It takes a lot for me to wake up early in the morning on a Sunday to be at a certain place. Yet, here I am, standing in line at 9:30am. Yes, 9:30am is early for me for a weekend.
Pictured: A very good boi
I recently came across a story or post from Instagram about Relic Bageri, which is an arrtisan bakery in the Miramar area (within a business complex). They specialize in French pastries, bread, deserts and savory bites. They don't have a full time store front. They mainly do pop-ups during the week at different coffee shops (Rikka Fika and Mnemonic Coffee), pre-order pickups on Saturday, and pop-up at their location in Miramar from 9:30am - 12:30pm on Sundays. My curiosity was piqued so I figured I pay a visit on a Sunday. I got there about 9:25am and there was a pretty good line. It seems they have a pretty good following already, and I didn't know they existed until now (per thir Instagram, it looks like they've been around since 2018). Their menu seems to change monthly and includes a wide variety of items, both sweet and savory. Lot of exotic flavors. Cardomom, Korocha Squash, chili crsip, you name it.
Once inside, it's pretty cramped as there is just a counter with glass and display cases for customers to pick out the items they want. The staff is very efficient, cheerful and patient. They seem very grateful for the attention and business they've been getting. The assortment is very vast, but they keep everything replenished and are very efficient.
Relic Bageri is one of those places where you just tell them that you need a box (or maybe two) and point to what you want and hope your wallet agrees with you at the end. It is easy to get carried away at this place. I saw people walking out with 2 or 3 boxes and bags of bread. Per their Instagram page, they sold out in 1.5 hours.
How did I do?
Artisan is an understatement. Each pastry, bread, dessert is a piece of art, so good you don't want to eat it, but just stare at it. The level of quality is astounding and I wouldn't be surprised if the staff were train and worked in France for a long time. I've been to France, although a long time ago and this is at the same level.
Since I had a very light breakfast, I decided to start on the savory pastries.
This first pastry is the Panisse/Romesco/Manchego. I had to look this up since I was not familiar with these ingredients. It startes with a croissant base. It has a layer of Romesco sauce, which is a tomato-based sauce with nuts. Panisse is chickpea fries (which I believe the square in the middle is). It is sprinkled with Machego shavings, which is a goats-milk cheese. It is somewhat like a pizza. The croissant base was flakey and buttery while the tomato sauce had a nice tang and flavor to it. The panisse and cheese were pretty tasty. A very nice combination.
Next up was the Butter Croissant. This is one of the best croissants I've had. the outside seemed lacquered and was pretty crispy. The inside was airy, fluffy, flakey and buttery. I wish I purchased more as they would have made great sandwiches (although the French probably wouldn't like these made into sandwiches).
Next up was Meyer Lemon Tart. It is one of the refrigerated items so I wanted to consume it pretty quick. It had a nice crust and the lemon was just the right tartness. The cream topping was nice. The candied nuts were a nice touch.
To end the day, I tried the Gingerbread Cake. This was fantastic. The cake was moist with prominent ginger flavor. There is some type of spread under ginger frosting. It is then topped with candied pumpkin seed and the sweet crunch gives a nice contrast to the moistness of the cake. Excellent, but too big for one sitting 😂.
Hopefully they will have a dedicated store front, and their Instagram recently said that they might be able to open one this year. With their dedication to quality and their uniqueness in ingredients and flavors, they will defintiely make their mark in San Diego.
Relic Bageri
8585 Commerce Ave.
San Diego, CA 92121
Sun: 9:30a - 12:30p
Most Saturdays: Pickup orders 10am - 1pm
Pop-ups: Thursday at Rikka Fika and Friday at Mnemonic Coffee
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