From SF Mission garage to two cafés

10 years baking experience before opening Larder. Trained at Tartine + Acme Bread + La Brea Bakery. Took her grandmother’s sourdough starter from Pittsburgh + brought it to SF. The starter (now 8 years old) is still daily-fed in our bakery.

Construction project management background; opened cafés before Larder (food + bev consulting). Manages operations, finance, hiring, business growth. Engineering mind on operations side.

Sarah + David are partners. Larder was their idea after recognizing a gap in SF for naturally-leavened breads accessible at café prices. They opened Mission District in 2019; North Berkeley in 2022.

Sarah works the bench (kneading + shaping) most mornings. David handles open + ops. They’re visible to customers daily; we’re not absentee owners.

Sarah baked in her Mission District garage. Wholesale to friends + neighbors. ~20 loaves a day. Tested recipes + technique.

First brick-and-mortar at 2240 Mission Street. 6 employees. Initial bread + pastry program; coffee added 6 months later.

Bakeries struggled during pandemic; we grew. Pickup model already established; customers + community supported. Added wholesale to 14 SF restaurants + cafes.

North Berkeley location at 1928 Shattuck Avenue. Different demographics, slightly different menu emphasis. Same baker/founder commitment.

Monthly sourdough basics + intermediate classes. Now run ~14 classes per year. Helps with community + brand + occasional new bakers.

Outstanding Bakery Award semifinalist. Renewed 2025. Recognition of bakery as a whole + impact on Bay Area food culture.

Most flour from Central Milling (Petaluma, CA) — heritage California mill, fresh-stone-ground. Specific flours from regional mills (rye from Camas Mill, einkorn from Camas Country).

Everything we bake is sourdough. No commercial yeast. The bread is fundamentally different. Flavor, texture, digestion, shelf life.

Same starter since 2017. From Sarah’s grandmother (Pittsburgh)brought to San Francisco. The microbiome shifted slightly with the West Coast move; uniquely San Francisco now.

Most breads ferment 14-30 hours. Slow + cold. Different from commercial bread (heat + speed). Takes longer; tastes better; digests better.

Sightglass Coffee (SF Mission). Long-standing relationship. Single-origin from Ethiopia + Colombia + Guatemala. Fair-trade sourcing.

Strauss + Rumiano + Cypress Grove + Andante Dairy + Bohemian Creamery. Specific cheese rotation; Bay Area dairy at every café.

Sarah co-founded the Mission Bay Sourdough Network in 2021. Quarterly meetings of SF Bay Area sourdough bakers. Knowledge-sharing, not competition.

Partnerships with local nonprofits + schools. Bread donation to SF + Berkeley food banks (~80 loaves per month). Adopt-a-school programs in both locations.

Monthly sourdough classes (basic + intermediate). Specifically designed to help home bakers + aspiring professionals. ~150 students annually.

We’ve apprenticed 12 bakers since opening. 4 have gone on to open their own bakeries. Specific commitment to next-generation Bay Area baking community.

14 SF + East Bay restaurants serve our breads. Long-standing relationships built on consistent quality. We deliver fresh-baked daily.

55% diverse workforce. 67% women in bakery + service roles. Above-region wages. Employee-friendly scheduling. Standard predictive scheduling.