Relic Bakery & Kitchen

Hot San Diego Restaurant Openings You May Have Missed, October 2025 | Eater San Diego

"What started as a pandemic pop-up out of a North Park apartment and transitioned into a Miramar ghost kitchen has finally evolved into a permanent cafe in East Village. On October 14, Relic Bakery opened as a sunny cafe lined with expansive windows and an outdoor patio. Co-owners Samantha Bird and Derek Hadden met when they both worked at Herb and Wood. Popular wood-fired sourdough and focaccia loaves, alongside flaky pastries such as the double pain au chocolat, baklava Danish, and honey cake, are displayed in the enticing pastry case. Eventually, Bird says, she wants a bread wall with more varieties, including dark rye. Bird spent time in bakeries in the Czech Republic, France, and Denmark, and led the bread program at Juniper and Ivy. Hadden, who calls himself more of a “savory chef,” added dishes like Mary’s chicken thigh roulade glossed with red wine chicken demi-glace, lamb rillette intertwined in a swirly pastry, and shrimp terrine with a boiled egg. He’s working on a pate en croute, leaning into French techniques he picked up at his time at three-Michelin-starred Addison, and fermenting habanero sauce for a planned “wings and wine” happy hour later down the line. While the team primarily operates out of their East Village location from Wednesday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., they plan to expand their hours and may host pop-ups at their Miramar ghost kitchen again. “This will probably be the hours for a month or two until we establish the normal here,” Bird says." - Helen I. Hwang