KitchenTown and the cafe inside doesn’t seem to get much attention here beyond @hyperbowler’s writeup nearly 2 years ago. It is, however, a worthy hybrid cafe/ bakery given it has access to products made by the various small craft food makers in the production space adjacent to the cafe.
I was originally going to get some sandwiches. Apparently no sandwiches on the weekend brunch menu- only breakfast items and a few lunch items. I opted for the wild mushroom pasta with chanterelle, yellowfoot chanterelle, brocollini, romanesco and 63’ egg. $19.
The below description of my experience with the pasta may seem like a criticism of the cafe, but its only specific to the dish. Overall, I’d enthusiastically return to get more baked goods and other food stuff.
The pasta tasted well, with a somewhat intense mushroom taste from the sauce and the chanterelles themselves. It was sized like an appetizer- My toddler would have finished the dish herself had she not started to munch on the various delicious loaves of Pain Bakery bread (sesame, whole wheat, olive) that I also bought.
So next time when I return I would probably opt for something else from the cafe or the pre-prepared food items from the counter. On that day, fresh loaves from Pain and Backhaus were available. Half loaves were ok. Other items on the counter included traditional (yum) and chocolate alfajores from Lolita’s, Bacon cheddar scones, cookies (quite buttery) from Nuri’s Kitchen, lemon bar and chocolate brownies from Sweet Sydneys (a little sweet for me). There were also many other prepared foods in jars and bags on the shelves as well as kitchen goods, including Anna’s Danish Butter cookies. No empanadas nor banana pies on the day of my visit unfortunately.
Kitchentown is located right next to 101 in a quiet residential neighborhood with a few industrial space mixed in. Any other favorite items from here? Next time I’d like to try the bread from Backhaus.
Kitchentown
1007 Howard Ave, San Mateo, CA 94401
