Macarons - Any new places?

[Eat.Choui]

I referenced these threads for updates on places with macarons:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/589759
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/600664

Any new places that may have popped up recently? Reading through other threads, there seems to be a couple of macaron carts/trucks around. Has anyone tried them?

In the Peninsula, I've tried La Baguette, Douce France, Cocola Bakery, and Pamplemousse, and only enjoyed the ones from Pamplemousse.

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Douce France
855 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Pamplemousse Cafe
2401 Broadway St, Redwood City, CA

Cocola Bakery
333 Santana Row # 1045, San Jose, CA

[jsaimd]

Anyone had Cako's in SF/San Jose? They also make an ice cream one

[Windy]

Cinema Cafe on Post in the New People building at Japantown has wonderful caramel macarons made by Atelier Kawashima. I had a lovely grapefruit one the other day with cappuccino. Matcha lattes are also good and not overly sweet.

Chantal Guillon has opened more stores. I passed one in Millbrae last week.

[hhc]

Chantal Guillon has a Palo Alto store, is the Millbrae store new? It's not on their website.

[Windy]

Maybe that's where I saw it. It was nighttime, and that makes more sense.

[siulan_99]

Masse's Patisserie in Berkeley on Shattuck.

[Ruth Lafler]

When the bacon craze collides with the macaron craze the result is maple bacon macarons at Feel Good Bakery! I had to have one, and I wasn't disappointed: the smokiness of the bacon really came through and nicely balanced the maple sweetness.

[Ruth Lafler]

Seasonal macaron at Feel Good is pistachio with pomegranate filling rimmed in red sugar crystals -- very pretty red and green, and the sweet sugar and the tangy pomegranate play off each other (some people, might, however, find the sensation of pure sugar on the tongue too sweet).

[artie00]

I've had a chance to try Nicole Lee's macarons and they are some of the best I've ever tasted. I love her Lychee Rose, Rum Raisin, and Genmai Green Tea flavors. They are only an online business though. I also got free delivery in the San Jose area.

http://www.nicoleleefinechocolates.co...

[yowie91]

You should try Paulette! I've never tried it myself, but I heard many good stuff about that place. My friends get macarons there all the time. I will try it myself anytime soon too.

[Windy]

Paulette is now gone, replaced by Chantal Guillon, who owned the Paulette franchise.

I tried three flavors: apricot marzipan, strawberry, and espresso. I liked them in roughly that order. The texture is much improved from Paulette, I suspect as a result of being fresher.

Definitely worth a stop for those who love cookies while wandering through Hayes Valley.

http://chantalguillon.com/

[SanJoseHound]

Thanks for the tip! I should check Chowhound more often, had a little extra time in SF this Monday, darn. Can't wait to try, as I love the fruitier-flavored macarons.

[SanJoseHound]

I agree that the texture is much improved from Paulette. I also thought the flavors stood out a little more distinctly from Paulette as well.

[weshoke]

The vanilla is by far and away the best. It has the lightest crumble in its texture. The other flavors I tried were more on the chewy side. Still good, but not what I look for in a macaron.

[Kirk_T]

Reviving this old thread since we just tried Chantal Guillon for the first time. The six we tried were rose, lavender, salted caramel, pistachio, coconut lime, and rasberry-verbena. I thought the standouts were the lavender and rose. The pistachio is the only one that did not wow me. We've tried the macaroons from Miette (Ferry Building) and Bouchon Bakery recently, and thought the ones from Chantal Guillon were significantly better.

[singleguychef]

Also, Yigit Pura's widely reported-on ToutSweet opened at Macy's in Union Square. Interested to hear any reports on his macarons.

[Cynsa]

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/867954

[SanJoseHound]

I love macarons! At the last Underground Market in SF, I was able to try ones from the Occasional Macaron. I really liked them a lot. The maker is French and works at Stanford. They are available sometimes at Tootsie's but sell out fast. You can pre-order online and pick up at Tootsie's. I don't like the ones at Cocola, which I have also seen in the Costco freezer. I've heard good things about the macarons served at Satori Tea in downtown SJ but haven't had a chance to try yet. I wonder if they are made in-house or purchased from elsewhere.

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Tootsie's at the Stanford Barn
700 Welch Rd Ste 118, Palo Alto, CA

Satori Tea Company
37 N San Pedro St, San Jose, CA 95110

[Eat.Choui]

Cocola's macarons has that stale refrigerator taste. Yuck.

Thank you for the tip on the Occasional Macaron. I tried all the flavors that were available. The macarons had a good ratio of filling to cookie. I was also surprised that most were not crazy sweet. A definite plus. All tasted great, but some had a "wet" texture. I guess I'm used to the slightly chewier kind.
Chocolate - Fudgy, good chocolate flavor. Fudgy, creamy texture too, almost like underbaked brownies.
Coconut - Very sweet. Almost too sweet. Same fudgy texture like chocolate. I like the coconut bits on top.
Raspberry - I love the bright and intense flavor! Raspberry was not shy at all. The shell was crisp and shattered nicely; interior was fudgy.
Lemon - My second favorite. Again intense and tart. Shells were moist and chewy. Yum.
Pistachio - chewy, light pistachio taste.
Caramel - the best out of the bunch. The shell was crisp and gave way to a chewy, not too dense interior. Caramel was darker than the sugary kind that I'm used to and I loved it.

Again, thank you for tip on macarons by the Occasional Macaron. I am predicting heavy weight gain in the future.

[insectazoids]

Sweet on Church Street near Market sells them, but I can't vouch personally for their goodness.

[Cary]

Not sure when they opened, but my favorite macaron place in SF is:
http://www.lartisanmacaron.com/

The chef is classically trained, and uses only natural ingredients and no food coloring. Not too sweet either...I'd say 85% of the macarons being produced these days around here are too sweet for my tastes.

[Scotty100]

They look good. And he trained under the master Pierre Herme. I need to try them asap - but from his website it looks like they only do online deliveries? No stand-alone store anywhere?

[Cary]

you can buy from their shop. they share space with knights catering. give trouan a call before you head over.

[Cary]

255 Mendell St, SF, for those inclined to look buy from them in person.

[rosiella1]

I stumbled upon some interesting premium macarons at Mitsuwa japanese market. It's at the front of the market at their "High-End" bakery section. They're quite delicious but pricey! About $2.80 each!!! It's worth it though... I love the Salt flavor the most but they have Yuzu and Citron too. If you get a chance to try, let me know what you think!

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Mitsuwa
675 Saratoga Ave, San Jose, CA

Yuzu
3347 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94123

[SanJoseHound]

Thanks for this great tip! Can't wait to try. Will report back.

[elainew]

I haven't had a chance to try it myself, but Moos Cakes is a new place in Fremont and has macarons. The limited reviews on Yelp seems favorable.
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/fKZxPY...

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Moos Cakes
39947 Mission Blvd, Fremont, CA 94539

[Eat.Choui]

Wow, the macarons, and the cakes look so good. They have guava cake! Thank you for the suggestion. I'm definitely checking them out.