Spoon & Stable - January 3, 2016
(That is a picture of every pastry that was offered on this day.- Here’s Shawn’s)
I figured if I went there the last Sunday of 2015, I might as well go there the first Sunday of 2016 as well. This time I was going to bring some friends to do some damage. Friends became busy so it ended up being just Shawn and myself.
If you recall we were able to do all of the pastries at Surly’s Brewer’s Table Funk & Brunch, but then we were only eating about half of each because we were going to do a few of the entrees since they’d never be available again. This time we didn’t have that problem. Spoon & Stable rocks brunch. So we decided to get all of the pastries.
(I like to see how they’re constructed, if there’s a good ratio of filling, what have you. So sometimes I expose the interior of a thing to see how it’s made, some photos of that are below each description.)
All of them.
Croissant: Simple. Perfect. After we did what follows one of the bartenders asked us what our favorite was. When it all comes down to it, regardless how much I enjoy other pastries. A well executed buttery croissant is still a marvel to me. I also prefer well executed vanilla ice creams while still enjoying some of the more creative combinations.
Goat Cheese Danish: Sweet caramelized onions, tart cheese, buttery laminated dough. Interior below.
Roasted Pineapple and Almond Danish: So good. Interior below.
Pain au Chocolat: Sweet, dense chocolate surrounded by those buttery, flaky layers. When I was in Brussels for work years ago, I’d stop at the bakery near the train station and get one of these for the train ride out to the offices. While different than those long ago laminations, it helps trigger some of the welcome memories of that era.
Caramelized Cinnamon Raisin Roll: The extra sugar on the laminated surface of this adds another dimension to the already crisp crust. Interior below.
Salty Caramel Donut: Still really good. Interior below. (At this point I started wondering if we were sane attempting to eat all of these.)
Vanilla Chantilly Stuffed Brioche: (I just realized if you’re a fan of the Metroid video game series, this looks a tad bit like the eponymous creature.) Nice crunchy surface, soft crumb, good filling. Interior below.
Banana Bread: I like this, it’s good, but I sometimes wonder if it exists to be the safe and familiar pastry on the list. Unwrapped and interior below.
Passion Fruit Lingonberry Tart: Still amazing. I will miss this if/when it leaves the menu.
White Chocolate Pistachio Croissant: This is the pastry that made me rethink how to cut a pastry for sharing and examining the interior. The key is to perforate it with a fork, not try to cut it with a long blade. Once it’s fully perforated, you can break it on the dotted line. Interior below. (Finally.)
We did it! But for whatever reason we were still a little hungry and wanted to get some protein to go with all of the carbs we just had.
Steak Frites with sauce béarnaise and salad of red endive, spinach, and shaved fennel: This is what I went with, even if I’m not a huge fry fan. The steak was great with a nice crust, and the fries were really good with the sauce. The salad was a nice light contrast, cutting the fat from the sauce.
Cornish Game Hen with breakfast sausage hash, brussels sprouts and natural jus: This was really good. After Revival and 4 Bells, when I see a fried chicken component on a dish I’m not expecting much. I was really wrong on this one. The fried chicken is really good. So is the rest of the dish.
Crepe Cake: What did you think the last picture was going to be? It’s too hard to not get this.