Off Menu: Is Tartine Set on World Domination?
Off Menu is our tribute to the service industry. It’s where we cover restaurant openings and bar closings, industry rumors and inside dirt. It’s where we cheer on our favorite chefs, servers, and nightlife superheroes. And the best part is, it comes from those of us that live that life, that work in the trenches.
Got any tips? Please send them to info@brokeassstuart.com
The Line We Love To Hate
Tartine. The bakery we all know and love; one of the many places that we drag ourselves to on our days off to stand in line for hours at a time all in order to get our malnourished little paws on some of those delicious banana custard tarts.
From humble beginnings Tartine, quickly sky rocketed to fame with James Beard awards and top critic appraisal from the likes of New York Times food writer, Mark Bittman. What’s next on the Tartine horizon you ask? World Domination of course. The power baker Chad Robertson has recently opened a Tartine in Japan and now, to put the icing on the cake they have teamed up with Oakland based Blue Bottle Coffee to form an alliance and together take over the world one pastry and single origin espresso at a time.
Back when I was a wee-lad, bakeries were places to get meat pies, sausages rolls, a doughnut, a milkshake and if you were really lucky, maybe a custard tart. They were a quick snack, a treat. They were a place that Mum or Dad could swing by after soccer games on a Saturday to shut you up for 20 minutes. Bakeries in San Francisco are a far cry from regional Australia, I get it, but for all I know Tartine could have it sights set on bringing that ham and cheese croissant downunder.
It goes without saying that a bakery is first and foremost a business. Any business worth its salt should have plans to evolve and grow and be the best possible form of itself.  This is potentially a good thing, right? With Tartine pastries popping up on every corner, you won’t have to walk more than half a block without a vol-au-vent flying into your mouth, accompanied by a great cup of hand crafted, ethically sourced coffee, which will be conveniently available in all Blue Bottle locations. Coffee and Tartine without the line?!?! This is too good to be true!
Maybe…the jury is still out on whether the commercialization of a boutique, craft bakery will mean a drop in quality. The company now has plans to open a commercial bakery on 18th and Alabama to keep up with this increase in demand. Are we looking at the next Starbucks, Le boulange team-up? Too soon to tell but I suppose the proof will be in the pudding…
Want a less cynical, newsworthy version of the story. Check out the OG here.
Photo courtesy of Eat A Duck Food Blog
You Might Also Like
