Bake Sum Opens Second Location Inside Alameda Marketplace
The Oakland bakery known for its Spam and unagi Croissubi took over the old Feel Good Bakery space on Park Street, and the lines have been an hour long.
By The Alameda Pulse
If you've walked past Alameda Marketplace on Park Street lately and seen a line snaking out the door, that's Bake Sum. The Oakland bakery known for mixing Asian American flavors into French pastry opened its second location inside the Marketplace on May 9, and people have been waiting up to an hour for a bag of pastries ever since.
Owner Joyce Tang built her name on things like black sesame kumquat buns and Thai tea croissants at her original 800-square-foot shop on Oakland's Grand Avenue. The Croissubi, a croissant dough stuffed with Spam, seaweed, Parmesan frico, house-made togarashi and unagi sauce, made the New York Times' list of the 25 best dishes in the country. Alameda now gets its own outpost, and Tang says the space is a big upgrade.
Why Bake Sum Picked Alameda
Tang told Oakland culture outlet COYOTE that she'd been quietly hoping for a spot on the island since attending a birthday party at Alameda Brewing last fall. When the Marketplace space opened up, the landlord made the numbers work. "She was really generous in not charging us an arm and a leg for this space," Tang said. "It just made my job a lot easier to say yes."
That landlord is Donna Layburn, who runs the Marketplace and interviewed several bakeries before picking Bake Sum for the spot.
What's Different About the Alameda Shop
The new location takes over the space Feel Good Bakery occupied for 21 years before it closed. Unlike the cramped Oakland kitchen, the Alameda shop lets Tang's team laminate dough, proof, bake and serve customers all in one space. She's also adding a temperature-controlled dough room so her bakers aren't fighting hot summer days while working with butter-heavy pastry.
Here's what to expect on a visit:
- Doors open at 9 a.m. and stay open until the pastries sell out, which has been happening fast
- Signature items like the Croissubi and the three-day, 27-layer butter croissant
- A rotating selection of goods from local makers, from Heydoh soy sauce to BART-themed magnets
Tang is also releasing a cookbook, co-written with San Francisco Chronicle food critic Soleil Ho, out September 1 through Hardie Grant Publishing and available for pre-order now.
Why It Matters for Park Street
A new tenant with hour-long lines is a real jolt of foot traffic for Park Street, and it says something that a bakery with Oakland's devoted following chose Alameda for its next move rather than San Francisco or Berkeley. If you're headed down for the weekend farmers market or another Park Street event, get there early. Bake Sum has been known to sell out well before noon.
