Heard it from watching the news on TV so I had to make the one hour trip from San Jose. Definitely the best in term of crunchy, fluffy, soft and chewy all rolled in one croissant. My family of four all agreed Arsicault is amongst the best we've had including the bakeries we've tried in France and Korea (I love Paris Baguette in Korea). The almond croissant is sweeter than Paris Baguette but, as I said, the dough is just so good, I'm OK with extra sweetness. The chocolate was heavenly. However, the plain croissant was so, so good that I don't need any extra fillings or flavor to go with it.

Once a fledging brassiere, Bon Appetite's endorsement has overwhelmed the small craftsman bakery. They opened at 7:00 (closed Mondays) and at 8:15 or so, we joined a small line of 10-12 out the door. The line was moving slowly and they were all out of everything at the counter except Kouign-Amann. But, up on the mezzanine appeared the baker and nicely announced that morning buns had just come out of the oven and would be out as soon as they were sugared. Chocolate, almond and regular croissants would be out in about 7 minutes. People then slowly came through, making their orders on pastry bags and waiting, if they wanted to. We wanted to and took our Kouign-Amann up on the Mezzanie to a small table and started with it. It was not folded in like many, but was more in a spiral with the many many layers of croissant dough showing through the darker brown crust. Crispy on the outer layers, with a softer, inviting middle area with a little sweet sugary taste in the middle. Dark, crispy, caramelized. Nicely done. Soon the other two appeared and we took them with us. The almond croissant had been baked, split and almond paste spread in the inside, baked again to a darker, crispier stage, powdered with sugar, very tender in the inside. Very crispy ends (my favorite part) and nice mild creamy almond middle. Not strong with almond flavor, very mild. The morning bun was flatter than I expected, but nicely cinnamon and sugared on the outside. Crispy around the edges, but more moist and sweet in the middle. No orange zest, like another bakery in town, but still a nice flavor. More like a muffin top in terms of the size of the middle area surrounded by crispy edges. Come within the first hour or plan to wait and take what they have. To be fair to those who wait, the sign by the door says no more than four pasteries per customer, and no more than two of one kind. The baker is clearly a craftsman who knows his trade. A larger bakery and store front is in order as this place is going to be really busy for a while.

This bakery was rated by a major magazine as the best new bakery in the U.S. Don't know if this is true but they do bake an excellent croissant, especially the ham & cheese croissant. But the wait to get into the store is way too line primarily because the kitchen is too small and they cannot keep up with the demand. So the owners decided to limit the number of items each customer could purchase which is 4 per person as of this writing. But even doing this, they still run out of items and cannot keep up with the demands hence the line is long and the wait is even longer. If you have the time, by all means give this place a try, especially their ham & cheese croissant. If you cannot wait, try B Patissarie on California & Divisidero. Their plain croissant is just as good but their ham & cheese takes a close second to Arsicault's.

So yesterday I came across this Bon Appetit magazine article naming a small French "Arsicault Bakery" on Arguello Street as the Bakery of the Year 2016 in the whole US of A. Really? That's just 10 minutes from me on a traffic-free morning (an oxymoron, of course, in San Francisco). But, I digress. So, in the interest of pure foodie journalistic intent, off I drove this foggy morning to this place crossing Clement. There was a line. I stood patiently for half an hour. There was nothing on the counter. But you could smell the wicked waft of something cooking in the oven out back. People on the line were paying in advance for croissants that were still baking (ridiculous, right?) for another 25 minutes. What? But, lucky me. Just as it was my turn, out came this huge tray of fresh baked chocolate croissants. I quickly said - give me a box of that (to the dismay of folks behind me!). And, I'll take that one almond croissant that hasn't been prepaid, too. So, yes, thank you Bon Appetit! Short of flying to Paris and having the best croissants at the Ritz, I am in super flaky delicious fresh-baked croissant heaven. I echo SF Food Critic Patricia Unterman's delight, "where have you been all my life?" And, now you know, I'll be back!!!

We have traveled a lot, including France, and have eaten many very tasty croissants. The ones at Arsicault are the best we've ever had. Super light, super flaky, super crisp on the outside. The chocolate croissants are to die for. People come from miles around to get them. Can't say enough good about them- and the owner and staff are super friendly. The other must try pastry is the Kouin Aman (pronounced "queen aman"). Imagine a croissant, sliced, topped with butter and sugar and baked. Very decedant and delicious. Never had one before- they are superb.