Mr. Holmes Bakehouse Peach Cardamon Danish: An entire think piece could be dedicated to Mr. Holmes Bakehouse, a pastry shop in the heart of San Francisco's Tenderloin district. The Dominique Ansel Bakery of SF, it has an equally iconic dessert: the Cruffin. A cross between a muffin and croissant, the Cruffin is filled with a seasonal cream and is made in limited quantities, requiring those willing to wait to get in line early (the bakery opens at 7am on weekdays). But unlike DA Bakery, Mr. Holmes is not based in the SOHO of SF. To get your baked goods, you must queue in what is historically the seediest, highest-crime area of the city. Make no mistake - this is not a "neighborhood" bakery, but one where people arrive by Uber to avoid walking through the Tenderloin. On my walk there, I was greeted by a homeless man, singing after us that we were going to the "pop-up donut shop." Is it ok to open a modern bakery for Instagram-obsessed "foodies" when the community around it is more likely to find themselves waiting in line for a soup kitchen? I'm not going to attempt to answer that complicated question here and will instead leave you solely with a review of the peach danish, a substantial, square-shaped pastry with a flaky, slightly crusty exterior and soft, buttery interior. The peaches were just baked so that they still had a bit of crunch, and a spiced cardamon gelatin added a surprising amount of freshness and textural interest. Yes, this place is super trendy, and yes, half the people in line will pose for glamour shots in front of the shop's "I got baked in San Francisco" neon sign, but it's also pretty damn good and of obvious quality. 4.0/5.0

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