Introducing the tacro, the latest savoury croissant/taco mash-up set to tantalise us

We’ve had cronuts, cragels and all types of food mash-ups involving croissants, but the latest one to enter our orbit is the tacro, a savoury mash-up of croissant and taco. Sounds weird? Yes, but it has captured people’s imaginations already.

The tacro is a flaky, folded croissant shell filled with savoury fillings like slow-roasted pulled-pork with pineapple, chicken with avocado, and barbecued jackfruit with mango salsa. Each tacro is also topped with sliced radishes, chopped pickled onions, and fresh micro cilantro, and is served with a wedge of lime, house avocado salsa and hot chilli salsa.

The tacro was created by Belgian husband-and-wife team, Arnaud Goethals and Julie Vandermeersch, who own Vive La Tarte bakery in San Francisco. They wanted to create something unique to mark the launch of their second location in San Francisco, and came up with this unique savoury spin on the taco.

According to the bakery’s creative director, Jimmy Houghton, it took the team two months to develop the perfect recipe, but we can imagine how much fun they had doing it. They adjusted the classic sweet croissant dough recipe to make it more savoury, and this combination proved to be a hit.

They knew they had a hit on their hands when all 100 tacros sold out in less than two hours on the bakery’s first day of business and this trend has continued. Julie and Arnaud originally started selling tarts from their orange VW bus in 2011, and eventually established their first premises in the vibrant SoMa neighborhood in 2015. Their second location, and now home to the tacro, has opened in San Francisco’s iconic Ferry Building.

There are variations on the recipe to suit different palates, and they’re served in a retro box in a fast food-style manner. They’re larger in size than regular tacos, but for those who don’t fancy the croissant, the tacro bowl features the meat and accoutrements over frisée and cabbage.

According to the bakery, more seasonal fillings are on the way and a breakfast version may even be on offer. Keep an eye on its Instagram page here, where these delicious new combos will be revealed.