Who will beat out Juniper, which won three prizes at the Best Croissant 2024 competition? The question on the lips of all 350 participants of this year’s Best Croissant competition, who rushed on Sunday, June 1 to Clift Sonasta Hotel in San Francisco. This competition, organized by French Morning, Frenchly, and FAHGA, sold out quickly, with over a thousand people subscribed to the waiting list.
Since 2018, croissant lovers have come together without fail to choose the viennoiserie that will win over their refined palates. This year, once again, it was a difficult decision, as all 10 of the finalists competed with savoir-faire and creativity. Alongside traditional croissants, attendees could savor everything treats like a chocolate butterscotch danish, churro croissant with dulce de leche, banh-mi inspired Vietnamese viennoiseries, pain Suisse, and a pineapple-mango flower.
Atticus Becker, whose baseball cap was proudly adorned with a croissant, mingled with his parents among the 350 participants at the 2025 competition. “My favorite is the churro croissant! My mother heard about the competition during a visit to Juniper, and offered me a ticket for this year’s event.”
This is also the first time attending for Anne de Boussineau, who came all the way from Sunnyvale with her friend Anna Renauld to discover some new bakeries. “We know The Midwife and the Baker well, since they’re located in Mountain View, and they’re still our favorite.” Her friend added, “The banh mi viennoiserie from Eats Bay Bakery is very original. It must be really difficult for the judges to choose.”
At the judges’ table, the jury got down to business tasting the 20 viennoiseries, including 10 traditional croissants and 10 original creations, which were judged on the criteria of appearance, aroma, structure, and flavor. “It needs a crispy exterior, and a tender, honeycombed interior,” explained Jean-François Houdré, the pastry chef at Westin Saint Francis.
The Midwife and the Baker, chouchou du public
The moment to announce the winners arrived, and the crowd awaited the results with the same impatience as the finalists. The Midwife and the Baker took home the People’s Choice Award, a distinction that they also won in 2018 (the bakery was also award second place for the Grand Prix in 2023). “I am very proud of the products that we have presented today: we utilize pre-fermentation techniques that give depth to the flavor of our croissants,” said Mac McConnell, the bakery’s founder.
The prize for Best Original Creation went to Le Carousel Patisserie, a newcomer to the San Franciscan culinary scene. Its founder, Jérémie Mullet, cut his teeth at Mademoiselle Colette, then Le Marais Bakery, which brought home the Grand Prix for Best Croissant in 2023. “We wanted to offer a viennoiserie that was both classic and original: I started to work on this recipe two weeks ago in order to bring this spring flower flavored with mango and rum-flambéed pineapple to life,” the pastry chef explained. As Le Carousel doesn’t yet have a storefront open to the public, you can find their creations at different pop-ups, as well as at Sea Level on Sunset, or order their pastries in advance and pick them up directly from the lab.
The Grand Prize was awarded to another newcomer, Maison Benoit. After 10 years spent at Microsoft in France, then six in the wine industry in the Bay Area, Benoît Vialle launched his own bakery/pastry shop and opened Maison Benoit in Danville in 2024. He enlisted the talents of Lucile Espeillac, former pastry chef at La Tour d’Argent, who never expected to win an award: “Why should I deserve to do better than the other competitors? We’ve worked so hard since we opened that this prize is really a great reward.” Benoît Vialle doesn’t hide his joy: “I’m very proud of Lucile, and I’m glad I left everything to join the joyful world of baking. We make people happy with simple things, and at $3.75 a croissant, we hope they’ll make it a daily habit…”
Palmarès Best Croissant 2025 :
People’s Choice Award
The Midwife and the Baker
Best Original Creation
Le Carousel
Grand Prix
1st place: Maison Benoit
2nd place: Backhaus
3rd place: Maison Nico
This event was sponsored by Paris Gourmet, importer of French Products to the U.S., and their butter brand Beurremont.
A French Morning event, co-organized with L’Apéro by FAHGA
This article originally appeared in French on French Morning. It has been translated by Catherine Rickman.
