SF.'s newest pastries are a spellbinding combination of seasonality and technique
Sol Bakery, known for its standout guava tart, above, is now open in San Francisco. (Elena Kadvany/S.F. Chronicle)
The pastry case at Sol Bakery, newly open in San Francisco's Panhandle neighborhood, is a stunning expression of California seasonality, Nordic flavors and technical baking acumen, including sourdough and lamination.
Passionfruit is melded with strawberry for a jam in a Danish; slices of kumquat decorate mini polenta cakes; and sourdough focaccia gets studded with ramps and rainbow chard.
Pastry chef Marisa Williams opened Sol last week after building a loyal following for her delicate baked goods through popups and years of working in top kitchens and bakeries across San Francisco and Europe, including Tartine, the Michelin-starred Mister Jiu's and an ex-Noma chef's Copenhagen bakery. She became known for her guava tart, which the New York Times named one of the country's best desserts in 2025, but there's much more to explore at the new bakery. Williams worked as a fine-dining pastry chef and also trained in sourdough and lamination with Christian Puglisi, once a sous chef at Noma, at his Copenhagen bakery.
Here are three of the best pastries to try at Sol, located at 1696 Hayes St.
Owner Marisa Williams ran a popular popup for several years before opening her first bakery in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle)
Twice-baked croissants, most often filled with almond frangipane or trendy flavored cream, are all over San Francisco. Sol bucks the trend: Inside its impressively light twice-baked croissant ($7) is an unconventional, barely sweet flavor combination of sunflower cream and huckleberries.
Gruyère-mustard croissant from Sol Bakery in San Francisco. (Elena Kadvany/S.F. Chronicle)
If you aren't around when the focaccia comes out of the oven after 11 a.m. and want a savory treat, get the gruyère-mustard croissant ($6.50), complete with an alluring cheese skirt. In between its delicate, laminated folds is more cheese and a forceful application of mustard.
The guava tart is made with a layer of guava curd, finished with a white chocolate whipped ganache and candied lemon or orange peel. (Elena Kadvany/S.F. Chronicle)
The guava tart ($11) is Sol's calling card, a hit from its earliest popup days. It's all about the punchy guava curd, barely held together by a super-thin shell of dough and topped with a romantic crescent-moon swirl of white chocolate whipped ganache.
