The Best Pastry Shops in the United States

Laminated pastry

The newer American bakeries are built around laminated dough, and the kouign amann sits beside the croissant in most of them. Arsicault Bakery in San Francisco sells both to take away, with trays coming out of the oven through the morning. b. Patisserie, also in San Francisco, makes its kouign-amann in a classic version and in seasonal flavours such as black sesame and guava. Left Bank Pastry in Olympia and Butter Block in Buffalo work in the same French style, and Butter Block adds pop tarts and a maple bacon bow tie.

Italian pastry shops

The old Italian neighbourhoods of the East Coast have pastry shops of another kind, with long glass cases of cannoli, cookies and lobster tails, a shell of flaky pastry filled with cream. Veniero’s in New York has sold pastries since 1894 and has a takeout counter and a dining room under a stained glass ceiling. Ferrara Bakery & Cafe is in Little Italy, in a wood-panelled room. In Boston's North End, Modern Pastry Shop fills cannoli to order and Bova’s Bakery stays open 24 hours. Takeout and table service run as separate lines, and at Veniero’s the table costs more.

Other cuisines

Some bakeries fold other cuisines into French dough. Reunion Bakery in Denver bakes Portuguese pastéis de nata and Venezuelan golfeados beside croissants. Librae Bakery in New York uses za'atar, tahini and black lime, and Izola in San Diego fills croissants with bibimbap or muffuletta.

Cakes

Sewell Sweets in downtown Salem is a cake shop. Its case changes daily, the small baby cakes can sell out by afternoon, and custom wedding and birthday cakes are a large part of the business.