So, recently the wonderful Madam "LL" sent me a text asking me if I'd been to the 102 Scone Company. Huh? Well, I'd never heard of the place. She explained that it used to be named Canele Bakery, but then changed their name and main product to scones and rebranding as the 102 Scone Company. Funny thing is; they no longer make scones! And they do make Canele again; though supposedly only on Fridays. She did tell me that they make croissants….so you know I had to visit, right?
Looking up the address I cracked up……
This is the place with the simple "Bakery" sign next to Rubicon Deli! Man, I am so not with things these days!
I had arrived at 10 minutes to nine (opening time) on a Friday. Check out the line!
And it got even longer stretching all the way past Rubicon by the time the place opened. Things did move pretty quickly once the doors opened.
It's a simple counter displaying various Viennoiseries and pastries, though no Caneles, even though this was Friday.
I bought myself a croissant (of course) and got a couple of items for the Missus. The prices weren't bad; a tad cheaper than ASA Bakery. The owners, a Korean Husband and Wife team were very ncie and actually seemed to know some of their customers…..must have a good number of regulars I guess.
So, this is what I ended up getting.
Looking at the croissant; I knew this was going to be interesting. Notice how the laminated ridges had fallen off. And I had just removed the cover of the box!
Even more fell off as I gingerly moved it to a plate.
It was too delicate; a bit over baked, the laminated exterior just falling off. You know what was going to happen when I actually bit into it, right? A certain song by the Rolling Stones came to mind:
"Ohhh look at me
I been shattered
I been shattered
Look at me, I been shattered…."
I prefer not leaving a good part of the croissant on the plate. Unless 102's specific purpose is to have me lick the plate?
You can see why I used ASA Bakery as a reference point, right?
Though I will say that while the interior was much too airy; I'm looking for a slightly moist "honeycomb" of flavor, it had a decent amount of butter, thouh perhaps too much salt. I do prefer this to the version from ASA; though it's not in my top three (thus far) for San Diego.
Unlike what happened on our recent visit to Michi Michi (I really want to do another visit before posting), I did get a chance to taste the Cranberry Chocolate Monkey Bread – decently light, not too sweet and the Lime Croissant – didn't care for the overly bready texture and the glaze; though enjoyed that it wasn't too sweet and the lime flavor wasn't overpowering. The Missus took the Matcha Crookie to work, but told me it was a bit too much.
I'm glad I got to try this place out and would like to thank LL for thinking of me!
102 Scone Company (Which doesn't currently do scones)
4130 La Jolla Village Dr.
La Jolla, CA 92037