Pastry chef Nasir Armar’s Parachute Bakery & Cafe became an instant hit upon its September 2025 debut. Parachute Bakery is part of two Ferry Building projects from the fine dining team behind Sorrel; the other project being the restaurant Arquet, led by chef Alex Hong, in the former Slanted Door space. Armar’s laminated dough skills, apparent in many of Parachute’s offerings (not to mention his experience at two-Michelin-starred Saison and his father’s bakery in India) drove long lines and sellout days. Parachute’s Viennoisserie program includes classics like the humble butter croissant, before spinning out wildly into other shapes and flavors, like the Hello Kitty-esque raspberry, rose, and lychee bowtie, the Instagram-friendly seasonal cube
croissants, and over-the-top clam chowder-filled croissant bowls.
The flavors change throughout the year, with seasonal fruits and vegetables serving as muse, with early summer ushering in strawberries and cream croissant cubes and grilled asparagus- and ricotta-laden croissants, or Best Dish-worthy blueberry tarts. The flavors zigzag back and forth between sweet and savory, with the croissant (essentially) serving as a canvas. It’s not all laminated products, as visitors can also see Armar’s baking skills in the cookies, caneles, Basque cheesecake, and more, with a well-considered drinks menu to boot.
The vibe
Parachute, like Arquet, is swatched in similar cream colors, with well-lit shelves, and an exposed kitchen of sorts (you can’t see much of the pastry production, but visitors can clearly see the vertical ovens, where the pastries are baked). Thanks to windows on the east side of the shop, visitors to Parachute also get views into Arquet, while sunlight from the pier-side of the building comes streaming in. There are a small handful of seats to enjoy pastries and drinks, if you choose.
Peruse the merch and it’s a highly curated selection of products, including sweaters, T-shirts, and hats decorated with an illustrated, many-layered croissant; coffee; tea; bread and butter pickles; raw honey; cookbooks; greeting cards; and candles, in scents like tomato leaf, bergamot, and roasted pine. The bakery also has packaged specialty goods, such as candied pecans, granola, and “Little Bites,” caramelized croissant dough flavored with Madagascar vanilla bean and Okinawa brown sugar.
What to order
- The wagyu pastrami Reuben croissant ($12) is the ideal croissant sandwich. Rather than the typical limp croissants used for croissant sandwiches, Parachute’s are flaky and crunchy with excellent sandwich innards. The pastrami is brined and salted, with sharp mustard, Gruyere, and sauerkraut punching through the croissant layers and meat. This could be a lunch in itself.
- The strawberries and cream cube ($9) is, both visually and flavor-wise, a stunner. This goes beyond the shape, which, yes, it’s a cube, but there are tweaks that give this croissant extra oomph. The layers of red-pink add lovely visual cues for the strawberry, while the cream — chamomile and yogurt cream, a step beyond a typical vanilla, say — gives a nice tang. Then, fold in diced strawberries into the mix for a mix of tart, sweet, and crunchy.
- Parachute’s chocolate entremet ($18) is a decadent dessert that chocolate fanatics shouldn’t pass up. There’s plenty of depth to the chocolate here: the chocolate custard is rich and dense, a layer of caramel adds to the depth, and fleur de sel gives it a nice edge of salt. The chocolate shell imparts some crackly texture, and it’s easily shareable.
- I’m a big believer in restaurant-quality cookies, and on my visit the cashier suggested I pick up a cookie, too. Two flavors were offered, the chocolate chip and toffee ($8) and black sesame and yuzu ($8). I wound up with the black sesame and yuzu cookie, and I’m so glad I did. The first bite hits immediately with the deeper sesame flavor, that is quickly followed up with bright yuzu citrus. If you want something unexpected, tack this onto your order.
- The croissant ($6.50) and pain au chocolat ($7.75) are classics in every bakery, and Armar’s lamination style is close to Cedric Grolet’s. I can never turn down a croissant as a part of my sampling adventures, I like to think of it as source material for everything else, but I do have to shout out the pain au chocolat. Parachute’s version employs chocolate batons, much like at other patisseries, but the Viennoisserie envelops the chocolate, forming a churro-esque shape, ensuring chocolate in every bite. It’s an unusual look for a pain au chocolat, but one done with purpose.
The drinks
Armar had a hand in some of the drink offerings, and I was able to take a sip of the Cookies & Cream latte ($7.50), which comes with a shot of espresso and is made with crushed homemade Oreos. If it hadn’t been the afternoon, I probably would have ordered one to-go, so if you’d like some caffeination with your pastries, go earlier, as there’s an entire selection of coffee drinks to choose from. From the specialty drinks, on my next visit I’m eyeing the banana salted cream einspanner ($9.50) or the soba cha shakerato ($8) made with Indian filter kaapi and a soba cha cream cloud. There are also fresh-squeezed juices, a super greens juice, and a seasonal smoothie (which was blueberry-based for my visit).
Insider tip
The lines have mostly calmed down since Parachute’s early days, but if you want to guarantee certain items for your visit, the Parachute Bakery website has a pre-order form available. Orders should be made at least 48 hours in advance.
