Nora's Patisserie: Presidential-Worthy Cookies in The City of Repose

By Tamara Palmer Tue., May 15 2012 at 9:00 AM

Categories: Cook E. Monster, Palmer

Tamara Palmer

Various tea cookies from Nora's Patisserie.

One might not expect to find pastries from a chef trained by a former White House toque in a City of Repose, but that's part of what makes the Bay Area food scene always surprising.

Nora's Patisserie (29 San Pedro Road), located on a non-descript stretch in Colma, is a hidden treasure for appreciators of pastries in general -- and tea cookies in particular. Seriously, if you want to die in tea cookie heaven, this is the place.

Though not always all available at the same time, there is a repertoire of at least 18 kinds of tea cookie, including pistachio sandies so good that you should just grab as many of as you can afford, Mexican wedding cookies that'll have you looking as powdery as a Lohan in no time flat, lemon Scottish shortbread fingers to make you feel dainty, and soft ginger-molasses for that pure burning buzz.

Proprietor Nora Tong earned her culinary degree at L'Academie de Cuisine under the tutelage of Roland Mesnier, who made sweet treats for Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, both George Bushes, and Bill Clinton, and has herself taught courses at California Culinary Academy and Tante Marie's Cooking School.

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