Former pandemic pop-up rises to claim East Bay’s best bakery title

A croissant/Spam musubi mash-up, a matcha tiramisu cake, and a gochujang pull apart — these are some of the inspired creations from Joyce Tang and her team that led Nosh readers to vote Bake Sum the best bakery in the East Bay for 2025.

Nosh readers cast their votes prior to Thanksgiving, and the results of the 2025 Nosh Awards are in. Nosh is kicking off the awards announcements with the Best Bakery winner. Visit Nosh every day from now until Dec. 12 to see a new award winner announced each day.

Tang, who founded La Chinoiserie, launched Bake Sum as a pastry box pop-up in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She quickly gained attention for the unique flavor combinations and expertly baked sweet and savory offerings. In September 2021, Bake Sum opened in its current location on Grand Avenue, a few blocks from Lake Merritt. “Sum” refers to both the Cantonese word for “heart” as well as the bakery’s style of blending two or more flavor profiles together in a single item.

One Nosh Awards voter summed up the sentiment on the Grand Avenue bakery well: “[Y]ummy Asian fusion pastries, seasonal menu, really cute restaurant decor, and kind front of house staff.”

Bake Sum opened its brick-and-mortar location on Grand Avenue in September 2021. Credit: Tovin Lapan/East Bay Nosh

Voter after voter mentioned the unique pastries, including new creations regularly added to the menu, and overall execution. The New York Times named the croissubi one of the 26 best dishes in the country in 2024, and one East Bay transplant to the Big Apple had similarly lofty praise.

“Truly a grand variety of pastries that changes monthly. I moved to New York and they still can’t keep me away, I get a box of everything every single time I am home,” voter An Vo commented.

3249 Grand Ave., Oakland, www.bakesum.com

Hours: Open Monday, Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Tang and the crew keep things fresh by always adding new, seasonal items to the pastry case.

“Love their unique pastries you really can’t get any else and rotating flavors keep you coming back. Their IG account also gets a nod for keeping customers informed on new and upcoming seasonal flavors,” commented Carrie from Oakland.

Finally, Bake Sum pastries, as many voters noted, are also always picture worthy.

“Bake Sum deserves this. Their pastries are consistently knocking it out of the park with flavor, creativity, and beauty!” wrote May from Oakland.

This is the first year Nosh has given an award for best bakery. So, Bake Sum has set the bar for the other bakers going for the gold in 2026. The other nominees in the Best Bakery category were Fournée, Starter Bakery, Forma, Nabolom Bakery and Patisserie, Patisserie Rotha, and Sweet Adeline’s.

Former pandemic pop-up rises to claim East Bay’s best bakery title

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