Tag: brick-and-mortar

This has been a stellar year for new bakery openings in the East Bay. To paraphrase Zuzu Bailey’s high-pitched exclamation at the end of It’s A Wonderful Life, “Every time a bell rings a bakery opens.” The list of newcomers includes Tarts de Feybesse, which got its brick-and-mortar up and running in Oakland, and Brian Wood’s second location of Starter Bakery on Solano Avenue. And after two years of cooking cakes and cookies out of her home kitchen for Bench, Sanaz Shariatzadeh has expanded her business into a second and much larger space. Mey recently opened in the former location of Crixa Cakes on Adeline. Shariatzadeh is slowly but surely filling up the shelves with her takes on quiches, cream puffs, cookies and cakes. An architect turned full-time baker, Shariatzadeh fulfilled her long-term dream of opening a cafe with Bench. But balancing her home life with daily bakes in a residential kitchen was a challenge. “I was baking until I passed out at night,” she said. “I couldn’t stop working because it’s my passion.” The upside of working from home was it gave her the flexibility to spend time with her kids. But she needed more room. “I wanted commercial ovens. My freezers, everything was small,” Shariatzadeh said. It was also difficult to separate the job from her personal life. “I enjoyed the past two years [at Bench] but at some point I was like, I want to move forward.” Bench, which actually has a bench that her husband Ali made and installed, embodies Shariatzadeh’s philosophical approach to hospitality. It’s a shared communal space where people can take the time to chill out with a cookie and a cup of tea. Mey, which means “wine” in Farsi, also has more permeable meanings when it’s used in more poetic contexts. Shariatzadeh has given the new cafe an evocative tagline: Stories, Sips, and Sweets. After we spoke on the phone, she emailed to further clarify the concept of mey. “Rooted in the spirit of Shirazi hospitality, mey reminds us to linger, to savor, and to share-to taste not only what’s on the table, but the beauty of connection itself.” Retaining some ceremonial aspects of traditional tea and coffee service has been an integral part of the experience at Bench. Shariatzadeh told me in 2023 that she wanted to introduce Persian tea culture to customers in addition to fulfilling everyone’s need for espresso, coffee and lattes. Mey will continue to serve both beverages. “We’re using Highwire Coffee and making cardamom and date lattes, two of the most popular drinks at Bench,” she said. My eyes got big as saucers when I stopped by Mey last week. Shariatzadeh’s quiche was the first thing I noticed. The bottom half of my slice was packed with butternut squash. It was similar to Fournée’s quiche, which also has a buttery, flaky crust and a nice filling that rises high. For dessert, I spied a cream puff and swallowed it whole. It was filled with a delightful amount of whipped cream. I hope Mey will add éclairs to the menu, or some version of a cream puff that’s dipped in dark chocolate, because her choux pastry is elegant and tender. Over the past couple of years, Shariatzadeh has continued to experiment with new recipes. “Now that I have a fridge, I can make cakes and other pastries that I wanted to make at Bench but couldn’t,” she said. Persian roulades were on display as well as spinach and feta hand pies, and pistachio cookies. “I started making cardamom syrups for lattes and in an apple cake,” she said. “But I’m trying to weigh what people like [at Mey]. It’s different here so I’m trying every day to have something new.” As she settles into Mey, Shariatzadeh will be adding items to the lunch menu. “I’m very into savory stuff,” she said. “At Bench, I started making different frittatas we call kuku in Farsi. We had a cauliflower kuku sabzi, which means herb frittata.” Shariatzadeh closed her note to me with her defining message of hospitality. “Every pastry and pour carries the warmth of welcome-a celebration of place, of presence, and of the simple joy of being together.”.
https://eastbayexpress.com/stories-sips-and-sweets-await-at-mey/