What would a Christmas meal be without a bûche de Noël? Fruity or chocolatey, traditional or original, it’s the essential French dessert of the holiday season. Here is our selection of pastry shops where you can find an excellent bûche in the Bay Area.
Mademoiselle Colette, in Palo Alto, Redwood City, and Menlo Park
To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Mademoiselle Colette decided to delight all food lovers with five different bûches. The award for originality goes to the Signature bûche, created especially to mark this first decade: smoked vanilla, almond praliné, and blackberry are the flavors revealed under a breathtaking floral decoration. If you like mango and passion fruit, the Exotique should please your taste buds. Raspberry and coconut pair wonderfully in the Raspberry-Coco bûche, while the decadence of the Chocolate version will make cocoa lovers melt. Surprising and refreshing, the Guava—made with guava, shortbread, and cheesecake—adds a fruity touch to finish a holiday meal beautifully. Expect to pay $95 for a dessert that serves 8 people, except for the Signature at $150, which serves 6.
Mademoiselle Colette, 816 Santa Cruz, Menlo Park; 499 Lytton Avenue, Palo Alto; 2401 Broadway, Redwood City
Maison Benoit in Danville
This bakery-pastry shop owned by Benoit Vialle, who won the Bay Area’s 2025 Best Croissant competition, is offering three bûches this year in the purest Christmas tradition: a Chocolate bûche (soft chocolate cake, crispy chocolate crunch, chocolate cremeux, and light chocolate mousse), a Hazelnut bûche (tender cake, crunchy praliné, hazelnut cremeux, and airy hazelnut mousse), and a Vanilla-Apple bûche (gluten-free Breton sablé, caramel cremeux, apple-vanilla marmalade, all topped with vanilla mousse). The desserts are available in several sizes, from those that serve 4 people ($44) to 10 people ($120).
Maison Benoit, 402 Railroad Avenue, Danville, CA
Sarmentine, in Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, and Petaluma
Three bûche de Noël flavors are on the menu at Sarmentine this year: Black Forest (chocolate sponge cake, chocolate mousse, Kirsch-soaked cherries), Mont Blanc (mascarpone mousse, blackberry jelly, chestnut cream on a meringue base), and Raspberry Passion (ladyfinger biscuits, raspberry mousse, and passion fruit cream). The bûches imagined by Alexandra Zandvliet come in two sizes, with 6–8 servings for $66 and 10–12 servings for $94. Note: pre-orders end Thursday, December 18, so don’t wait.
Sarmentine has 3 locations: 52 Mission Circle, Suite #112 Santa Rosa; 840 Petaluma Blvd North, Petaluma; 6760 McKinley Street, Suite #150 Sebastopol
Maison Alyzée, in Mountain View and Burlingame
Choosing will be very difficult—but really, why choose? This Castro Street pastry shop in Mountain View, which opened a second location in Burlingame in 2022, is offering three bûches this year: Chocolate (cocoa cake, hazelnut praliné, cremeux, and 63% dark chocolate mousse), Exotic (mango-passion fruit cream and confit, caramelized pineapple, white chocolate and vanilla mousse), or Berries (raspberry cream, blackberry-raspberry confit, white chocolate and raspberry mousse). They are available from Thursday, December 4 through Wednesday, the 31st, which is convenient if you want to try one for Christmas and another for New Year’s. Expect to pay $65 for 4–6 people and up to $145 for 12–14 people.
Maison Alyzée has 2 locations: 212 Castro St., Mountain View and 1208 Burlingame Ave, Burlingame
Thorough Bread and Pastry, in San Francisco
This bakery-pastry shop, founded by Michel Suas and taken over by his daughter Julie Marie, will offer two bûches this year: the Vanilla Berry (vanilla mousse, red fruit compote, sponge cake, and shortbread base) and the Chocolate (dark chocolate mousse with hazelnut pieces, chocolate sponge cake, and shortbread base). They are available for pre-order from Monday, December 8 to Sunday, December 21. Bûches must be picked up in person on December 24 only. Expect to pay $56 for a dessert that serves 6 people.
Thorough Bread and Pastry, 248 Church St, San Francisco
b. patisserie, in San Francisco
This California Street pastry shop has created three bûches with irresistible flavors: the Raspberry Pistachio (pistachio and mascarpone ganache, pistachio joconde cake, pistachio cream and shortbread, coulis, and fresh raspberries), the Chocolate Tiramisu (chocolate crème brûlée, vanilla mascarpone, sponge cake, coffee ganache, and Breton shortbread), and the Chestnut Pear Cassis (vanilla mascarpone cream, cassis ganache and sponge cake, pear compote, chestnut crème brûlée, and Breton shortbread). They are available for pickup only on Tuesday, December 24. Expect to pay $75 per bûche, which will serve 10–12 people.
b. patisserie, 2821 California Street, San Francisco
Maison Nico, in San Francisco
Chef Nicolas Delaroque is offering an extra-gourmet bûche de Noël this year to pair perfectly with his hams, pâtés, and pithiviers: the base is a vanilla cake covered with chocolate Bavarian cream, passion fruit mousse, and pistachio praliné, all coated with a thin layer of white chocolate. Pre-orders are already open, and you can pick up your bûche on Tuesday the 23rd or Wednesday the 24th of December! Expect to pay $92 for a dessert that serves 10–12 people.
Maison Nico, 710 Montgomery Street San Francisco
One65, in San Francisco
Claude Le Tohic, the Michelin-starred chef of restaurant O’, is once again offering three bûche flavors this year: Chocolate (chocolate and caramel mousse, vanilla cream, Jivara cake, hazelnut and almond praliné), Chestnut (choux pastry, whipped vanilla and chestnut ganache, chestnut confit, and a hint of whiskey), and Vanilla Coffee (coffee cream and crispy layer, cake and vanilla mousse). The Chocolate and Chestnut bûches are available in two sizes, for 4–6 people ($65) or 8–10 people ($95), while the Vanilla Coffee is only available in large format at $85. They can be picked up in store or delivered only on Tuesday, December 23 and Wednesday, December 24.
One65, 165 O’Farrell St, San Francisco – (415) 814-8888
Arizmendi, in San Francisco
Don’t change a winning recipe! Once again this year, this Inner Sunset cooperative is offering a chocolate roll filled with rum pastry cream and fudge icing, decorated with fresh cranberries and mushroom-shaped meringues. Available only on December 20, 23, and 24 at the price of $48, for a dessert that serves 8 to 10 people. Pre-orders are already open and end on December 22.
Arizmendi, 1331 9th Avenue, San Francisco
Miette, in San Francisco, Oakland, and Larkspur
This pastry shop, which recently moved from Hayes Valley to Fillmore and is known for its display case and shelves filled with candies, is betting on a safe choice: the classic chocolate bûche, with handmade decorations delivered separately to be added at the last moment just before serving. (Holly leaves, dark chocolate pinecones, meringue mushrooms, and a sprinkle of snow…) This bûche will also be available in the other Miette locations in the Bay Area. Expect to pay $55 for 4–6 people and $105 for 10–12 people.
Miette has 5 locations: 2252 Fillmore St, San Francisco; One Ferry Building, Shop 10, San Francisco; 2220 Mountain Blvd, Oakland; 2009 Larkspur Landing Circle, Larkspur; 6000 Bollinger Canyon Road, Suite 1108, San Ramon
This article was originally published in French on French Morning. It has been translated into English by Valentine Marchou.
