The Manresa Bread Bakery Cafe opens this week – with 3 new desserts

If you were already a fan of Manresa Bread’s best-selling Levain bread, Kouign Amann and Affenbrot, get ready to add it to your shopping list

Avery Ruzicka’s Manresa Bread will be opening its fourth Bay Area bakery this Friday at the Town & Country Village in Palo Alto — with three new desserts making their debut.

For peninsulars who used to shop at the bakery stand at the California Avenue Farmers’ Market from 2013 until the outbreak of the pandemic, it’s actually a return to Palo Alto. The bakery was launched that year as market stalls by Ruzicka and David Kinch, chef and owner of the three-Michelin-star Manresa restaurant in Los Gatos, so that locals could buy breads they had enjoyed at his restaurant.

“We’ve been a part of the Palo Alto community for a long time,” said Ruzicka, the head baker and founder who has overseen Los Gatos’ brick-and-mortar expansion into Campbell and Los Altos. “It’s exciting to welcome customers back.”

The opening menu here includes three new desserts (actually Appetizers, as Manresa calls them, which is French for layered dessert): strawberry rhubarb roll cake, carrot cake and almond rye blueberry tart. Also new are bake-at-home brownie, cookie and waffle mixes.

Upon hearing customers want more dessert choices, Ruzicka said she hopes to create other cakes and pies for the repertoire soon.

This cafe also offers Quiche Lorraine, Smoked Salmon Tartine, Bacon Egg and Cheese Sandwich, Coconut Pearls Breakfast Bowl and other breakfast and lunch items.

The coffee bar will serve Verve Coffee drinks and will also have two taps, one for Nitro Cold Brew and one for Kombucha, according to Manresa Bread Retail Manager Shiela Garcia.

The store is located where Mayfield Bakery & Cafe had its bakery operations prior to its closure in 2020. Ruzicka hired a number of Mayfield employees, including managers of the front and back of the house. Daniel Ortiz is Store Manager for Palo Alto and Olga Vellucci, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu and the CCA in San Francisco, is Executive Chef and Pastry Chef.

Details: Open daily from 8am to 6pm (or until sold out) at 855 El Camino Real. Pre-ordering popular items is recommended at www.manresabread.com.