The Goods on Manresa Bread Bakery
A selection of Manresa Bread specialties: levain (back), kale scone (front left), and chocolate croissant (front right).
The South Bay’s most anticipated bakery, Manresa Bread, finally opened a week ago, in downtown Los Gatos.
If you think that means bypassing those long, long lines at its stands at the Palo Alto and Campbell farmers markets on Sundays, guess again.
The queue may be shorter at the new bakery, just around the corner from Michelin two-starred Manresa restaurant, but there likely will be one no matter what time you go.
When I got there at 11 a.m. last Friday, there were already half a dozen people in front of me. And the baguettes were already gone.
If you think that was bad, on opening day on Feb. 21, the bakery sold out in just five hours.
Inside the bakery.
All of that speaks to the quality of the artisan products being turned out by Manresa head baker Avery Ruzicka, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute who also trained with master baker Ben Hershberger of Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery and Per Se restaurant.