Friday, March 5, 2010

A San Francisco Favorite : Bomboloni at Boriana

Some foodies are concerned about the changes to the bomboloni at the Ferry Building. Chowhounds and others in the know are submitting reports of changes in texture and taste for the dough as well as the filling. There have also been reports of getting stale ones.




7x7 reports that Absinthe's pastry chef Luis Villavelazquez has been making Boriana's bomboloni for a while now but he will be opening his own sweets & bomboloni stand at the Ferry Bldg on Thursdays, so will he still be providing Boriana's bomboloni? I don't know.

I haven't been thrilled with chef Luis in the past, specifically his insane desserts at Orson that he wanted to "challenge" his diners with (his own word). For example, he had a dessert I personally thought tasted like smoked creamed turkey (containing tapioca balls and smoked tea leaves) and a lackluster cornbread with bacon and blueberries. But he has moved on to a more refined restaurant so I'm willing to keep my mind open to his future creations. He is supposed to have a maple-bacon bomboloni at his new stand, which sounds like it's worth trying.


But who used to make the precious bomboloni we are now so wistful over? Someone on the Chowhound board believes Boriana got her bomboloni from a chef at the Four Seasons Restaurant/Hotel in East Palo Alto and that this same chef now makes the bomboloni for Caffe Del Doge in Palo Alto.

Do you have any insider information to share about this?

2 comments:

  1. Boriana also started making "baby" bombolonis that they sell for around $2 I think. So not as big of a commitment if you want to try the texture. But even when I tried the small one (custard filled), the dough seemed denser and not as fluffy as the ones they did so well a couple of years ago. Still not the same, I feel. (Hey, if you get any insider info on who made those great bombolonis, please send me an alert! ;-)

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  2. Great point, Ben. The full size ones are awfully expensive, even if one did adore them. I'll let you know if I find out more info.

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