Beard Papa comes to SF

[ludja]

Beard Papa comes to San Francisco.

“Like most people, I had already vowed no more sweets after the new year. But that was before I heard about Beard Papa's, opening this month in San Francisco. This will be the first Bay Area venture for the Japanese dessert cafe chain, which is set to expand throughout Northern California.

What would make me break my resolution? Cream puffs. Lots and lots of cream puffs, made daily in different flavors like vanilla, strawberry and chocolate and more out-of-the-ordinary tastes like green tea and milk tea.

Beard Papa's is at 99 Yerba Buena Lane (a new street running from Market to Mission streets, between Third and Fourth). “

If you're interested in any background; here's a thread from the New York forum when an outlet opened there about two years ago: click

Has anyone been to the SF location yet?

[canucklehead]

mmmmmmm Cream Puffs!!!

I had some while I was in Hong Kong.... they are good, precisely because they are soooo fresh. Tender yet crisp choux pastry filled with lush cream. Crazy

Vanilla Cream Puff. Chocolate Cream Puff

[nakji]

Wait - that's a Japanese chain?

I always assumed it was French..or similar....

We used to have them here in Seoul, but not anymore. They went the way of the Andrew's Egg tart, alas. I mourn both their passing.

We did, on the other hand, get a Krispy Kreme, so I guess it all balances out.

[annachan]

My question is, "Is it open yet?"

I'll be at the Fancy Food Show @ Mascone Center Sunday. Will likely walk over to check it out. If I'm lucky and they are open, I'll be sure to share my experience.

[prasantrin]

If you can get green tea ones out there, I'll be terribly jealous. They only come out once a year around my area (half-way between Kobe and Osaka) and in my two years I have never been able to try one. I love green tea anything!

[Trishiad]

fancy food, sunday, me too. no cream puffs yet according to chowhound. bummer.

probably enough sugar from the samples. Is it wrong to chew and spit some of the super-yucko (thanks to my 4 year old) chocolates they're trying to peddle?

City dwellers, please keep us posted on the cream puff front. Can't get a cream puff in Sebastopol to save my life.

[rjwong]

In the 23 Nov. 2006 edition of the LA Times Food Section Digest, the LA Times food critic wrote about Beard Papa in her "Critic's Notebook."

Of course, the secret is to eat them FRESH! (You think that you're going to eat just one, ehh??) Fresh, as in the crispy cream puffs that were just baked right out of the oven, filled with chilled custard that was made less than two hours ago. That fresh!

[ludja]

Has anyone checked the store out yet? I haven't been by that area and keep forgetting to check, but suppose it must be open by now...

Any comments on the cream puffs?

[tejon]

Glad I stumbled onto this post, as it appears that there is a brand new Beard Papa way out in my neck of the woods that I'll have to check out. For once, I'm actually happy to live near the Puente Hills Mall .

[prasantrin]

Glad I stumbled onto this post, as it appears that there is a brand new Beard Papa way out in my neck of the woods that I'll have to check out. For once, I'm actually happy to live near the Puente Hills Mall  .

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If you can get a cocoa one, get it! I love the green tea ones, but the cocoa ones are out of this world! The custard cream reminds me of chocolate soft ice cream...

[tejon]

Chocolate, eh? My youngest is due a special treat for trying the most new foods last week and he loves all things chocolate....think I know where he'll be getting a treat .

[prasantrin]

Chocolate, eh? My youngest is due a special treat for trying the most new foods last week and he loves all things chocolate....think I know where he'll be getting a treat  .

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But you must get them while you can. At the Beard Papa closest to me, the matcha and chocolate ones are not available all the time, and they rotate the two. Sometimes they have them on alternating days, sometimes alternating weeks. They also seem to be seasonal at my Beard Papa (in Japan). It could be because it's just a small one in a train station (you have to go through ticket gates to get to it)--I don't know about larger Beard Papa's.

But yes, they are divine! They dust them lightly with icing sugar and a touch of cocoa powder, while the matcha ones are dusted with icing sugar and matcha.

[JayTee]

I checked a month back, and it was not open yet. There wasn't a sign or anything either indicating when it would be open. Since its sunny, maybe I'll take a walk by there today.

I first tried these in New York, on the Upper West Side. I can't wait until it opens up.

[tejon]

Because I am E-vil (say this a la Mike Myers, please)...

The caramel cream puff was definitely the best .

[prasantrin]

The caramel cream puff was definitely the best  .

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Caramel?!?!?!?!? They have caramel!?!?

I'm getting ripped off out here, with just regular, matcha, and cocoa (even though the cocoa one is amazing)!

[tejon]

They didn't have the cocoa or matcha that day, but I thought the caramel sounded interesting and worth a try. The flavor was very subtle, but more full bodied than the vanilla pastry cream.

[cstuart]

I checked a month back, and it was not open yet.  There wasn't a sign or anything either indicating when it would be open.  Since its sunny, maybe I'll take a walk by there today.

I first tried these in New York, on the Upper West Side.  I can't wait until it opens up.

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Update:

I walked by the place this weekend and it's still "coming soon." No word on when, and the windows were covered so I couldn't see in.

[lizard]

I walked by the space this morning, and the poster says "Coming Soon: Beard Papa's Sweets Cafe."

I have only seen the walkup locations, and am unfamiliar with the "Sweets Cafe" concept. Does anyone have any experience with the cafe before? Do they serve a wider selection, Lunch, etc?

The opening appears to be a long ways off. I peeked in and it was bare studs, no electricity, fixtures or anything. I say they're lucky if they open in time for the summer tourist season.

[ludja]

Thanks for the updates jaytee, lizard and cstuart... Bummer that it's not open yet and may still be a ways off, especially after tejon's photos and report!

[lizard]

BEARD PAPA IS HERE - FREE Samples today

The grand opening isn't until tomorrow, but the store is giving away free vanilla puffs this afternoon!

See my photo essay below:

Store Entrance on Yerba Buena Lane (that's Mission in the background)

Like walking into Oz...

Fresh Puffs

Filling them to order

Half-eaten (forgot to take a pic before I chowed down)

Prices

[annachan]

Just got back from there today. Had to wait an hour to get the cream puffs and we're only allowed to get 6 each. The cream puffs were good. The big disappointment is that they're only serving the vanilla cream puffs and will be for a while. Anyone waiting for green tea puffs, eclairs and other baked good will have to wait....

[ludja]

Thanks for the report and photos, lizard and annachan! I'll definately stop by next time I'm up in SF.

From the photos, I saw the green tea puffs listed under "weekly specials". I guess that means that eventually each week there will be one specialty flavor puff?

Edited May 13, 2006 by ludja (log)

[prasantrin]

Prices

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Interesting! Your prices are a bit more than Japanese prices (regular choux is Y126 including tax, and flavoured choux are Y136 including tax). The eclairs in Japan are also shaped like regular eclairs (though they are shorter and more narrow than regular US ones).

I'm still waiting for cocoa choux to come back to my local Beard Papa. They've been on a matcha run for the past couple of weeks, but I want cocoa! If only they were a regular item on the menu like at the SF location!

[Jason Perlow]

Beard Papas are obscenely good, but don't get fooled into buying the six packs like I do. They deteriorate very quickly and are not anywhere near as good several hours later or the next day.

[rjwong]

Jason, you either have to share the six pack of Beard Papa cream puffs with others, or else eat them faster!

And I'm not going to try to eat a 4x4 from In-N-Out Burger!