Seattle Pastry Chefs’ Top Sweet Spots
Where Seattle's finest pastry chefs get sugared up
By Chelsea Lin and Jessica Yadegaran with additional reporting by Rebecca Ratterman December 13, 2016
This article originally appeared in the December 2016 issue of Seattle magazine.
Carrie Mashaney (picutred above)
Chef and pastry chef, Mamnoon (Capitol Hill, 1508 Melrose Ave.; 206.906.9606; mamnoonrestaurant.com)
A rare chef talented in the ways of both savory and sweet, Mashaney rose to Top Chef fame in season 11; now, you can find her crafting beautiful Pavlovas and plating mezze at this critically acclaimed Middle Eastern restaurant.
What is your favorite…
Ice cream? Kurt Farm Shop’s (Capitol Hill, 1424 11th Ave.; kurtwoodfarms.com/kurt-farm-shop) rose.
Cake? I don’t really eat cake, but my favorite would be anything with buttercream frosting.
Cookie? Wandering Goose, chocolate chip. It has a good balance of salty/sweet going on.
Breakfast pastry? Bakery Nouveau’s kugelhopf (a Bundt-shaped, yeasted dough). It’s light as air, with a crunchy sugar coating and not too sweet.
Plated dessert? The best, most recent dessert I’ve had—besides my own!—was at Spinasse (Capitol Hill, 1531 14th Ave.; 206.251.7673; spinasse.com). It was a grilled peach with oatmeal gelato and cinnamon milk.
What sort of sweet treats is Seattle missing? Babka!
Renee Bolstad
Pastry chef, Revel, Joule and Trove (relayrestaurantgroup.com)
To match the bold, Asian-influenced flavors at Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi’s popular eateries, Bolstad comes up with inventive takes on classic desserts—look for miso, lychee, lemongrass—plus the extremely Instagram-able parfaits at Trove’s ice cream truck.
What is your favorite…
Ice cream? Other than my own, anything Matt Bumpas [of Sweet Bumpas] (206.719.0625; sweetbumpas.com) makes!
Cake? I can get down on the carrot cake from Safeway (multiple locations; safeway.com). My first job was in the Safeway bakery, and it brings back many great memories.
Cookie? I had a chocolate peanut butter cookie at the Wandering Goose (Capitol Hill, 403 15th Ave. E; 206.323.9938; thewanderinggoose.com) that was out of this world. It was served warm, and it was the perfect balance of soft and gooey.
Breakfast pastry? Anything from Bakery Nouveau, particularly the kouign-amann. The layers of butter and sugar—does it get any better than that?
Plated dessert? When I was at the [StarChefs’] Rising Star event last year, Junko Mine [of Cafe Juanita] had a delightful plate of ricotta and honey and a thin crostini of a chocolate bread. It was perfectly balanced, and I love it when bread gets incorporated in a plated dessert.
What sort of sweet treats is Seattle missing? I think more shops that serve more traditional desserts from their cultural heritage. I need more aebleskiver in my life!
Follow Us
Restaurant Roundup: “Pho-potle” and Yemeni Cuisine
Here’s what was served up recently in the Emerald City.
This is it. The week (or two) that you, as a food and drink aficionado, wait for every year. A double whammy of epic portions. Seattle Cocktail Week (April 19-26) and Seattle Restaurant Week (April 19-May 2) are finally here. Let’s start with a beverage Seattle Cocktail Week is your chance to get out and…
Seattle Restaurant Week Is Back
Go out with friends and support local restaurants while you’re at it.
The name still undersells it a little. It lasts two weeks, not one, but it’s a pretty great opportunity to try somewhere new or go back to an old favorite. This spring’s run, April 19-May 2, brings curated menus priced at $20, $35, $50, and $65 to restaurants, bars, cafes, food trucks, and pop-ups across…
Magical Mollusks
Oysters are one the Northwest’s favorite harvests. The hardworking farmers behind this bounty share a deep appreciation for its source and a personal connection to the processes that yield our food.
It’s hard to describe people who are undeniably connected to the land—often, it’s about a feeling they transmit. Grounded, knowledgeable about their work, and passionate in their care for nature’s resources. Oyster farmers along Hood Canal, like Matthew Macias, give off a certain vibe, as though they have some secret to life that I don’t…
Restaurant Roundup: National Attention and a Sweet Detour
Here’s what was served up recently in the Emerald City.
Just south of Bellingham, the northbound lanes of I-5 have been closed for weeks following a massive landslide, pushing travelers onto Chuckanut Drive (SR 11). If you’ve got the time, we’re here to encourage you to embrace the detour and take the sugary scenic route, so to speak. Along the way, you’ll find plenty of…