In general, I’ve been disappointed by most of the bakery I’ve eaten in Portland. It just seems like a lot of the bakeries around here take a lot of shortcuts with their products. However, in the interests of research, I’m always up for trying out a new bakery. I’d heard good things about Criollo (4727 N.E. Fremont St) and the other day one of my friends and I went to try it out.
And it was sooo worth the drive. I had a passionfruit pie (really more of a tart) filled with the most amazing passionfruit curd and covered with whipped cream. I’m not a big passionfruit fan in general, but this little pie changed my view of the fruit completely.
My friend had a slice of carrot cake that she assured me was really tasty as well.
I can’t wait to go back.
Glad you liked Criollo. The owner is very nice. She has a blog thread over on eGullet’s pastry forum (though I boycott posting over there because I don’t like their management). It goes through all the troubles she had opening the place. In my photo albums on extramsg.com I have pictures of both Criollo and Pix. Note that there’s now Bar Pastiche, too, where you can get smaller versions of Pix’s desserts (connected to Pastaworks on Hawthorne). I have pictures of Ken’s Artisan Bakery, too. Have you been to St. Honore? (Pictures of that, too.)
btw, you mentioned food trips. You might want to check out portlandfood.org. We meet at least once a month to go out and eat.