Welcome to part two of the east bay pop-up guide, last edition we focused on the east bay’s best sweet treats and this time, we’re going for the grains with a detailed look at all the best east bay bread and bagel pop-ups that you can find everywhere from SF to Walnut Creek.
🥖 Bread and Bagels
🥖Basecamp Bakery- husband and wife team Chase Agee and Ayla Groom (pictured above), pop up with their organic, naturally leavened bread weekly at local Farmer’s markets (Grand Lake, Kensington & South Berkeley) and also offer their loaves for home delivery via Good Eggs. In addition to all the classic bread styles (country, seeded, rye, etc) - they sell everything bagels for $2 (which beats out all the other local spots on price) and offer a weekly batch of chocolate chip cookies. Read more about Basecamp here.
🥯Hella bagels- you know I love bagels - so much so that a few years ago I learned to make my own. And I’m not the only one! Emily Winston was also frustrated with the lack of high-quality bagels here and taught herself how to make them before opening up the wildly successful Boichik bagels on College Ave - and just this week Emily announced that Boichik signed the lease on a factory space in Berkeley, so needless to say, the bagel business is alive and well in the east bay. Another bageler named Blake Hunter also started out making bagels for friends and family before expanding to a weekend pop-up called Hella Bagels. These chewy delights are on offer in-person every Sunday at the magical Hidden Cafe in Berkeley, and available for home delivery on Fridays and Sundays as far east as Walnut Creek and as far west as SF. There’s a countdown to order clock on the website which you may find stressful or reassuring and they offer all the classics plus cream cheeses in robust flavors like horseradish-lemon-dill and mango peach spicy fruit.
🥖Morrell’s bread - I was on the fence about including this one as they actually have a fairly permanent space, but they’re only open from 8-4 on Wednesdays and I featured them in one of my first east bae’s, so please, read on.
🥖Night Heron Bread - Professional bread baker Trevor Adams wrote that he started Night Heron bread in Alameda’s West End at the start of the pandemic as a means to support his family. You can order Night Heron bread online - country loaves, sandwich bread and even beautiful focaccia and pizza dough. Follow along with Night Heron’s instagram for pop-up sales, and if you need your starch on the reg - sign up for a bread subscription. Bonus: the last Saturday of every month they partner up with Tetrahedron Coffee (Alameda’s first local roaster) for a garden griddle toast and coffee party, which looks like an absolutely delightful way to spend a Saturday morning. Make some new friends and join them next week on Sept 25 at 312 Santa Clara Ave in Alameda from 10 - 12.
🥯Poppy Bagels - This yummy hand-rolled bagel shop pops-up at the Grand Lake Farmer’s market every Saturday and for other special events (they recently were at the Oaktown Spice Shop) and offer pick up and delivery in SF and Oakland during the week. I especially love these bagels and their cream cheese reminds me of that of Daily Driver in SF which is more cheesey than creamy and the “briny” flavored one is terrific - plus they have a 917 area code for the business, so you know they’re legit.
🥨Squabisch - this place seems like loads of fun with a wide variety of pretzels like the ‘Lil Smokie’ which has two lil' smokie sausages added to a classic pretzel, and unexpected pretzel flavors like prosciutto, fig, chevre — a salted smores pretzel and a raspberry & brown sugar combination. Squabisch pops up at Grand Lake Farmer’s market every Sunday and they also do events and weddings, in case you want to tie the knot with some pretzel knots - and classes, if you want to learn to tie your own. My pregnancy cravings are always extremely specific - this time around I’ve been on the hunt for buttery soft pretzels with beer cheese (next best thing to a real beer, I guess?). I’ve been eating plenty of pretzels, though I still haven’t quite found the right cheese, but your ideas are always welcomed.
Sweet spots we missed in last edition on ice cream, pastries and pies, oh my!
Blooms End - what a dreamy website. It makes me want to run through a wide-open meadow, stuff myself full of cake and pass out in the grass like Dorothy in a field of poppies. Blooms End calls itself an en-plein-air, traveling caravan-inspired bakery - which pops up across the Bay with baked goods, flowers and vintage dishware. You can find them in Albany today, SF next weekend. h/t to Lauren for sending this one my way.
Herringbone Treats - last week I stopped by Berkeley’s Star Meats for a $16 sandwich (yup) and on the way in, I noticed a handwritten sign that essentially taunted me to stop, read and purchase a teeny tiny cake. I say that with pregnancy my food inhibitions are lowered to the level that they were at age 20, 2 a.m. on a college campus - except instead of nachos and pizza I am gravitating way more toward pastries and cakes - and if something catches my eye, no matter how impractical, I must have it immediately. What I found here was a whole cake, but it was tiny enough to fit in my hand, which could leave one to nearly justify indulging in a whole cake in one sitting. At 4”, these are bigger than a cupcake, smaller than a real cake and absolutely bursting with flavor. The one I had was a delightfully tart yuzu cake with white chocolate glaze - but baker Mary Anne Murakami is up to lots more like matcha passionfruit cookies, miso chocolate cake, Hawaiian mango and more. You can find Herringbone treats at Star Meats, Magnolia Mini Mart and the beloved Tokyo Fish Market in Berkeley.
Other food news:
Oakland resident and James Beard-winning Chef Bryant Terry just released a beautiful new cookbook: Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora. Pre-order now for Oct 19 delivery.
West Oakland’s favorite spot for local pop-ups, Magnolia Mini Mart is now on doordash
Bake Sum’s grand opening is today until 2 p.m., 3249 Grand Ave in Oakland.
Thanks for following along with the pop-up guide. More to come! Please let me know your favorite spots we may have missed.