Knead Bakehouse + Provisions Takeaway. Knead's beautifully baked bread and brilliant pastries cost a pretty penny. Overall, I'd give it an 8.4 / 10 as a bakery with the highlight being the bread. It could have been an 8.9 / 10, but the prices seem very high for StL. $8 for a kouign amann was over the top, but $9 for a sourdough loaf is also more expensive than $8 at other bread shops. The quality is undeniable, but the cost keeps it from being an everyday occurrence.
The atmosphere is airy, open, and modern, featuring an impressive open kitchen and a sourdough display. They have seating both indoors and out, operating on a get a number after you order system. Our food was ready in under 10 minutes on a Saturday morning. Parking in a dedicated lot.
Knead Experience Summary
We went to Knead yesterday on a bit of a whim after getting our kids' haircuts. I had heard great things on Reddit, so I wanted to try it out for myself.
Anytime someone mentions a restaurant or bakery in the same sentence as Union Loafers, my ears prick up.
Having just gotten back from a long trip, we were jet-lagged, and everyone was awake early, so we took the extra 15 minutes to stop by.
Two things caught my eye immediately
- The amazing open kitchen where you can watch them bake the bread and pastries.
- The prices
I LOVE kouign-amanns, but I balked at the $8 price tag for a pastry. My wife, however, did no such balking. We got one of those, a sourdough loaf, a black and white cookie, and a chocolate chip cookie.
All in that was $28, which is a bit nuts for St. Louis.
The service was fine; you order at the counter, and they bring the food out to you. We were the only ones in line on a Saturday morning around 9:30 AM, and the food came out in under 10 minutes. The sitting area was super nice, so we had no problem waiting, both inside and out.
We ripped apart everything but the bread right away, and it was all delicious. Nathaniel Reed has better kouign amanns, but I mean, this was still great. The cookies were dense, but flavorful.
The sourdough loaf had the tang you want with the spongy, airy middle to match, but we should have ordered the batard for more crunch.
All in an 8.9 /10 on food, but 8.4 / 10 with price considered. A great local place worth going 10 minutes out of the way for.
The Food At Knead
The food at Knead is very good, but it comes with fancy, bread-level prices.
The sourdough loaf was chewy on the inside with good air pockets and a nice, tangy sourdough taste. I really, really enjoyed it. That said, I still think Union Loafers is better, and at $8 a loaf, it's probably the best deal on bread you can get in the country.
The loaf at Knead was actually more expensive at $9 for a smaller loaf. However, I will have to conduct a side-by-side taste test to determine which one is the best. We got the loaf instead of the batard, which might rank out higher.
Knead is very good.
We also got a few cookies. The chocolate chip cookie was one of the densest cookies I've had in my life, with a slight sourdough taste that was really nice. It was a very, very good cookie. For $4, it was probably the best value, if that says something.
I was a little less high on the black and white cookie, which had a similar shortbread/sourdough base but wasn't quite as good. Still, I'm nitpicking; they're both very good cookies. This one costs $5.
Lastly, we got a kouign-amann, which is my favorite pastry. The best one in the area, and a top two or three I've had in my life, is from Nathaniel Reid.
That kouign-amann is pastry perfection, a 9.9/10. If that one's a 9.9, this one from Knead is an 8.5. It was delicious, with a crunchy outside and a buttery, sweet inside, but it didn't have the distinct day-old, combined croissant surface area for the sugary syrup to get into.
That said, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
The biggest issue, as was consistent through this retelling, is the prices. The kouign-amann was $8 for a relatively small pastry. The cookies were pushing five bucks each.
As a cheapskate, these prices were hurting me. I almost didn't get the kouign-amann because it was so expensive. At $8, a pastry has to be really, really good to be worth it.
If the kouign-amann was four bucks and the loaf was seven, this would push my overall ranking up to maybe an 8.9 kind of place as the food quality is 100% there..
Knead Atmosphere And Miscellaneous
Knead is located in a random strip mall, but inside, it has a really modern, slick feel. Everything in the decorations and layout is related to some kind of grain or wheat, and you can look directly into the kitchen and watch them make the food, which was pretty awesome.
The whole atmosphere and vibe make it probably the nicest bakery I think I've ever been to. It's very, very cool inside.
You can find plenty of seating inside or out with a complimentary water tap. They give you a number after you place your order and bring it out to you.
It's an excellent neighborhood spot, and I recommend driving about 10 minutes to visit it. It's right next to
Parking At Knead
Parking was easy in a giant, dedicated lot.
Knead Bakehouse + Provisions Receipt
