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The new Alameda location of Bake Sum will offer cakes as a regular item for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stephen Lam\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
Bake Sum joins a small boom of bakeries in Alameda, along with Night Heron Bakery and Ones Caf\u00e9 & Bakery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stephen Lam\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
Bake Sum staffer\u00a0Ari Daoheuang prepares pastry cream at Bake Sum\u2019s location inside Alameda Marketplace.<\/p>\n
Stephen Lam\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
The 1,100-square-foot facility will produce dough for both locations of Bake Sum.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stephen Lam\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
Now with two locations, Tang is considering having exclusive items for each one. \u201cIf someone might want to visit both the Oakland and Alameda locations in one day, there would still be something fun for them in each spot,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Stephen Lam\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
In Alameda<\/a>, the East Bay suburb on a man-made island<\/a>, locals often talk about not having to leave their cozy island, unless they have to visit specific shops or restaurants. Soon, locals looking to get their fix of the top-tier pastries from Oakland\u2019s Bake Sum, known for mixing Asian flavors and ingredients into its treats, will be able to score these without leaving town.<\/p>\n Bake Sum will open its second location at 1650 Park St., inside the Alameda Marketplace, on May 9. The pastry case will stock some of the bakery\u2019s popular treats, such as milk buns filled with seasonal flavored creams, including\u00a0ube and mango; jars of matcha tiramisu; and the signature okonomiyaki Danish topped with nori, bonito flakes and Kewpie mayo. (The opening date was first reported by Coyote<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Bake Sum took over the former home of Feel Good Bakery, which\u00a0closed in October after 22 years<\/a>. It\u2019s arriving as Alameda is in the middle of a bakery boom: Local farmers market vendor Night Heron Bakery, best known for its sourdough seed loaves, will be moving into the other Feel Good Bakery space, on Encinal Avenue, while Ones Caf\u00e9 & Bakery of Castro Valley is taking over the former Coffee Cultures<\/a> space, just a few blocks away from the Marketplace.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Bake Sum\u2019s new location inside Alameda Marketplace opens on May 9.<\/p>\n Stephen Lam\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n There has also been a recent bump in restaurant openings in town\u00a0\u2014 such as breakfast spot Dandelion\u00a0Kaff\u00e9, beer garden Park Station and Mexican restaurant Le\u00f1a\u00a0\u2014 which gave Tang, an Oakland resident, confidence that an Alameda location would work out. Bake Sum is also steps away from the nationally acclaimed Indonesian-Texan barbecue spot Fikscue<\/a>, ranked No. 41 on the Chronicle\u2019s 2026 list of the Top 100 restaurants in the Bay Area<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tang, who quit her tech industry job to go to culinary school in 2015, began working with local chef\u00a0Deuki Hong\u2019s Sunday Group in 2019 before selling Asian-inspired pastries at popups and wholesale to local caf\u00e9s during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. \u201cI genuinely wanted more Asian pastries, and I didn\u2019t think there was enough representation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Bake Sum is now part of an established core of Asian-influenced bakeries around the Bay Area, including San Francisco\u2019s\u00a0Breadbelly<\/a>, Jina Bakes and popup Tano<\/a>, along with Grand Opening in Oakland<\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Joyce Tang, owner of Asian American bakery Bake Sum, quit her job in the tech industry to go to culinary school in 2015. She opened Bake Sum in Oakland in 2021.<\/p>\n Stephen Lam\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n In 2021, Tang\u00a0opened Bake Sum<\/a> in Oakland\u2019s Grand Lake neighborhood, regularly drawing lines into its snug space. It earned local and national acclaim, including a spot on the Chronicle critics\u2019 top Bay Area bakeries list. <\/a>Its croissant is also among the five best in the Bay Area<\/a>, according to Chronicle restaurant critic Cesar Hernandez. In 2024, the New York Times named Tang\u2019s croissubi, a laminated riff on Hawaii\u2019s popular Spam musubi, as one of the best dishes that its writers ate <\/a>that year.<\/p>\n Tang said that she was drawn to Alameda for Bake Sum\u2019s second location because she is there regularly to visit friends and family and noticed how many of her customers are from the area. \u201cWe\u2019re happy to oblige our new customers on the island,\u201d Tang said.<\/p>\n The plan is to start slowly, possibly opening just three days a week as Tang and her team figure out how to best scale up production without affecting quality. The new 1,100-square-foot location will produce dough for both bakeries. She installed a proof retarder, which keeps dough at a set temperature to control its fermentation rate, and she plans to add a temperature-controlled dough preparation area, where staff will carry out the three-day process to make Bake Sum\u2019s laminated pastries.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bake Sum croissants \u2014 dough for one is being rolled out above \u2014 are among the five best in the Bay Area, according to Chronicle restaurant critic Cesar Hernandez.<\/p>\n Stephen Lam\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n Bake Sum Oakland currently offers cakes as pre-order items. In Alameda, they\u2019ll be available regularly, from\u00a0ispahan, a lychee-rose water layer cake, to fruit tarts topped with lilikoi or yuzu curd.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Other new items may include egg salad sandwiches and breakfast sandwiches on biscuits, which Tang and her staff recently tested as special menu items in Oakland. She is considering having some location-exclusive items on the menu. \u201cIf someone might want to visit both the Oakland and Alameda locations in one day, there would still be something fun for them in each spot,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Just like at the Oakland bakery, drinks will come courtesy of local purveyors: Coffee will be made with beans from West Oakland roaster Grand Coffee,\u00a0matcha lattes made with green tea from Berkeley\u2019s Asha Tea House and loose-leaf teas from Teance in Berkeley.<\/p>\n \u201cI genuinely wanted more Asian pastries, and I didn\u2019t think there was enough representation,\u201d Tang said of her motivations for starting Bake Sum.<\/p>\n Stephen Lam\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n Bake Sum will share the Alameda Marketplace\u2019s indoor and outdoor seating with neighboring tenants, which include Mediterranean restaurant\u00a0Tahina, rotisserie bar Greens & Grains and sushi counter Sushi King.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The new location is not the only project Tang is unveiling this year. Her\u00a0Bake Sum cookbook<\/a>, written with former Chronicle restaurant critic Soleil Ho, comes out in September.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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