This Way Please

Pastry fans, please move to the back of the restaurant.

There, at the rear of the new Local: Mission Eatery, Shauna Des Voignes sells the sublime handiwork of her company, Knead Patisserie.

Suckers for thoughtful sandwiches traffic Local's counter near the front of the restaurant-slash-community gathering space. And there's much else to love about Local, like its regular special dinners and cookbook lending library.

Still, no one with a penchant for sweets should bypass Knead. The tender madeleines ($1.25) and miniature pound cakes ($5 whole; $2 for 3 slices) howl with Meyer lemon's floral-tart edge. Pommes d'amore ($2.50), blending puff pastry with rum caramel and caramelized custard, are akin to a turnover after a head-on collision with a crème brûlée.

Des Voignes has a spectacular way with pâte à choux, the workhorse base of her excellent éclairs ($3.50). She stuffs them with malted chocolate cream and coats them with a jagged swath of chocolate caramel. Pair one with a cup ($2) of Knead's house coffee from Four Barrel for a sophisticated afternoon pick-me-up.

Insider's tip: Before Local opens at 11 a.m., Des Voignes hosts a makeshift bake sale Tues. through Fri. from 8 to 10:30 a.m. at the restaurant's entrance. It's about as charming as a six-year-old's lemonade stand--but with a more delicious sugar rush.

Knead Patisserie, 3111 24th St. (at Folsom St.); 415-655-3422 or localmissioneatery.com