Here's a couple of croissant revisits to old favorites.
Izola's New Location:
I was happy to read about Izola reopening at Faultline Park. I remember visiting Izola during the pandemic when they would lower a basket of pastries from their third floor bakery, which had been converted from a photography studio on 13th street in East Village.
Here are some photos to jog your memory.
I really enjoyed the croissants and even revisited twice more, though I never posted on those revisits.
Sometimes, a business can be a victim of their own success. Izola closed to do renovations on their kitchen. While in the process, they discovered that they would not be able to meet 2024 food permit standards and had to find a new location. They finally did find a new location, relatively close by; in fact I had walked past the location on Faultline Park while waiting for takeout from Sovereign Thai. Due to Izola's previous popularity, I decided to wait a month or so before finally making the drive down to the area and paying the new location a visit. I found parking and strolled on over. It was interesting to note that I saw less homeless than on my previous visits to this location.
This locale has been several different businesses over the last couple of years, I recall it being Amplified Ale and then some kind of BBQ spot?
I strolled on in and stood in line at the counter, which also displays the various breads and pastries for sale on this day.
I decided on a Butter Croissant (of course) and also got an Almond Croissant for the Missus. There weren't prices listed and my total came out to $17, yikes!
Anyway, I had a seat in the spacious dining area to wait for my croissants.
The really nice guy working the dining area asked me if I'd like some water while I waited, but I was fine.
In a few minutes the gentleman brought out my order packed, just like before in a nice little box.
I took my box and headed back to the car and skedaddled home.
Opening things up, I noticed that the croissant was still warm as I removed it from the box. I also noticed that it was much darker than what I'd had from Izola previously.
I tore off a piece whereupon I noticed how rubbery it seemed. I took a bite, and sigh……man, this was fairly "hard", not flaky, not crisp, but hard and kind of chewy. The interior was fairly fluffy, but it still lacks the butter to salt ratio that I prefer.
The Missus had a bite and also noted the same thing.
She did say that the Almond Croissant was much better though.
Overall, this was quite disappointing. I was looking forward to Izola reopening. I'm thinking I'll try the place in a couple of months and am hoping that this was just an off day. And at seven bucks a croissant….man, how would Parisians react to a six Euro croissant? I can only imagine!
Izola
1429 Island Ave.
San Diego, CA 92101
Current Hours:
Tues – Sat 7am – 2pm
Closed Sunday and Monday
This had me wondering about how another of my croissant "favorites" was doing, so the week after, I headed on over to Bird Rock and stopped by….
Wayfarer Bread & Pastry:
Well, it's been a while. I'd last visited two years ago, and my last post on Wayfarer was back in September of 2020! There always seems to be a line at Wayfarer, so I make it a point to arrive before opening. On this morning, I went and got a cold brew from Birdrock Coffee and headed on over. Funny, there was only one person in line when I arrived.
Soon enough there were over a dozen people lined up behind me. Once the place opens things move fast.
I just got a plain croissant ($4.75) on this day and then drove on home.
Wayfarer tends to over bake their croissants; but this wasn't bad, quite flaky and crisp, the interior a bit on the dry side, but light and fluffy with a decent butter-salt ratio.
Still my favorite croissant in San Diego. If only Wayfarer were closer and the parking in the area wasn't such a pain! I guess I need to start up my croissant explorations again!
Wayfarer Bread & Pastry
5525 La Jolla Blvd.
La Jolla, CA 92037
Current Hours:
Sunday, Tues – Thurs 830am – 230pm
Fri – Sat 830am – 230pm, 430p, – 830pm
Closed on Mondays
So, for all you Croissant Enthusiasts out there, where have you recently had a decent croissant?