Juniper
Bakery · Polk Gulch ·
Award-winning croissants, choux pastries, and savory delights.
Award-winning croissants, choux pastries, and savory delights.
"While the cubano croissant draws crowds for its novelty, it’s the twice-baked raspberry almond croissant that we’d endure any line for. It’s just as airy, crisp, and chewy as the cubano, but more balanced. A thick coat of tart raspberry jam is hidden underneath a sweet-shelled top with slivered almonds, and when it’s fresh from the oven (a guarantee if you arrive right when the doors open at 7:30am), you’ll immediately start Googling the legalities of human-pastry marriage." - julia chen 1, ricky rodriguez, patrick wong
"The couple’s newish bakery in Polk Gulch is described as choux-forward and croissant-happy; it will supply the food program for the new coffee shop. The bakery is run by the same owners and is positioned as the on-site source for pastries and savory items for their cafes. Disclosure in the original reporting: Paolo Bicchieri worked for Kevin Bohlin at Juniper in 2023." - Paolo Bicchieri
"Saint Frank is known for its coffee, but with the opening of its bakery Juniper, the team is hoping it’ll also become known for its pastries. Fine-dining pastry chef Andrea Correa of Parallel 37 consulted and set Juniper up with a choux-forward menu using the French pastry shell as a base for sweet and savory versions of the treat — think a tiramisu-inspired version, the “tiramichoux” or a Parmesan-anchovy choux. But there are non-choux reasons to visit, such as the juniper lemon escargot (the sweet pastry, not the snail) and the Cubano croissant with mojo pork, ham, and whole grain mustard." - Dianne de Guzman
"Juniper, opened by the owners of Saint Frank Coffee, is a Nob Hill bakery serving some of the city’s greatest croissants. Ask any of the staff members and they’ll tell everyone in their long lines to get the cubano croissant—it’s stowing away a mound of mojo pork, ham, pickles, gruyère, and french mustard under its crispy exterior. While it’s solid, the flavors can get muddled, especially if it’s not fresh out of the oven, which requires getting there right as the doors open. Nowhere else in the city has a croissant like this, so get it if you’re curious. Otherwise, we suggest going sweet and getting the twice-baked raspberry and almond croissant, which is just as airy, crisp, and chewy as the cubano, but more balanced. But the best thing on their menu is not a croissant at all—it’s the black sesame kouign-amann. The spiral layers shatter into translucent shards after each bite, and every crevice is smeared with black sesame." - Patrick Wong
"At Polk Gulch's Juniper, I watched Amy Chen, the head chef and baker, lead her bakery to croissant supremacy at the 2024 San Francisco's Best Croissant competition: the team won Best Croissant in SF, Best Original Creation for its Cubano croissant, and the People’s Choice award, a feat Juniper co-owner Lauren Bagwell Bohlin said no bakery had achieved in the competition's 10-year history." - Paolo Bicchieri