Temple Pastries

This is a love letter to Temple Pastries, undoubtedly one of the very best bakeries in the entire US. It easily competes with the top NYC spots in a very special way. Bakeries are usually known for one or two things that they do better than competitors. At Temple, it wasn’t just one or two things. Everything I’ve tried was as good as the best version of that item in NYC. The laminated pastries were as good as Radio’s, the kouign amann was much better than Dominique Ansel’s, the choux was as good as Supermoon’s, the donut was as good as Peter Pan’s, the canele was as good as Machine Shop’s (OK, that one is Philly), the cake was better than Hani’s, and so on. I’ve only encountered one other bakery (Cafe Dear Leon) that operates at this level. The flavors and textures were so precise, they’d be at home in fancy Michelin tasting menus. People living near this spot are SO lucky. The kouign amann was so crispy, flaky, and puffy, with veins of the butter-sugar mixture flowing between the layers akin to gooey pecan pie filling. The shallot gruyere danish used a similar laminated pastry, here accented with a shallot jam that made my eyes pop wide open with the intensely deep and sweet caramelized onion flavor, balanced with a touch of vinegar that made the shallots come so alive. The nutty-toasty kinako shortbread snapped and crumbled in such a delicate way, just a platonic ideal of a shortbread. The canele was burnt (just right) and crunchy outside, the thick hard shell giving way to a soft custardy center. The makrut lime leaf donut had the craggy crust of a great sour cream donut, and the dough was made less sweet so it evened out the glaze, though this one had too much lime leaf I think. The ‘nduja donut was like curry bread, mostly soft with a squishy sausage filling, with breadcrumbs for texture. The PB&J choux… there’s a huge difference between a mom-and-pop, rustic style of choux vs a professional one made with the best techniques, like what’s found at Supermoon. The rustic kind doesn’t scratch my itch, yet it’s so hard to find the properly fancy one. This scratched the itch. Crispy crackly outside from both the choux and the craquelin, with a thick firm filling that probably uses more butter than I’d want to know, brightened up with an acidic jam component. I bought the Royal Hawaiian cake slice thinking I’d sample a bite and then discard the rest, just to get a sense of how Temple approaches cake. I don’t like cake. Yet, I couldn’t stop eating this slice of cake. I finished the whole thing. The macadamia was likely roasted to bring out its inherent flavor, with a good pinch of salt and nutty brown butter to further amplify it, making the cake taste more like macadamia than plain nuts out of the bag. The cake was moist, of course. The buttercream felt dense and brittle, nothing like the spreadable ones, yet melted so cleanly it didn’t feel greasy at all. I usually discard buttercream on cake because I hate the way it coats my mouth, but here I ate all of it. Best cake I’ve ever had. Some vacations, I come across a restaurant so impressive I made a return visit rather than try a new spot. In Seattle, it was Temple. I wish I could’ve returned a third time to try everything else on the menu, but alas time (and stomach space) is limited. Tourists, make sure to put Temple Pastries on your itinerary.

Temple pastries is definitely worth a five star! This place is the best bakery we’ve been to so far in Seattle. They are incredible. If you go prepared to wait as there is a long line. Although it moves along pretty steady. The place is nice and clean, although there’s limited seating. As she walked through the store they have March for sale, like T-shirts, wine and of course a baking book. We ordered some coffees, which were tasty, but it’s the pastries really won us over. The pistachio schnecken was delicious, but the cinnamon walnut bostock was the favorite. There are so many options, will have to go back to try more. I wouldn’t do this place justice without saying their breakfast sandwiches were amazing too. The only downside is the long lines and the lack of parking, but if you can get past that, it’s totally worth the experience. Overall, I highly recommend.

So it’s been a minute since I’ve been to temple and wouldn’t you know it, it’s like their baker Christina Wood was a James Beard semi finalist 🤷🏻‍♀️ huh who knew. Well based on the line that was outside the door, quite a few people! This place is a cute little corner shop that has room for seating both inside, outside and upstairs. You can also pre order a bunch of items, just make sure you do so 3 days in advance. Everything we had here was insane, I think out favorite was the mushroom quiche, the cinnamon cream cheese Cruffin and the Miso Caramel Shortbed that was the fanciest Stroopwafel EVER! lol try it you’ll understand EVERYTHING WAS 5/5 Tiramisu Chocolate buckwheat shortbread Miso Caramel & Kinako Shortbread Mushroom Quiche Rye Pain Au Chocolate Cinnamon Cream Cheese Cruffin Grapefruit and hazelnut croissant Chocolate chip cookie

They consistently change the menu and make me excited every time! Their pastries are creative and artistic and drinks are yummy. Ppl do work, chat, and take a break here.

We visited for the first time and can’t wait to go back. The pastries are not only beautiful but some of the best we’ve had in Seattle. We came around 9:30AM on a Saturday, the line was almost to the door but it moved quickly and we had more options than we could decide on. The breakfast sandwiches on English muffins came quickly and were a big hit with my kids. We found seats quickly and the coffee was great. Family friendly.