Forty Three Bakery — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

• IN RESPONSE TO THE OWNER* The owner stated several falsities in their reply that deserve clarification since I cannot reply to the owners reply. They stated: “On this specific day, you were informed by our staff when you placed your order that it would take a few extra minutes as we were taking care of a large birthday party in our private dining room at that time. Additionally, our professional service staff offered you a free pastry to enjoy while you waited but you politely declined.” I was not informed of a large birthday party as a reason for lagging service time as you’re suggesting was said, nor would that have been an appropriate excuse. I was told it would be 15 minutes as I stated in the original text of my review. There was no additional pastry offered while I waited. So while it’s nice to say, that is also untrue. Furthermore, it’s shocking that you were aware of a large party coming in and didn’t adequately staff your kitchen to ensure timeliness. How cruel for your chef and the rest of your guests who also waited an excessive amount of time for their orders. I’m changing what I thought was a fair 3 star review to a 1, and my 5 for atmosphere to a 2 because of the guised hostility in your response. Your intentionally deceitful reply has maneuvered a bad experience into an awful one. I’ll reiterate as I stated above; a quick touch point with me on timing, after it was clearly dragging, would have soothed frustrations. Adding a complementary pastry for the extended wait time would have been a masterstroke if that would’ve actually been offered. All of your falderal aside, I did enjoy my meal and would still recommend Forty Three on the merit of food quality alone. I hope people reading this review will be able judge our dialogue dispassionately and proceeded with caution. Accountability in your response would have been so much more attractive than attempting to paint a false narrative. I will never tolerate my words being placed in disparity. Hence my rabelaisian response.

ORIGINAL: I should start by saying the food is fantastic. It’s beautiful and delicious and worth visiting for. The coffee is good and the bakery items are all worth trying. This was my first visit and sadly the service was bad. The guy at the counter wasn’t friendly or engaging, but did set the expectation that the food would be approximately 15 min. The coffee took 15 min. The food took 34 minuets for salmon on toasted bread. I said something about the time when the food came and they apologized. I should preface that it wasn’t busy. I noticed several times there were people standing behind the counter engaged in idol chatter, so when I was told that there was only one person in the kitchen as the reason my simple order took so long, it felt to me the obvious answer was to get someone else back there to speed up the process instead of dropkicking the responsibility. Everyone in this establishment has a food handlers permit. There’s no reason there should be one person in the kitchen. A caveat, just a simple touch point with me letting me know it’ll be just a bit longer would have easily soothed my building frustration as the minutes rolled on. I’m going to give Forty Three a revisit and I’m willing to make a revision of my review based on a second try. Hopefully today was just a fluke. In today’s world, you have to be the whole package. This isn’t El Bulli, or Blue Hill Stone Barns, this is basic, wholesome food, so figure out the “friendly”. It is a must in the service industry and is always something I look at while rating a restaurant. Also, plastic containers aren’t a good look for to-go products. Consider something more earth friendly. There a so many attractive eco options for food...

SLC's ComCom kitchen is Streusel's home. This is a cool spot where local businesses both prepare, and potentially offer a storefront for their wares. Parking is so-so, with a small lot, and you very well may have to find a spot along the street. As far as seating goes, I spied a skinny wooden bench inside near the front windows (though at this time with the pandemic it is probably not best utilized for eating), as well as a bistro table out front.

Streusel's hours are 7-2, Wednesday through Sunday, and when stopping by on a Saturday around one, I figured the remaining options would be pretty limited. Happily, they defied my expectations with an almost entirely full case! They specialize in all manner of danishes and flaky pastries, both sweet and savory, along with cookies, and have recently branched out to offer a couple varieties of truly stunning cakes. They also had a display to the right with merch, coffee, and discounted day-old goodies.

I had heard their Spinach Artichoke Brioche was a must-order, so I nabbed one of those, along with a tiramisu cake. The Honey Grapefruit Danish, Vanilla Bean Glazed Danish, and all the chubby cookies caught my eye too, but I determined to behave, and left with only those two first mentioned goodies.

The two employees who assisted us were very friendly and fun. I think the pastries are all $5 each, and the cake was $18. Oh, and Streusel is big on activism! I so admire a business that is utilizing their platform to share causes they are passionate about. Support these businesses that are taking the opportunity to do some good in the world!

At home, I heated my danish in a 350-degree oven for about 5 minutes, and it was perfect. I am sure they are still great at room temperature, but you cannot beat a warm pastry (they offered to warm it at the shop, too!). The cake was lovely! It has a marble sort of pattern on the exterior, and the frosting is really more of a mousse consistency. The coffee flavor was strong, but not overwhelming, and no components were over-sweet. The slices of this towering cake are adorable, too, and the frosting/filling to cake ratio is just how I like it (less cake). One thing to note, the mousse consistency means it doesn't hold up as well to heat, so plan to take this baby straight home. Ours got a smidge melty with just a twenty or so minute drive, and it wasn't a particularly hot day.

Overall, Streusel is killin' the baked goods game with perfectly flaky pastries, natural flavors and ingredients, and gorgeous presentation. I do have a bone to pick, though. There is no way to get ahold of them! They do not have a phone number. I normally would not expect a response from a business on Instagram, but due to the lack of a telephone, I have sent inquiries both as comments on a post as well as a DM and while they are incredibly active on IG, I got nothin' back. I understand that they are a small business, but that's a bit of a bummer when you just have a quick question. The day that I picked up that tiramisu cake, I was actually seeking the chocolate variety, but with no way to check, just had to drive there and hope. I will mention they have a "contact us" form on their website, which I imagine is utilized for pre-orders and the like, but I just really want a way to call ahead and see what is currently available. Other than that, Streusel is baking up some excellent, well prepared, inventive, and most importantly, tasty treats. Absolutely worth...

I will preface by saying I love this bakery and have been visiting since it first opened. The food is fantastic and of a quality you can't find anywhere else in salt lake. The critiques I have are only given because I want to see this bakery thrive and continue to be part of the Poplar Grove community.

I know that they are making strides to urge customers to order from their menu for brunch, lunch, and dinner. From a business perspective I understand this. However, its confusing to market yourself as a coffee shop and bakery and then upon walking in, force customers wanting a pastry and coffee (not paying for meals off of the menu) to squeeze into a tiny, overcrowded "lounge area." The rest of the building was blocked off for customers paying for brunch when we got there, but there were only two customers in that entire area. Meanwhile I had my family with me including my infant daughter and we had hardly anywhere to sit and eat our pastries and coffee. No high chair offered or available. It was extremely awkward. Outside seating was completely in the sun. It felt as if we were treated as lesser customers because we weren't paying for table service and spending more money.

Forty three is absolutely worth a visit. And I have ordered brunch and lunch from their menu many times and been impressed. But this new system is a bit off putting and confusing. At the very least I think offering umbrellas for outside seating would be great. Or leaving the full dining room open to all customers in the morning but closing off to strictly brunch/lunch customers from 11-2? These are just my thoughts, again as someone who wants to see this business continue to succeed. Don't let this deter you from visiting, but be aware that they now want you to sit in a lounge area if you are only ordering pastries/drinks from...