Rustic Bread Rising at Mayfield Bakery

PALO ALTO
After my lunch with Food Gal last weekend at Calafia Café, I visited the also new Mayfield Bakery.

The bakery is attached to the Mayfield Bakery and Café at the Town & Country Village shopping mall. The restaurant actually seems busier than Calafia, and also a bit pricier. But next door in the tiny bakery, you can purchase sandwiches to go, pastries, desserts, hand-made candy and loaves of rustic bread.

Mayfield is the latest operation from the Bacchus Management Group (Spruce, Woodside Pub and Pizza Antica) and the bakery is overseen by pastry chef Nancy Pitta, formerly of Boulevard in San Francisco.

I definitely got myself a loaf of the ciabatta bread, which Food Gal highly recommended. It was really airy and light with a nice crust, and I ate it over several days making a grilled chicken sandwich with spinach and Caesar dressing. It was delicious with the ciabatta, which I lightly grilled.

The display case had a lot of tempting desserts, but I was concerned about keeping anything I got refrigerated as I traveled back by Caltrains to the East Bay. But Food Gal was a bad influence (or, I guess, a good influence depending on how you look at it) and convinced me to buy something to eat on the train ride home. So I got the lemon drop because I was just mesmerized by how it looked so perfectly round, seeming to give off a yellow glow under the counter’s fluorescent lights.

I thought it was smart how they placed the lemon drop (shaped like a char siu bau!) on a little disposable tray with a tiny handle so you could lift it without touching it. Inside, the lemon drop was a light cake with a custard filling. While the cake was light and fluffy, it didn’t have a strong lemony flavor—and I love my lemony flavor. So I have to say that it was subtle in flavor and not very bold for a lemon drop.

Mayfield Bakery seems like a fun place to shop for fancy bread and those special treats. Looks like another nice option for the foodies on the Peninsula, helping them save gas by not having to drive into San Francisco.

Mayfield Bakery, Town & Country Village, 855 El Camino Road, Palo Alto. PH: 650.853.9201. www.mayfieldbakery.com

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