Old-fashioned, traditional, organic & eclectic selections
Our local bakeries tempt us year round with a huge variety of fresh breads and pastries, and even more so during the current season when baked goods are synonymous with holiday festivities.
In Healdsburg, two special bakeries more than satisfy the needs and desires of the northern end of Sonoma County. Costeaux French Bakery in the heart of Healdsburg has been baking traditional artisan breads for 90 years. This European-style bakery has a breakfast-all-day café and tempting displays of holiday treats—cookies, biscotti, tea breads and petit fours, pound cake and crostini, plus gourmet bacon-flavored “dog bones” for your special friend, all beautifully packaged and ready to go.
Award-winning breads are mostly variations of sourdough, along with rustic batards and sweet French bread, sold by the loaf and as pre-made sandwiches—salami, sun-dried tomato, goat cheese and aioli on a small batard, and The Parisian, black forest ham and gruyere on a buttered bagette. For holiday meals, you can order potato or ciabatta rolls a couple of days in advance.
But it’s the dazzling pastries in a long glass case—a veritable visual fantasia of exquisitely decorated cakes with brightly hued fondants, elegant buttercream swirls and giant chocolate flower; the lemon, chocolate cream and pecan pies and tarts; the mocha Florentine and various fruit rolls, buns and éclairs, house-made candies and iced cookies—that are a standout.
Opposite the square in Healdsburg, is the homey, family-run Downtown Bakery and Creamery with a vintage flavor. A revolving glass case holds a mesmerizing array of Zucotto (a whipped-cream-filled chocolate sponge cake with a delicate filigree frosting), raspberry cupcakes with raspberry buttercream, chocolate cream tarts, cheesecakes and pumpkin pies, both large and small, marjolaine layer cakes and coconut cupcakes. Another glass case holds irresistible fruit galettes and an exquisite lemon curd tart sprinkled with pomegranate seeds.
For the holidays they’ll have old-fashioned, pull-apart dinner rolls, linzer tart, pies of local organic apples, sugar pie pumpkins or pecans; mincemeat tarts, persimmon pudding with brandy hard sauce, tiramisu and bûche de Noël; also pain d’épice (French “gingerbread”), brandied fruitcake and traditional Milanese panettone. And for those of you who prefer to do your own holiday baking, Downtown Bakery has you covered with a freezer case stocked with ready-to-bake pie shells: pie, tart, galette or puff pastry dough, cookie dough and crisp toppings.
Forestville’s Nightingale Breads, celebrating its fifth anniversary this December, has a cozy and inviting small-town atmosphere, where bakers double as shop assistants, greeting customers by name. Choose from among shapely golden, crusty, organic loaves. Antique scales and a butter churn add a vintage feel, and displays of organic conserves from Gabriel Farm, Redwood Hill Creamery cheeses and Olive Queen olive oil stand out against a russet wall.
On the counter, as your wood-fired, organic breads are being wrapped in brown paper, you are tempted by a plate of chocolate thimbles on a silver tray, dusted with powdered sugar, resting under a glass dome. Always available are Forestville French, Sourdough Batard, Seeded Multigrain or Sourdough (perfect for toast), and Rosemary Focaccia, with daily specials of Rye on Wednesdays, Honey Whole Wheat on Wednesdays and Fridays, Cinnamon Raisin on Thursdays, Challah on Fridays, plain or seeded Epi Baguette and Moonlight Spent Grain on Saturdays.
Pumpkin quick bread is available for the holiday season, and you can order potato rosemary rolls for Thanksgiving and Christmas by the half-dozen or dozen. Place your orders by November 23 for Thanksgiving. Nightingale does not accept credit cards.
Village Bakery, with three locations in Sebastopol, Santa Rosa, and Calistoga, has managed to keep its small town charm with its cozy café and small quantities of fresh and beautifully made pastries, while supplying breads daily to many local grocery stores and restaurants. Breads are baked in Sebastopol, and pastries in Santa Rosa, with a daily delivery to divide the stock.
Owner Pat Lum is looking forward to moving the Sebastopol store to The Barlow soon—the new location is being constructed now. The café portion will be similar in size, but the kitchen will be expanded with more ovens to accommodate increased commercial distribution.
Daily breads include plain and seeded baguettes, French country wheat, Pane Franchese, sourdough flute and their most popular bread, seeded sourdough, a genuinely addicting (in a good way) loaf of crunchy goodness. Barley wheat is available Tuesday and Friday, Challah on Friday, cracked whole wheat on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, and potato onion ciabatta and garlic-cheese sourdough on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. A dense German rye, Volkombrot, and toasted walnut sourdough are also on the menu.
Holiday special breads are pumpkin seed and cranberry. Bargain hunters, you can earn a free loaf for every 10 you purchase when you get your bread card punched. And day-old bread and pastries are one-third off.
A line of cars and bicycles on weekend mornings outside of Wild Flour Bread on Bohemian Highway is a familiar sight in tiny Freestone. The smell of freshly baked bread emanates from the wood oven chimney and invites you in. Don’t be deterred by the crowds clustered around the counter inside, often snaking out the door; the friendly and efficient staff will be offering you up tastes of breads and scones within minutes.
It’s hard to choose with so many eclectic options, like Green Goat (a crunchy twisted loaf with goat cheese and green onions), Fougasse (a meal in itself with several cheeses, red peppers, onions and often potatoes and chunks of roasted garlic); Egyptian (with figs, pears and ginger), and various whole grain and sourdough-style loaves studded with nuts, seeds, olives, herbs and ginger. Legendary enormous syrupy sticky buns (with cinnamon, raisins and walnuts) and scones (with ever changing flavors like nectarine-cherry-fresh ginger, oatmeal-chocolate-chip, and white chocolate-blueberry-lavender) will satisfy the sweetest tooth.
Behind the counter are mountains of crusty loaves fresh from the oven, and behind that the bakers are kneading away at the next batch to go in. Whimsical murals of owls, seagulls and a huge elephant decorate the warm golden walls. There’s a communal table inside by the window to enjoy your bread with hot coffee or tea, and benches outside the doorway.
Or take your breads and stroll through the lush organic garden—where avenues of raspberry bushes, brightened with marigolds and mint, flank beds of kale and chard—and head to the picnic tables under the trees in back. Open only on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
BAKERIES
Costeaux French Bakery
www.costeaux.com
417 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg
707-433-1913
Mon-Thurs, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Fri-Sat, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sun, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Downtown Bakery & Creamery
www.downtownbakery.net
308 A Center St., Healdsburg
707-431-2712
Mon-Fri, 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Sat, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Sun, 7:00 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Nightingale Breads
6665 Front St. (Hwy 116), Forestville
707-887-8887
Weds-Fri, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sat, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Village Bakery
www.villagebakerywinecountry.com
7225 Healdsburg Ave., Sebastopol
707-829-8101
Mon-Sat, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Sun, 8 a.m. to 2:09 p.m.
1445 Town & Country Dr., Santa Rosa
707-527-7654
Mon-Sat, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sun, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
1353 Lincoln Ave., Calistoga
707-942-1443
Mon-Sat, 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sun, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Wild Flour Bread
www.wildflourbread.com
140 Bohemian Hwy., Freestone
707-874-2938
Fri, Sat., Sun & Mon, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
