Come for the cookies; stay for the nostalgia.
A Sweet Affair Bakery has served fresh baked goods and sandwiches to the East Bay since 1984. With piles of sugar sacks and antique diner memorabilia covering the walls, the bakery is something of a time capsule.
The East Bay beyond the Berkeley hills doesn’t get a ton of love for its culture or food, but this enclave is worth the trip.
Come for the cookies; stay for the cinnamon loaves.
Stay for the chocolate-drizzled macaroons.
Stay for the roasted-turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce, the chicken salads with crumbled walnuts, the fresh sprouts and bread––which, by the way, is baked fresh every morning.
And stay for the brownies.
For people like myself, who’ve lived near A Sweet Affair for most of their lives, the nostalgia here is cherished as much as the food. Picnics at the nearby Heather Farm Park, welcoming nieces and nephews into the world at John Muir Hospital, having lunch with cousins on special occasions: A Sweet Affair was part of all of that.
I’ve lived away from Walnut Creek for some time, and like most of the Bay Area, it’s changed a lot in the last 10 years. With every new store that pops up or restaurant chain that takes the place of the last, I feel more and more like a stranger when I visit here.
But A Sweet Affair remains an emblem of a different, less crowded, less expensive, less gentrified time.
Even if sweets aren’t your thing, certainly any resident of the Bay Area can appreciate that.
