Quail & Condor — Restaurant in Healdsburg

At Quail & Condor, consistency is king. While only a few of the baked goods we tried were truly noteworthy, the rest of the fare was good — meeting the standard one should expect from any number of scratch-made bakeries.

The lox and toast was surprisingly delicious for such a simple classic, and a wonderful option to balance the sweet flavors of the majority of offerings at the bakery.

The cinnamon roll was a decadent and luxurious treat. The scone — served almost in the style of a sandwich with layers of mascarpone and raspberry jam — was a delight and my personal favorite.

The chocolate croissant was generous with the chocolate and had a nice flake. The ham and cheese croissant was fine, and could be improved with a schmear of Dijon mustard. The financier was moist and had a nice chew. All go into the “good, not great” column.

The kouign-amann, usually one of my favorite pastries, was a dud and lacked the chewy caramelization and buttery sweetness one usually expects from this specific pastry.

Overall, Quail & Condor consistently churns out fine baked goods, with a few that shine brighter than the rest.

Pro tip: Order online ahead of time for pickup and skip...

I went this morning around 9:30am to get a chocolate croissant. As a top-notch bakery, I expect a fresh baked croissant. This was not it. Typically, I would expect the croissant to be warm, or room temperature at minimum. But in this case, the croissant was COLD (fridge temperature). The chocolate inside was almost frozen and you could see the complete chocolate bar inside was literally intact and had not been mildly melted.

I'm posting this because this bakery gets a lot of hype, but this is the fourth time that this has happened in the past few months here. Not only that, but I asked for the croissant to be reheated and they said the only oven was in use and was dismissed pretty quickly by the only person working there.

I think you guys should step up your game if you truly want to be recognized as a respected bakery. If you're going to sell cold and not tasty pastries, that's fine, but whoever is looking for a legit bakery, I wouldn't recommend it.

Edit: I appreciate the response from the owner, and this critique does not mean I will stop going, it's just a suggestion to improve the experience for the customer!...

When my wife found she was allergic to an emulsifier that is found in almost all baking flours (Propylene Glycol), it devastated her ability to enjoy most "claim-to-be" quality cake and pastry shops throughout our many Sonoma County bakeries. I almost cried when I found Quail & Condor to use nothing but natural wheat flour without chemical additives for longevity. This was the first Scrumptious Birthday Cake I was able to find for her in years that would not cause a food contact allergy reaction. The delicate moist chocolate layered cake with a chocolate ganache filling and chocolate cream cheese frosting was an amazing explosion of glee for my Love and we will be forever grateful to this Local Gem of a Bakery.

This business deserves your patronage with their years of Natural Ingredient Baking of Diverse World-Renowned Goodies. The Staff is super friendly and knowledgeable about their delicacies and gives a warm invite to all to enjoy the love they all put into the business and their community.

FYI: The Cinnamon Rolls are "to...