Sometime around 2010, Dave and I stopped bothering with any restaurant, bakery, or bar with a line. Life, it’s seriously too short for this. So, when Mr. Holmes Bakehouse opened in 2014, straight into an obsessive following involving not only long lines for its famous cruffins but a stolen cruffin recipe caper that held the foodie crowd in its thrall…we just ignored it. A life without a cruffin is still a life well lived.
Until today, when fellow blogger Sylvie offered to show me around the hipsterfying Larkin Street of the Tendernob, and a stop at Mr. Holmes Bakehouse seemed obligatory, paying our respects to the establishment that started it all.
Outside, the bakery does seem to be a hipster mecca of sorts. There’s the normal Tendernob shops and denizens, and then there’s the cluster of hipsters in high water jeans and cat eye glasses in line at a minimalist glam rock storefront.
On this day, we lucked out and there was practically no line. Inside, burnished pastries sat in heaps. And, then of course, there’s the highly instagrammable neon sign.
We picked up a cruffin with prickly pear cheesecake filling, a bourbon pecan apple danish, salted caramel filled donut, and a chocolate croissant (to bring things back down to basics.)
Ok, first, I’m going to say that all sound delicious and I believe that’s mostly entirely the point. Very unique flavor combinations that you’ll either salivate over or pass on — this might be the reason to try Mr. Holmes for yourself.
Second, I probably should have reviewed this place before the butter jubilee at Arsicault. Mr. Holmes’ croissant and pastry is much more breadlike than what you’ll find at Arsicault, unfortunately so. But, whereas Arsicault revels in (freaking sublime) simplicity, the fillings and flavors are more interesting at Mr. Holmes. Sylvie promised the flavors changed every time she stopped by too.
Oh, the cruffin? The whole point, right? The prickly pear cheesecake filling was mellow and sweet with a hint of fruit finish, and the buttery cruffin shell was soft as could be — an excellent combination. But, I found it a bit goopy.
In all, while delicious and a fun place to stop in the neighborhood, I’m not sure my experience was as revelatory as the hype. Have you been to Mr. Holmes? Do I need to try it again?
