresh, and it was solidly meh though.  The molten center really was key to the enjoyment.  I wished I hadn't gone back a second, as it left a less good final impression.

$14 for a regular size appetizer on the menu, half-price at happy hour (3 to an order for $7).

House made flatbread. $10. 

"Za'atar & harissa seasoned flatbread, seasoned dip trio."

I didn't try the flatbread, but I did try the olive and romesco sauces that were part of the dip trio (hummus was the other).  They were fine.  Not memorable, nor really things I'm excited for.  ***.

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Whipped Ricotta. $14.

"Whipped ricotta, olives, toasted almonds, extra virgin olive oil, grilled bread."

I didn't get a photo of the whipped ricotta, which was served as individual crostini.  I took one not knowing what the topping was, and it was a good gamble (not goat cheese, phew!).

This was actually very good.  I didn't care for the oily and hard toasted bread base, but the whipped ricotta was tasty, and the toasted almonds added a great crunch.  Olives briney and salty.  Better than expected, good mix of flavors and textures.  ***+.

Pizzas

Pizza is, and always has been, a main attraction at Local.  They have a big wood burning oven in the open kitchen, and it has always been a focal points of the restaurant, in every iteration of it I have seen.  I think they might have briefly taken pizza off the menu during the era of the Southeast Asian chef, but it quickly came back. People want their pizza.

The pizza menu has a dozen or so curated pizzas, ranging from your standard margherita to a frankly rather confused sounding Vodka Chicken with ham, bacon, chimichurri, and soft scrambled egg (in addition to what I assume is vodka sauce and chicken?  I'm wondering if this is an error on their printed menu), or you can build your own.  All one size only.  They do offer a gluten-free option, but no vegan cheeses. 

Our event had a variety of pizzas coming out at all times, but they weren't ever labelled, so it was hard to know what was what.  People did seem excited about the pizza though.

Funghi. $29.

"Garlic Puree, Mozzarella, Wild Mushrooms, Wild Baby Arugula, Pecorino Cheese, Truffle Oil."

I didn't try any of the pizza the first night, and almost didn't the second (I've just had a ton of pizza lately, and wasn't really in the mood).  But when a fresh funghi pizza came out right when I was standing there ... I impulse grabbed a slice.

I was definitely in a wild mushroom phase, and had just discovered (and devoured) the White Truffle Potato Chips the day before, and so, I saw fancy mushroom and truffles and dug right in.  I completely forgot that I hadn't cared for this before. 

The crust was ok, although my piece was actually a bit too charred.  Nicely puffy though, decent chew.  I had Tony's Pizza Napoletana the week before though, and this is just no comparison (Tony's is worthy of all those accolades!).  I've also been really into Detroit style pizza (current fav is Square Pies Guys, I adore the lightly fermented flavor of the crust, and of course, the crispy cheese situation).  So this crust for me was uninteresting at best.

It was a white pizza, which I prefer.  But I didn't taste nor really find the garlic puree, nor any other creamy sauce.  Besides the cheese, that was melted well and well distributed, it was really quite dry.  The mushrooms seemed to be some small crimini mushrooms, and perhaps some regular brown mushrooms.  Fine, nicely cooked, meaty, but not particularly big pieces, and not as novel as I hoped wild mushrooms would be.  The arugula on top was nice for freshness, but added to it eating pretty dry.  Truffle oil was actually not particularly strong.  I really wanted more truffle flavor.

Overall, I was just not into this.  It has been on their menu for ages, and I think they consider it a signature pizza, but I certainly wouldn't get it again.  Low **.

More Funghi.

For a comparison photo, you can see how they served it the previous night, rather than a full size pizza on pizza pan, they plated it up a bit differently for easier communal serving.  This one was significantly less charred.  I think you can see the lack of creamy sauce a bit better here too.

Margherita. $25.

"Basil, Fresh Mozzarella, San Marzano Tomato Sauce."

Since I wasn't really feeling the pizza, I didn't try the margherita, but I do remember thinking it was decent in the past.

Large Plates

And finally, the large plates section of the menu.  Much like the small plates, the selection isn't particularly large: 3 pastas, a token burger, and one red meat (steak), one seafood (salmon), and one white meat (pork).  While the pastas are very traditional Italian basics, the proteins actually all take on Mexican elements, which doesn't quite fit with the rest of the restaurant, but perhaps is a tie-in to their sister Mexican restaurant?

This is the section of the menu I was not familiar with prior to this visit, as previous encounters have always been either just pizza, or cocktail receptions with appetizers.

CACIO E PEPE. $25.

"Linguine, Roasted Black Pepper, Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano Romano, Marinated Chicken Thigh."

I've heard good things about the pasta at Local, and was happy to see they were bringing out big plates of it.  The menu has 3 different pastas, all fairly classic, nothing unexpected: rigatoni bolognese, shrimp penne alla vodka, and cacio e pepe.  I only saw the cacio e pepe come out, and it came out several times.  While not innovative, I gladly would have tried any of them.

Normally this is made with linguine, but this batch used penne (presumably what they use for the penne alla vodka) and the previous batch was rigatoni (from the rigatoni bolognese).  I never actually saw a batch with the linguine.

The first batch I tried was the rigatoni version, and it wasn't very fresh when I got it (hence, no photo).  It was pretty much cold, but actually quite tasty.  Very creamy sauce, high pepper level, and perfectly al dente pasta.  ***, although if I had it hot I am pretty sure it would be at least a half star higher.  I wished I had it fresh, as I heard multiple people raving about it (I think the reason we got subsequent batches was from one of the guests telling the manager very directly how much he liked it and wanted more).

The batch pictured I had fresh, straight from the kitchen.  The sauce was still good (although not quite as much of it, not quite as creamy), but the penne I didn't care for as much.  A bit softer, just less interesting flavor to it, and the sauce fell off it easily without the ridges from the rigatoni.  It was fine, but, fairly average, and akin to what I feel most people can make at home.  Garnished well with both grated and shredded parmesan.  Very average lwo ***.

If chicken isn't your thing (it isn't mine, so I didn't try it), this is also available with grilled shrimp (+$2) or vegetable mix.

Local Burger (Slider Version).

"Housemade Everything Brioche Bun, Organic Chuck, Short Rib, & Brisket Patty, Vermont White Cheddar Cheese, Mustard Aioli, Lettuce, Tomato, French Fries."

I remember having a slider at an event in the past, and in particular, I remember being impressed with the execution ... normally sliders are far over cooked, the toppings are an afterthought, they aren't warm, etc, but it was actually really nicely assembled.  They showed up both days of the event, and were grabbed *instantly* by everyone, clearly the crowd favorite.  I didn't try them the first day, sorta thinking, "yup, sliders at an event, when are those ever actually good ...", but the second night, right before leaving, I finally did, when I was standing there right as a fresh tray was brought out.

Sliders are not on the regular menu, but they do have a standard size burger that is another menu staple.  The larger one comes with a different style bun (housemade everything brioche bun, which, does sound fantastic), but otherwise, I think it is essentially the same burger.  The full size burger with fries is normally $20.  You can add bacon, avocado, or fried egg for an additional $3.

The bun on this looked pretty basic, just a white bun, but I actually really liked it.  It was very fluffy, lightly sweet (not Hawaiian roll sweet, but, slightly), and lightly toasted on the inside only.  Considerably better than average, and better than it looked.  High ***+ bun.

Local Burger (Slider Version): Inside.

The rest of the burger was also shockingly good.

The patty was very flavorful (their blend of chuck, short rib, and brisket works wonders), it was well seasoned, AND it was cooked medium (sure, I'd prefer medium-rare, but for a tiny patty, that is hard to do).  I couldn't believe it when I bit in and it was slightly pink.  Probably the best tasting burger patty I've had in a while.  Low **** patty/cook.

And finally, the toppings.  Again, far better than average.  The tomato slice was juicy, the sharp cheese (yellow, not white as the menu said) was nicely melted, the classic iceberg lettuce was crisp, the pickle delighted me, and the mustard aioli was a flavorful "special sauce" (although I did slightly miss having some ketchup too).  All high ***+.

Putting that all together, I think it was a great slider, the best I've had in memory really, ****.  I suspect their full size burger, cooked to my preferred temperature, would be even better.

NY Strip Steak.

"Grilled NY strip steak with crispy potatoes, fire roasted squash, chimichurri sauce, wood-fired lemon and garlic."

I only eat steak a few times a year.  When I do, it is usually filet mignon or sometimes a wagyu cut.  I know, I'm boring.  I definitely don't ever order NY strip.  

This was good, for that cut of meat.  Nicely medium, still plenty pink.  Very well seasoned, slight caramelization on the crust.  Fairly tender, and although a bit chewy, that is expected for this cut.  Not bad, but again, not the cut of meat I'd go for.

The zucchini and squash are also not what I'd go for, but were cooked fine.   Then, the crispy potatoes, cut into 1-2 bite wedges.  I *adored* the potatoes.  They were crazy crispy, and pretty greasy, but, in the right ways.  The insides were soft and creamy.  Again, well seasoned.  They were quite remarkable, and the showstopper of the dish.

The chimichurri had an amazing garlic aroma coming off of it, and the flavor backed that up.  Very fresh, vibrant, flavorful, and tied the whole dish together.

Overall, high **** for the potatoes, low **** for the chimichurri, and average *** for the rest.  I'm still drooling over those potatoes.

This was the sample portion, it is $35 on the regular menu.

Pan Seared Salmon. $29.

"Braised greens, fingerling potatoes, and salsa bravas" /"chimichurri, crispy potatoes, zucchini, squash".

I was quite surprised when the staff brought out individual plates of the salmon entree (although I assume this is a smaller portion).  You could tell people were a bit uncertain if we were supposed to take the whole thing?  (indeed, we were).  Normally the salmon is served with braised greens, fingerling potatoes, and salsa bravas, but for our event they seemed to use some of the garnish from the steak instead: no braised greens, but zucchini and squash with the crispy potatoes (along with arugula garnish).

I was fairly impressed.  The salmon was quite moist, cooked well - I prefer mid-rare, and it was fully cooked, but, not hammered, no albumin seeping out or anything.  Well seasoned.  ***+ salmon.  The salsa bravas was an odd pairing for me on top of the fish, although it made sense with the hunks of crispy potato underneath.  The squashes (both green and yellow) were fine, and it was nice to have the lighter juicier pieces alongside the potatoes (they were cut about the same size as the potatoes, so it was kinda a medley). Garnish gets a low *** due to personal preference.

So, not really a dish I'd order, but well cooked salmon, and Mexican inspired garnish that wasn't quite my thing, but still a decent dish.  ***. 

More Salmon: Different Sauce?

Interestingly, about half the dishes had a less red sauce on them, another salsa it seemed, but, different.  You can also see the zucchini and yellow squash hunks better in this dish.

More Salmon.

"Cedar planked Scottish salmon, English pea & mint Puree, tomato cucumber & farro salad Lemon vinaigrette."

Another visit, another salmon, with another green-brown sauce, and greens on top.  I didn't try this one.

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Slow Cooked Pork Shoulder. $26.

"White bean & garlic ragout, salsa verde."

The first day, they served large format versions of one of the entrees (rather than individual bowls we saw the second day).  

I tried a bit of the roast pork shoulder.  The pork was very tender, but quite greasy.  White beans and salsa verde not really my thing, so the rest of the dish wasn't personally appealing either.  They are definitely pushing the Mexican influence across the Local menu, which frankly, isn't what I'm looking for.  Not bad, but, a heavy dish. ***.

Pork Tenderloin w/ Fennel Slaw.

The next event also featured pork tenderloin, this time individually plated, with a fennel slaw.

I enjoyed this.

The pork was well seasoned.  Cooked perfect medium with light pink center, remarkably tender.  The warm apple fennel slaw complimented the pork well.  Not something I'd ever order from a menu, but it was nice.  ***+.

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Off Menu Polenta.

They also had plates of a dish I don't see on the menu anywhere, not dinner nor brunch.  It was a polenta base, with a ragu style topping that I think I heard someone say was chicken sausage.  I could imagine it with an egg on top being great for brunch?  Anyway, I tried the polenta, and really quite liked it.  Very well cooked, flavorful.  I wish I could have tried more, but I got the very last of it.  ***+.

Dishes from Buena Vida Cantina

In addition to the already clearly Mexican inspired entrees from the Local regular menu, we also were provided with several selections from the menu of Buena Vida, their sister restaurant down the street.  I actually didn't even know Buena Vida was there, and it isn't far away.

I didn't get a photo of the chips, salsa trio ($6), or guacamole ($14), but all were fairly average.  Thin crispy chips, different styles of salsa.   I was hopeful that some of the sides like fried plantains, yucca fries, or chcharones might come out, but since they were using the Local Kitchen, I suspect that wasn't really feasible given the deep fryer setup.

As I'm mentioned, I don't really care for most Mexican food, so I mostly skipped all of this.  Between the two nights, we had quite a variety of tacos from across the menu (they have 14 different taco options!). Our selection ranged from classic carnitas and chicken tinga, to the more interesting quesabirria taco that comes with a side dip broth, one of their multiple vegetarian options, the "sin carne" (that is your fairly standard boring grilled veggies).  I wished they had the fungi one with fried maitakes, pickled mushrooms and truffle cream, or any of the seafood options, but, alas.

Crispy Carnitas Tacos. $11.

"Crispy and tender pork shoulder, salsa verde, red onions, and a sprinkle of fresno peppers."

I *think* this was the carnitas taco, but I'm not sure (it might have been the cochinita pibil).  People seemed to like them.  I didn't try.

Tinga Taco. $11.

"Shredded chipotle chicken, crunchy cabbage, and lime crema."

I loved the look of the chicken tinga taco with the vibrant crunchy slaw on top, but as I don't care for chicken, I skipped it.  

Original Review, September 2017

Local Kitchen & Wine Merchant is a restaurant that I frankly don't understand.  The location is a bit odd, tucked away on 1st St between Folsom & Harrison, a very busy street, but busy with cars headed onto the Bay Bridge.  It is not much of a walking neighborhood, and certainly wasn't when Local opened several years ago, and none of these cars pull over.

And yet, they aim to be a casual neighborhood restaurant.  They are open for weekday lunch, weekend brunch, and dinner every night.  The menu isn't extensive, nor fancy, just the basics like pizza, pasta, a handful of mains, a few apps.  Not really a menu I was drawn in by.  A decent wine and cocktail program.

No real reason for it to stand out.  Which, it never has.  I remember visiting once years ago, and thinking "Meh, nothing interesting", and commenting that it was pretty pricey for what it was.  I went to an event about a year ago with pizza from Local, and again, thought "Well, that was ok pizza, but for nearly $20 for a small pizza, why?"

But, my apartment building had an event hosted there, so I had a chance to check it out for free.  Why not?

We occupied a large space in the middle of the dining room, and food was brought out as ready, mostly appetizers and finger foods from their party menu, plus plenty of the signature pizzas.

I was not impressed with the experience.  It was very loud.  Food was brought without a description.  There was no cutlery.  It just didn't seem all that well equipped to handle our group.

That said, the food was delivered hot and fresh, the staff were friendly, and my glass of Pinot Noir was actually really quite good.

Would I go back?  Nah.  Was it awful?  Nah.  My opinion is basically just as before.  It is fine, but not notable in any way, and kinda pricey for what it is.  But, they seem to be succeeding, so I clearly am just missing something.

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Smoky chicken skewers | roasted shishito peppers, black garlic aioli. $7 (Happy Hour) $12 (Dinner)

Our group started with a big bowl of fried chicken bits, with a smaller bowl of roasted shisitos, and a little bowl of black garlic aioli.

There were no serving utensils provided, and none of us had cutlery.  So ... people grabbed with their fingers.  Eww!

Since we didn't know what anything was, I just saw crispy fried things with creamy sauce, and grabbed one.  The crispy coating was tasty, not oily, nicely seasoned, but inside was chicken.  It was moist enough, and probably good if you like chicken (people seemed to like it), but I don't like chicken, so this wasn't for me.

The menu says the dip was aioli, but it tasted like butter to me.  The texture was that of soft butter, and it wasn't creamy in the way aioli is.  It wasn't really pleasant to dip into.

The roasted shisitos were pretty standard.

Overall, a pass for me, but, I don't like chicken.

Local Burger Slider.

"Caramelized onion, aged cheddar, lettuce, heirloom tomato, pickles."

Next came platters of sliders, in 3 varieties: fried chicken with slaw, classic cheeseburger, and veggie.

Since I don't like chicken, I stayed away from the fried chicken ones.

I took what I thought was a regular beef cheeseburger, but it turned out to be a veggie slider, a bun stuffed with a few slimy roasted veggies (onions, bell peppers), and romesco sauce.  It wasn't very good, and the table quickly turned into a pile of discarded sliders.

On the 3rd or so round, I was finally able to grab a beef slider, a smaller version of their burger, a menu staple at all meals.

The slider roll was the same as the veggie one, nice enough looking, shiny top, black and white sesame seeds, toasted, but it wasn't particularly fresh tasting.

The patty was ... odd.  I bit into it, and it was sorta ... chewy?  But, when I looked down, it was pink.  I was impressed that it didn't *look* overcooked, as it is hard to have a slider come out less than well done, and, I'd call this medium.  Except, the texture was just strange, it wasn't juicy, and the flavor wasn't very good.

The aged cheddar was nicely melted on though, the lettuce was fresh and crisp, and the pickles flavorful and crunchy.  And each had two pickles!  It also had plenty of mayo, which I of course liked.

It was really strange how well executed it was (melty cheese, fresh veggies, toasted bun, pink meat), yet it wasn't actually good.

$16 for a regular burger at dinner, and $50 for 10 sliders on the event menu.  I guess it was good for a $5 item?

Pizza

Pizza is the star attraction at Local, served at all meals.  The open-ish kitchen features a wood burning pizza oven.  The menu has only 5 pizzas, although you can also create your own.  Our group received 3 types of pizza (Margherita, Salsiccia, Funghi).

The pizzas were always brought out and placed in the same spot on the table, e.g. sausage on one end, margherita in the middle, and mushroom on the other, and it was impossible to get to anything not right in front of you, which meant I wasn't ever able to try the one I really wanted, the sausage.

I'm not much of a pizza girl, but it was decent.

Funghi. $19 (Dinner only).

"Porcini cream, wild mushrooms, arugula." 

The pizza that kept coming in front of me was the funghi.  I do like mushrooms though, so I wasn't upset to try it.

But, it wasn't very good.  Hot and fresh, yes.  The crust, crispy enough on the bottom.  But I didn't care for the cream sauce and cheese, nor the heavy mushroom flavor.  It tasted like fake, cheap, truffle oil, in a way that permeates everything.  And there was too much cheese.

Along with the veggie sliders, many people left slices of this discarded on their plates.  I was actually pretty surprised by how much people just left behind, as that isn't really normal behavior at events.

$19 for a pizza of this size and quality seems way too high.

Margherita. $9 (Happy Hour) $15 (Dinner).

"San marzano, basil, fior di latte, extra virgin olive oil. "

I finally managed to snag a slice of the Margherita, the one I remember thinking was decent before at an event.

And, it was much better, certainly the best thing I ate.

The crust was crispy, the sauce tangy and well seasoned, the fior di latte just barely melted and flavorful, and the torn basil fresh.

A very simple Margherita, but, good enough.

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Breakfast Buffet, Anima, Sheraton Grand Krakow

Another hotel, another breakfast buffet.

The Sheraton Grand in Krakow is interesting.  While it has an Executive Lounge (that I reviewed last week), and that is open all day, it doesn't serve breakfast (which seems like when lounges are most beneficial to me!).  There are small snacks later in the day, and evening hot food, canapes, and desserts, but, no breakfast.  For breakfast, the only option is the regular restaurant buffet.

I visited 4 mornings.  The first two I sat down for breakfast, but later I was in a rush to get to the office, so I just took it to-go (which was easily accommodated, they would give anyone a box to-go, even if they had already dined it seemed).

The buffet did the job, but I certainly wouldn't pay for this, and mostly ended up supplementing breakfast from elsewhere anyway.  It was fairly extensive, but mostly just not particularly good, or at least, to my tastes.

Setting

Atrium.

The restaurant is located in the Atrium of the Sheraton complex, ground floor.  It is very open, very light filled.  It was generally mildly busy, not the level of frenzy I find most hotel breakfast buffets, even nice ones, have.  I wonder if the hotel was low occupancy?  The lounge was actually deserted during all my visits, and I got a great upgrade with no issues ...

Drinks

Everything was self-serve, even drinks.  The exception being decaf, which I ordered the first two mornings because the machines don't make it, but the staff always seemed very annoyed to fetch it, so I gave up after that.

Robot Coffee.

Coffee drinks are from the same type of robot machine they have in the lounge.  As I mentioned, no decaf available.

Decaf Americano.

I was able to flag someone down to order a decaf Americano.  It was absolutely fine.  ***+.

Tea.

Tea drinkers could get pots of hot water up at the bar, where there were a variety of tea bags to pick from.

Juices, Water.

Spa water and juices were on offer, along with both still and sparkling bottled water (in the fridge below).  I was very happy to see sparkling water included in the buffet cost.

Continental

Like any good hotel breakfast buffet, there is a wide range of cold continental offerings, are mostly the expected American and European classics, but also include a few Polish specialties.  Items that were local and likely unfamiliar had descriptive cards educating you on not only what they were, but a bit of the history or significance behind them.  I loved this touch.

Yogurts.

The yogurt station had big bowls of natural, full fat Greek, and fruity strawberry yogurt, along with individual pots of bircher muesli with raisins on top, and a yogurt and granola parfait with fruity compote in the base.

Yogurt parfait:
I tried a yogurt parfait the first day.  The yogurt was smooth but runny, and sweet, not really a style I like.  It reminded me of Chobani vanilla.  The fruit compote base wasn't labelled, but I think it was some kind of plum maybe?  Sweet.  Granola was soggy on top.  I wasn't into this. *+.

Bircher muesli pot:  

I LOVE LOVE LOVE bircher muesli (when in Australia in particular), so I was pleased to see this.  This was ... odd.  It was extremely rich, as if it was made with cream and yogurt.  Nicely soft oats.  Eh to the raisins and apple on top.  I love rich and creamy things, and have no shame in including whipped cream in my breakfasts, but there was something about this richness I didn't enjoy.  It was "fine", but not something I wanted another day.  **+.

Greek yogurt: 

The Greek yogurt was more like a generic natural style yogurt.  Not rich nor creamy, kinda lumpy, watery.  Very tart.  I didn't care for it.  Maybe this is real Greek yogurt though? **.

Cereals and Seeds/Nuts/Dried Fruits.

The kid in me loved the cereal lineup.  The lineup had granola, corn flakes, and something that looked like Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Honey Pops, all of which I skipped, but then two gems: chocolate pops and a large flakes mix that had some coated in sweet creamy coating.  I discovered those frosted chocolate pops in Germany years ago, and always enjoy them with soy milk.  The other one was new to me, and I liked the bigger, crisper form factor of the flakes (compared to most American cereals) and of course, the coating, which was similar to what you get on coated yogurt/white chocolate pretzels.  **** for those cereals, even though I know they are just generic brands, they are special to me.

This area also had a variety of seeds, nuts, and dried fruits to mix into things.

Milks.

To go with the cereal, or I suppose to just drink, was milk: soy, 3.2%, or 1%.  The 1% tasted odd to me, so I went for soy after that.

Honey.

Got honey?  You could select from straight from the honeycomb, or two different styles in pots.

Fruits.

Fruits included whole fruits (bananas, apples, oranges, pears, grapes) and boring cut fruits (melons, pineapple, citrus segments), and fruit salad made with the same.  No berries or interesting fruits.

Salad & Cheese.

The salad selection is very limited, just basic mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, and bell peppers, but, I often find it strange that so many places have huge salad bars as breakfast.  Sometimes I utilize the components to hack a dish, but usually, just seems like a waste compared to other things that could be offered.

This section also had cheeses, including cottage cheese with radish (!) that was more like a spread, Swiss cheese, and two local specialties.  I appreciated the extra detail cards explaining the cheese.  Unfortunately, I didn't actually like the cheeses, which I knew from the night before in the lounge.

More Cheese, Smoked Trout, etc.

Next up was more cheese, VERY fishy smoked trout, and accompaniments like olives and pickles.

Unknown, smoked turkey, smoked pork sausage, chicken sausage.

Some basic cold cuts came next.

I tried the chicken sausage (the thin tubes) - it was ok, mostly tasted like bologna, and had a nice smokey flavor.  ***.

Mostly Unknown.

The next section, with the more interesting options, was mostly unlabelled, besides the Kielbasa Wiejska, which also included an extra details card.

Hot Foods

The hot foods items were all pretty standard, and not particularly good.

Hashbrowns.

The hashbrowns were average, crispy greasy exterior, minced potato inside.  Not particularly good nor bad.  **+.

Scrambled Eggs / Bacon / Kielbasa.

I had no interest in the scrambled eggs or bacon, but I did try the kielbasa.  It was ok-ish, nice snap to the skin.  But not particularly special.  ***.

Grilled Pork Sausage.

The next day the sausage was a lighter color.  I didn't try it.

Dumplings with Chicken / Beans in Tomato Sauce.

Greasy looking dumplings, baked beans with sooo much runny tomato sauce.  I didn't try.

Spring Rolls.

The next day the dumplings were replaced by spring rolls, even though the sign still said dumplings.  I had one not knowing what it, thinking it might be filled with cheese or something.  It was just a generic Asian vegetarian spring roll, greasy, with a strange aftertaste that I did not like.  *.

Pancakes with Apple / Liege Waffles.

On the sweet side, there was "pancakes" filled with apple and standard buffet liege waffles.  The waffles said "homemade", but they didn't taste it.

The pancakes were more like thick crepes than American style pancakes.  But definitely far thicker than crepes.  I wasn't really into the applesauce like filling, nor the flavor of the pancake, nor the fact that they were barely warm.  Syrup available on the side to go with.  **.

American Style Pancakes.

The next day they were American style pancakes, which I didn't try.

Oatmeal.

Jet lag means strange cravings, and I was really craving warm comforting oatmeal.  Thus, one morning I tried it.  It was not very warm, was lumpy, and had a film on top.  Not sweetened.  I added boiling hot water (from the tea station) to both thin it out and warm it up, but it still wasn't great.  Made with cream or at least milk.  *+.

Condiments & Egg Ordering.

You could also order eggs any way (including omelettes).

I got a poached egg.  It was a standard poached egg, but not particularly well cooked.  There was a fair amount of runny white inside.  *+.

Ketchup, mustard, and bbq also available in this station.

Baked Goods & Sweets

I loved baked goods.  I even like some very mass produced ones.  But so often the pastries at hotel breakfast buffets are, well, just not very good.  Generally a large selection, but lacking in quality.  These didn't seem any different.

Croissants & Danishes.

Standard hotel buffet style danishes (cinnamon, pecan, chocolate croissants) and large croissants were available.  I didn't have any, as they didn't look particularly good.

Muffins.

The muffins were not labelled with what kind they were, but I thought one might have been banana, the other chocolate.  Full size large muffins.  These turned out to be great hits.

Chocolate w/ White Chocolate.

I had a chocolate muffin the first day.  It was definitely not breakfast appropriate.  It was a chocolate cake.  A decently moist chocolate cake.  With a few bits of dark chocolate and white chocolate studded on top, drizzled with white chocolate, and with a few pockets of gooey chocolate inside.  

It was good, but just too cake-like for me for breakfast.  As a dessert though, it would be great warm with ice cream (or at least with frosting).  But if you like frosting-less chocolate cake for breakfast, go for it.  *** for breakfast item, ***+ otherwise.

Of course, I couldn't resist getting one a few days later.  I again really did like it, but not as a breakfast item.  ****

Caramel (!) Muffin.

The next day I tried the other, thinking it was banana nut.  It turned out to be a very sweet pound cake style base, again, not really a breakfast style muffin, definitely more cake, but the real surprise was inside: thick rich caramel!  The caramel was sweet and delicious, but, wow.  Talk about not breakfast appropriate.  Not that it stopped me from using a spoon to get it all out.  ***+ caramel, * as a muffin though.

Blueberry.

The most traditional of the muffins was the blueberry.  Crumb top, blue-ish inside with a few bits of blueberry, but no juicy berries.  A bit sweet, but not as cake-like and sweet as the others.  Moist, didn't taste old or processed.  The most breakfast appropriate of the muffins.  Above average for a hotel breakfast buffet.  ***

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Apple.

Another day there was a sole muffin that was different from the others, although it looked like the caramel one, but with the caramel bits on top missing.  Instead it had a slice of dried apple on top.  Otherwise, the base was the same (pound cake, sweet, eh), but the filling was thick apple sauce/puree that was actually pretty good.  ***+ filling.  

Challah, Halva, Cakes.

Next came challah, two kinds of halva, and pound cakes.  The cakes had different drizzles/toppings daily, and were thick pound cakes, both plain and banana.

The halva was kinda different to have in a breakfast buffet.  One I enjoyed, the other was strangely bitter. ***.

Breads & Spreads.

The other breads were in a basket, not a very extensive selection, just a few slices and rolls. They did have educational signs about the two local breads.  No toasters available.  Jams of many kinds, butter, peanut butter, honey, and nutella on offer.

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