Starter Bakery Opens First Retail Cafe in Oakland Serving Fresh-Baked Croissant and Kouign Amann | Eater SF

"If you, like many in the East Bay, consider Starter Bakery’s baked goods among the best, you’ll be glad it’s opening a retail bakery in Rockridge after 13 years as a wholesale operation based on Berkeley’s Gilman Street. Owner Brian Wood reworked the croissant and viennoiserie program—after about 37 trial runs—to produce a fresher, flakier croissant dough that will be used in kouign amann, chocolate croissants and a new cardamom pistachio bun (cardamom throughout, apricot for acidity, and pistachio bits on top). The brioche was overhauled as well, yielding pecan sticky buns with a softer, shorter texture and an indulgent amount of pecans on top. The deliberately small menu will still include chocolate babka, baguettes and levain, while allowing the team to experiment with cakes and desserts (citrus meringue pie, chocolate-and-almond cake) and more savory items—twice-baked ham-and-cheese croissants, quiches (Lorraine and vegetarian), and grab-and-go salads and sandwiches that highlight onsite-baked breads (a ham-and-swiss baguette and vegetarian options featuring interesting cheeses, olive salads, arugula and hazelnuts); a breakfast sandwich is planned. A coffee program from RoastCo will offer light and dark drip for Rockridge BART commuters, the space is light and airy after a Cookline remodel, and the bakery debuts Saturday, March 4 with hours 7 a.m.–3 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday." - Dianne de Guzman