Greens and Beans x BAK’D (2024-06-21)

• Dave Merrill is the “anime convention friend who seems to be around Leona’s age”, although he addresses me using the hard “ch” (rather than the soft “ch” like Leona)"

One-liners:

• Greens and Beans - the best grilled cheese I’ve ever had
• BAK’D - The thicc-ass cookies I’ve always loved…now as a storefront!

I did a Sapperton swing-by last Saturday on the way to pick up another MunChi order. During that swing-by, I enjoyed my usual Greens and Beans and popped by BAK’D’s new storefront afterwards.

I’ve split this adventure into two parts. Expect the second part on MunChi (including where Amelie is now) tomorrow afternoon!

Greens and Beans

I swapped out my usual shrimp-and-avo sandwich for grilled cheese on sourdough. It uses cheddar like your traditional grilled cheese, but Leona’s was a treat (and honestly, better than what I make at home): it’s perfectly toasted on the outside and is gooey on the inside with the cheddar having a well-aged flavour.

I already sampled six of the available soups over my previous visits (borscht, Thai, vegetable, chicken noodle, chili, Cajun), so I skipped the flight for a small chili. Same meaty goodness from my previous visit but was slightly less spicier to my tastes. I can still say that it’s thankfully spicier than a Tim Hortons chili!

While unpictured, I also took home a strawberry white chocolate scone that I (unsurprisingly) ate the next day. It’s the yummy base that I’d expect from Leona’s scones, but I’d describe it as a “strawberry scone” as the strawberry overpowers the white chocolate.

Despite not posting pictures of myself here, Leona successfully mapped my face to my activity here and went, “is it [your Facebook name] pronounced Mish or Mishi?” when taking my order. I respond to either, but it’s a sweet gesture as only two people including her asked me about pronunciations. (She went with “Mishi” and thus emits the same energy as one of my anime convention friends who seems to be around her age!)

BAK’D

I’m not a BAK’D stranger as:

1. I’ve been a repeat customer since Spring 2021, the year where Jess and Andy (hereafter, “the duo”) personally delivered cookies out of their cars, before delegating delivery to a third-party.
2. We both support a postsecondary software development competition organization (nwPlus), be it the duo as sponsors or myself as a mentor/judge.

If you haven’t tried their cookies before, their cookies are thiccccc and on the chewy side. The duo describes them as hockey puck sized. Me? I describe them as the size of two regular cookies.

I already tried all eight of their permanent flavours, so I chose the dulce de leche cookie (the flavour of the month).

It’s only mentioned online, but this cookie’s exterior is churro-inspired. Each bite had a satisfying crunch with some of the titular sauce oozing into my mouth, which makes sense because the cookie comes fresh from the warmer.

Much to Jess’s surprise (because who orders cold drinks when it’s raining?), I paired the cookie with an iced matcha strawberry latte. The matcha latte itself is unsweetened and is subtly bitter, with the strawberry compote acting as a sweetener. Considering the price (~$6), I wouldn’t be surprised if the duo use a higher/ceremonial grade matcha here. I strongly recommend stirring the drink if you get it with the strawberry foam; the creaminess makes everything taste like a strawberry matcha milkshake! Otherwise, the foam itself tastes like regular whipped cream and thus doesn’t add value to the drink.

The duo (specifically Andy during my visit) proactively solicits feedback for their fare, especially the drinks as it’s their first time making and selling them. They’re off to a great start as I doubt that their recipes need improvement; both items taste great without the respective flavours overpowering each other.

I wish them more than the best with their grand opening tomorrow and beyond!

Tip: If this is your first time enjoying BAK’D cookies, I strongly recommend trying the (warmed) OG first before anything else. I understand that chocolate and walnut may be boring as a Wiener schnitzel (again, my go-to at German places but that’s another story). But think of this combination as a litmus test. If you think that the OG slaps, then you can trust that their other flavours will slap.