Starter Bakery Opens Store

Photos: Clara Rice for Starter Bakery

Congratulations to longtime Oakland Temescal Tastes Tour partner Brian Wood on opening his first retail store.  Welcome to Rockridge, Starter Bakery! Kouign-amanns, cardamom pistachio buns, passionfruit madeleines and more await at this stylish cafe. Also in the mix: Savory offerings including quiche, bread, and sandwiches. Coffee comes courtesy of beans supplied by Oakland’s RoastCo.

Brian always wanted to open his own cafe. It just took a wee bit of time for the wholesale baker—who also has a loyal farmers market following—to fulfill his wish. Try a bakers’ dozen years and counting. But on March 4, the wait was over. A long line snaked out the door as locals flocked to see what Starter had in store at the airy, new cafe.

Come for what you know and love and be prepared to try something new. A retail spot allows Brian and his team of bakers to get a little more creative than they can be at their wholesale location on Gilman Street in Berkeley. Tweaks include an updated croissant dough that uses European butter, chocolate croissants with extra chocolate, and new flavor pairings in his signature taste the kouign-amann, a round, laminated dough of delightful decadence originally from Brittany, France. Kouign-amann translates to “butter cake” in the Breton language.

There are new items only on offer in Rockridge too: There’s a pecan sticky bun with a good-and-gooey center, and cardamom pistachio buns, that have become instant hits and regularly sell out. On the savory side find a select list of sandwiches. Think turkey, brie, fig compote and spinach on a croissant or a fresh mozzarella and olive tapenade on ciabatta. Coming soon: salads for takeaway or in-house eating. There’s counter seating across lovely large front windows, and low tables and stools span one side of the roomy space, which has gorgeous white and gray counter tiles and a blue wall, and other carefully chosen, calming interior details.

Starter will continue to supply local cafes and restaurants and farmers market fans will still be able to buy Starter pastries and breads at local markets, including Temescal. But Rockridge is now its retail home.

It’s been a journey from popular pop-up to farmers market favorite to wholesale powerhouse to new store. Brian jokes that nobody dreams of becoming a wholesale baker. He always wanted a shop of his own. He’s proof positive that dreams do come true. It just takes a ton of hard work, talent, skill, a bit of luck, and time.

Starter Bakery, 5804 College Avenue, Oakland. Monday-Sunday, 8-3.

Related: Spotlight: Starter Bakery