Starter Bakery

Starter Bakery is a Berkeley-based bakery founded in 2010 that produces hand-made pastries, breads, desserts, and baked goods for catering, wholesale, and retail customers across the East Bay. Starter Bakery is known for its kouign amann and also produces croissants, galettes, quiches, cookies, pies, and breads, all made from scratch with locally sourced, seasonal ingredients. Founded in 2010 by pastry chef Brian Wood, who authored Baking and Pastry: A Professional Approach for the San Francisco Baking Institute, where he also taught and developed the pastry program; the bakery moved into a dedicated production facility in 2018. Retail cafe locations on College Ave (Rockridge, Oakland) and Solano Ave, with wholesale delivery throughout the greater Bay Area and a presence at East Bay farmers' markets. Reviewers frequently praise the kouign amann, almond croissants, and cookies, noting careful execution, balanced flavors, and consistently well-baked results across a wide range of items.