“The holiday shopping, dining and self-care season is a critical time for the viability of small businesses. It was wonderful to work with (former) Mayor Schaaf and the Oakland Police Department in receiving a grant to fund the full-time, on-street safety ambassadors,” Swafford said. “The hope is that the public saw the broad effort to make commercial districts, and in this case the Montclair Village shopping area, places we can come to with a sense of safety.”

Safety ambassadors during the 30-day trial period that ended Saturday were on the streets eight hours a day, seven days a week except for Christmas and New Year’s days. Direct mobile phone numbers were made available to the public for requesting assistance, and flyers explaining safety ambassador services were delivered to merchants. Kevin Gilmore, of Oakland, served as one of the ambassadors. In an interview Jan. 13, the second-to-last-day of the program, he reflected on the experience.

“I come from the inner city, so coming up here was entering a different walk of life,” Gilmore said. “At first, it was touch-and-go if I was going to do it. But once I was up here and felt welcome, it made me want to do it and to live up to their expectations.”

Gilmore downplays his skills when asked what he brought to the position, mentioning only that he has experience in security work.

“To be honest, it was just me being me. It’s not one set skill; I just take my job seriously,” he said. “I know not to judge but to observe and not act on impulse. Like with certain style cars, a person can be judgmental. But coming from the inner-city, I can feel a person out, and 95% of the time, I can use instinct.”

Gilmore’s interactions ran a gamut, from escorting people to vehicles and reminding shoppers to place purchases in trunks instead of on car seats to providing directions to parking locations to reporting suspicious or actual criminal action to Swafford, who then communicated the information to Oakland police.

“I approached one circumstance in a way so the police could get there,” he said. “I can’t say the specifics, but let’s just say security isn’t about putting your hands on people. If you talk to people, if you tell them you don’t have to do this or that, once you make them feel you’re not judging them, it makes a situation way better. There’s no violence.”

Asked if he will participate if the program receives more funding and continues, Gilmore responded in the affirmative.

“Yes, hands down. Why? Because not only from the good business perspective but in the way the community and Dan have welcomed me, I feel comfortable. People in the community say they see a difference. Merchants thank me, and there are even people who come check on me and bring me coffee when I’m working. Just making a little difference along the line, we might make a bigger difference to keep people from hitting on the elderly or other people or doing crimes.”

Swafford said Gilmore was an ideal candidate for a position that required people who are outgoing, able to communicate effectively and quick to establish and reliably maintain relationships with local merchants.

“We leaned on Bay Alarm Company supervisors who knew the people best suited for these posts. We had to move quickly, and so we relied on their partnerships for referrals.”

Montclair Village regularly engages with Bay Alarm for safety patrols in the district. Limor Margalit, Bay Alarm’s director of sales and security agent services, said that in setting up safety ambassador service for Montclair, one of three districts covered by the company, his role centered on working closely with merchants. By addressing their concerns with the on-street presence of a uniformed ambassador during the holiday season, Gilmore said residents and visitors also benefited.

“Long-term merchants told us having a guard trained to help in different situations was important,” Gilmore said. “For people shopping, the guards made them feel safe by walking with them. Escorting someone to a car is just one example of something they did that the police cannot do.”

Swafford walked the shopping district;s streets during the holidays, introducing the ambassadors to owners and staff at key businesses. He held briefings and relied on digital reporting from the ambassadors to receive updates and provide feedback.

“There was an auto burglary and we advised (that) they connect with a neighboring business and relay that to me so I could get any camera images to pull and relay that to OPD,” Swafford said. “That happened on multiple occasions, unfortunately. We also saw shoplifting and theft that spills beyond store security.

“In one case our ambassador provided information that led to an arrest. Proactively, we consulted on casing the neighborhood. Kevin just being present on the street led to deterring crimes and also he reminded people to put items in secure places out of sight.”

Swafford hopes the program will continue.

“I’d love to take the feedback and report what the ambassadors were able to do to the mayor,” he said. “We had boots on the ground, investment in crime reduction and a good partnership with OPD that allowed them to be more efficient. These are the obvious gains. We don’t have the budget for it, so we’ll look to funding from the city of Oakland and put whatever resources we have in the (Montclair) Village toward continuing it.

“Merchants in the area are still struggling, and, to be honest, some might not make it, so we don’t want to see people taking their money out of the area because they don’t feel safe. An investment in this type of program in Oakland’s General Fund will pay for itself with increased economic activity throughout the city. If given the opportunity, that’s how I will present it to city officials.”

Lou Fancher is a freelance writer. Contact her at lou@johnsonandfancher.com.

Mimi Brown is all three, and she’s got the acreage to prove it.

She and her husband, Ed, founded and operated the wildly popular Flower Flour bakery in San Jose’s Willow Glen for 14 years, before selling the business in 2017 to devote full time to their Wine Country venture, the Napa Farmhouse Inn in St. Helena, with its lodgings and 3-acre garden.

Now she’s back, with a new bakery in the original building, and this time she has bushels of produce with her. We talked with her about her organic philosophy and what customers will find in the pastry case and on the breakfast and lunch menus.

Q You’re driving from the Napa Valley farm to the San Jose bakery — and back — six days a week. Why is it important to you to invest that time and effort? 

A First of all, I own the Willow Street building, which needed a modern renovation. Second, I am now a seasoned organic grower and have over 100 fruit trees and a one-acre kitchen and cut-flower garden, as well as an established herb potager and orangeries. I long to put all my beautiful produce to good use. Third, I am a passionate gardener, baker and chef and love being creative.

I also care deeply about my community and my customers. Nothing brings me more joy than harvesting the perfect produce and creating healthy food and beautiful cakes for my customers. Since my return, I have received tons of former customers welcoming me back to the Willow Glen neighborhood. It is so unexpected and extremely heartwarming.

Q Your new bakery is called Paris Avenue. What’s behind the name? 

A My vision for Paris Avenue is a charming French bakery inspired by the French markets. One that is full of beauty and charm. The atmosphere is welcoming, and the customer is cared about. It’s a place you love to go for coffee or tea and enjoy a beautiful treat and take home a cake.

Q Right now, you are featuring the cauliflower you grew in your homemade soup, the broccoli you grew in the quiche. There’s a tray of persimmon cookies — baked with persimmons from your trees — in the bakery case. What will the spring harvest bring? 

A I grow most of my vegetables from seeds. In the spring, there are strawberries and mulberries, radishes, peas, Swiss chard and more broccoli. There will be more beautiful lettuces — every few months, I plant about 400 assorted lettuces — and edible flowers for salads as well. Radishes always find their way into my sweet-and-sour pickles, which is a signature here. Of course, peas will make a beautiful bisque, perhaps paired with big chunky potatoes, which we also grow. The broccoli is showcased so beautifully in our quiche terrine. Our rhubarb and strawberries make beautiful tarts.

Q And what about the summer harvest? 

A Summer is abundant. The heirloom tomatoes will be the stars of BLTs and tomato salads. The French Charentais melons also steal the show as part of our French market salads. There will be a lot of “today’s lunch specials” as summer’s bounty comes into play. Of course, peaches will find their way into custard-filled fresh peach tarts. And plums are delicious in flans.

Q What are some of the top customer favorites that you are again making on Willow Street? 

A Organic persimmon cookies, jam bars and jam cookies, our signature chocolate cake (the Midnight Ruffle), blueberry buttermilk scones, cinnamon buns, our soup du jour, Waldorf tuna sandwich and apple strudel with, of course, organic apples from our orchard.

Q What about new creations? 

A The Opera cake, chocolate and almond cake with mocha mousse, is brand new and beautiful, the Parisian Strawberry cake is new and the Guava and Mango have a new French flair. Our soup du jour is always seasonal.

Q Which cake is your best seller?

A The Raspberry Chocolate cake is our most popular cake. It is a delicious, all-red stunner, with chocolate cake, raspberry mousse, a chocolate band, raspberry glaze, chocolate ruffles and fresh berries.

Q You also specialize in wedding and special-event cakes. What’s the most interesting request you’ve had? 

A We once did a huge 10-tier cake for a community event that towered over all of us. It was quite the show.

Q What’s the most popular baked breakfast item? 

A Cinnamon buns, of course.

Q OK, last question. When do you ever find time to sleep? 

A Gardeners and bakers don’t sleep. We just daydream about all the beautiful things we can grow and create!

Details: Paris Avenue is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday at 896 Willow St., San Jose; www.parisavenue.me

Either way, if you weren’t a dessert person before this, you will be after reading this take on the region’s hottest new bakeries — from a Walnut Creek shop crafting Romanian specialties to an Oakland cheesecake house and a Santa Clara bakery where a couple has found their encore career in Portuguese recipes.

East Bay Bakery, Danville

Across the street from Blackhawk Plaza, this stand-out bakery with the simple name has been wowing locals with its sweet and savory offerings since it opened in July. Glass cases display in jewel-like fashion the laminated croffles, curry puffs and pretzels that have become proprietor-baker Gaby Lubaba’s signatures. East Bay Bakery has no seating but the counter offers views of the open kitchen, where the bakery crew prepares Lubaba’s unique spins on danishes, cookies and croissants. (We recently spied both a baklava croissant and a pastrami-cheese version.)

Lubaba, who made our 2022 list of Rising Stars, offers a wide selection of classic treats and fresh baked breads, too, including rye brownies and a craveable olive fougasse. But there is a certain magic in the seasonal items — hello, pistachio chocolate escargot — and treats inspired by her native Indonesia. Be sure to get your hands on the crispy beef curry puffs filled with real curry leaves. They go fast.

The treat: Made from buttery croissant dough, the croffle ($5) is a crowd-favorite that taps into something deeply nostalgic. The crispy, almost caramelized outside leads to a chewy, satisfying interior that’s buttery and not too sweet. Perfection.

Details: Open 8 a.m.-2 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. weekends at 6000C Crow Canyon Road in  Danville. Also Saturdays at the Orinda Farmers Market and Sundays at the Walnut Creek Farmers Market; https://theeastbaybakery.com

LeLe Cake, Los Gatos

Elena Leskina says she’s pretty fearless when it comes to challenges — whether it’s “new business, new skills, new country.” An electrical engineer by trade, she taught herself how to bake intricate desserts by watching YouTube videos during her young daughter’s two-hour naps back in Moscow. When she and her family immigrated to the U.S. five years ago, she opened a commercial kitchen.

Last June, she launched LeLe Cake, a cute all-day cafe where brunch is as popular as the pastries and custom cakes. It’s worth waiting for a table to try one of the Euro-style dishes that customers rave about — the Syrniki (Russian cheese pancakes) with berries, perhaps, Homemade Salted Salmon Toast or the Gruyere Waffle with goat cheese and onion marmalade.

If you didn’t save room for dessert, stop at the bakery case for a takeout order of, say, Kartoshka (chocolate cake “truffles” topped with fruit), Pavlova or Trifle. The full-size cakes are multi-layer, highly decorated beauties with selections such as the Choco Girl, Poppyseed & Lemonade, flaky Napoleon cake or the Sever, a Norwegian national favorite topped with meringue.

The treat: The star is Leskina’s version of the Medovik, a Russian honey cake layered with fresh raspberries and a light white chocolate and sour cream frosting. It’s available by the slice (three layers) or as a full-size cake (five or six layers).

Details: Open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily at 14178 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos; https://lelecake.me/

Crumble & Whisk, Oakland

Charles Farrier’s somewhat random entry into the bakery world came when a coworker asked if he could contribute to a potluck dinner. “I was like, ‘Sure.’ I brought a cheesecake. Everyone loved it,” he recalls.

That revelation triggered a slow and deep dive into the art of baking, with Farrier studying cookbooks, experimenting with different styles of cheesecakes, and then distributing them at barbershops and businesses along Oakland’s MacArthur Boulevard and later at farmers markets. This December, he opened a brick-and-mortar location in the Laurel District, where he prepares not just the confection that put him on the map but scrumptious pastries, artfully decorated cookies and so much more.

“This is about building up community, so people can get to know me as a neighborhood staple,” Farrier says. For his breakfast peeps, he has coffee cake, overnight oats and huge cinnamon buns with a jiggly, custard-like frosting. (Try to get them hot.) Folks celebrating a special occasion – or who just want to treat themselves – can order his super-creamy cheesecakes in full and puck-sized versions, with vegan options to boot. And for dinner, you can pick up a flaky-crusted pot pie and a banana pudding that’d fool your Southern grandma, with vanilla wafers and the obligatory toupee of whipped topping.

The treat: The much-lauded cheesecakes are not dense but rather melting, creamy delights with seasonal surprises. Cold weather might see a maple-pecan crumble or apple-cider cake version with chunks of fruit. In the summer folks, rave about the blackberry and corn cheesecake, made with a puree of off-the-cob kernels, thyme and brown butter.

Details: Open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at 4104 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland; www.crumbleandwhisk.com.

Little Sky Bakery, Menlo Park

For years, Tian Mayimin was focused on the law. Since 2017, it’s been all about leavening.

In the beginning, the self-taught baker delivered her naturally leavened breads, baked in her Menlo Park home kitchen, to neighbors. Then she became the darling of the Peninsula and South Bay farmers market circuit with her creative lineup of loaves. Next came pop-ups. And soon she set her sights on a dedicated brick-and-mortar.

Last March, she and her team opened a storefront location on Santa Cruz Avenue near the Caltrain station. Late in the year, she expanded the hours of their indoor pop-up at the State Street Market in Los Altos, all while maintaining a strong farmers market presence. They staff 16 markets every week, with four seasonal ones starting up again this spring.

With the expansions came more innovation. Pistachio Bundt Cakes and Caramel Nut Tarts for the holiday season. Roman-style flatbreads. Baozi, yeast-leavened, filled buns. Open-face lox sandwiches on European rye. Jalapeno Cheddar Rings. A signature Challah made with orange juice and honey and brushed with olive oil. And Volkornbrot, the hefty German loaf nicknamed the king of seeded breads. Some creations are available weekly; some rotate into the lineup.

The treat: The popular Raisin-Walnut loaves go fast. And keep your eye out for batches of the Provencal herbal flatbread called fougasse.

Details: Open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily at 506 Santa Cruz Ave. in Menlo Park, with a permanent indoor pop-up at State Street Market in Los Altos; https://littleskybakery.com/

European Delights, Walnut Creek

Since opening in July on Walnut Creek’s east side, this bakery has become a haven for European expats and others craving Italian coffee and classic pastries without gobs of frosting or other sugar bombs. From the open kitchen, Romanian co-owner and head baker Rica Zaharia, a native of Transylvania, greets customers with a smile and talks them through the day’s fresh bakes while the Lavazza brews on the counter.

The glass case holds a medley of goodies, like almond and honey shortbread, apple morning buns and giant, 7-inch cookies packed with caramel and chocolate chips. Some items, like the covri dog, a frankfurter wrapped in golden pastry dough, are a nod to Zaharia’s Romanian roots. Others are collaborations between Zaharia and staff baker, Vida. One such creation, the tiramisu cookie, features pastry cream sandwiched between soft, round ladyfinger-like cookies.

The treat: We’re big fans of the börek. Thin, flaky, phyllo-like pastry dough is filled with ham, vegetables, cheeses and other savory ingredients. Our favorite is the mushroom ($5), which has flecks of herbs and a distinct truffle flavor. Keep an eye out for heart-shaped treats in February.

Details: Open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday and until 2 p.m. Sunday, at 2236A Oak Grove Road in Walnut Creek; https://european-delights.com.

Max’s Cakes, Hayward

This classic, family-owned bakery opened five weeks ago and has already added much-needed pizzazz to downtown Hayward. Horchata cheesecake and café de olla and buñelo cupcakes, nods to baker Max Soto‘s Mexican-American heritage, line the pastry case alongside cookies and brick-sized slices of his Instagram-famous layer cakes. Those cakes come in five flavors, including coconut cream, burnt almond and confetti, and are already proving to be top sellers.

After ordering your dessert, take a seat — or a selfie inside the giant picture frame against the white subway-tiled wall. Or spend some time admiring the historic black and white photos of downtown Hayward lining the walls. Soto appeared on Buddy Valastro’s “Big Time Bake” in 2020 and became the youngest contestant ever to win a “Food Network” competition. There are some pretty cute photos of him eating cake as a baby, too.

The treat: You have to get a slice of cake ($8). Two, actually. The 24-Karrot cake is super moist, topped with cream cheese frosting and brimming with shredded carrots and toasted walnuts. If you’re a lemon fiend, Lemon Supreme, a lemon cake layered with lemon curd and vanilla buttercream, is your jam.

Details: Opens at 11 a.m. Wednesday-Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday-Sunday at 1007 B St., Hayward; https://maxscakesofficial.wixsite.com

Portuguese Tasty Desserts, Santa Clara

What’s new in Santa Clara is delightfully old school: a bakery specializing in nostalgic Portuguese recipes that made their way from the Azores to the Bay Area many decades ago.

When Teresa and Nelio Defreitas retired from school district careers (she as a kitchen supervisor, he as a campus maintenance manager), they decided to resurrect her parents’ Portuguese Bakery, which had been in business locally for more than 40 years. They found a spot and opened a year ago.

“This is what we love to do, especially the interaction with the customers,” she said. “We have such an amazing mix in this community.”

Customers come from as far away as Sacramento for the pillowy Portuguese sweet bread, pastel de natas (custard tarts), rice pudding, a rich, smooth flan and other goodies. The malasadas — the Portuguese doughnuts so popular in Hawaii — are available in 12 flavors (including guava and custard) on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Know you won’t have time to cook for that upcoming potluck? They will bake to your specifications. “Bring me your Pyrex dish and I’ll fill it up with rice pudding,” Teresa said.

The old-school touches extend beyond the recipes. Walk in and you’ll be welcomed, as all customers are, with a complementary cup of coffee, sweet bread samples and conversation. You won’t walk out empty-handed.

The treat: Biscoitos, the not-too-sweet cookie rings, come in almond, lemon, cinnamon, anise, chocolate and other flavors and are perfect for dunking in coffee or snacking.

Details: Open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday at 1085 El Camino Real, Santa Clara; www.facebook.com/PortugueseTastyDesserts/.

Simurgh, Emeryville

If you took a bagel, crusted it in sesame seeds and stretched it out like one of those old-timey hoops kids pushed with a stick, you’d get simit. Every Turkish city has shops hawking simit – and around here, there’s no better place to try them than Hatice Yildiz’s cafe that opened on San Pablo Avenue in late 2022.

A daughter of Istanbul restaurateurs who took an interesting journey to baking – she got a PhD in religious studies in Berkeley – Yildiz makes simit that’s crackling outside, soft and stretchy inside and kissed with the smoke of the oven. Order it with lox and cream cheese or, more traditionally, with tahini and grape molasses. There’s charred-top rice pudding, too, and baklava with housemade phyllo and imported “emerald” pistachios, famous for their startling green hue and nutty-fresh taste. Try the chocolate version, whose honey and bitter cocoa notes somehow improves on the original.

A heartier bite can be found in boreks, quichelike pies with fillings of goat cheese, mushrooms and kale, and stuffed eggplants that were sun-dried in Turkey. Yildiz plans to diversify her savory side this year with lahmacun, as well, a thin flatbread topped with minced beef, peppers and herbs and baked to perfection. (Just don’t call it “Turkish pizza.”)

The treat: The Russian/Ukrainian honey cake is a masterfully constructed slab of housemade graham crackers, condensed milk and brown butter. The sweet-sensory overload is like sticking your head in a honeybee hive, without the bees.

Details: Open daily from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at 4125 San Pablo Ave. in Emeryville; www.simurghbakery.com.

Forest & Flour, Fremont

Many Bay Area residents with dietary issues have found sweet salvation at Sway Soturi’s farmers market booths over the past few years. Now the San Jose wellness entrepreneur can offer a larger menu of organic and gluten-free, dairy-free, peanut-free, soy-free and corn-free savories and sweets to a broader audience at her new cafe in Fremont’s Mission San Jose district.

“We try to make things that people would miss,” said Soturi, who started baking allergen-friendly fare for herself. Take, for example, monkey bread and soup. Her Monkey Party muffins are as ooey-gooey as expected, thanks to a coconut-sugar caramel. The creamy, satisfying Clam Chowder is made with chicken broth, coconut milk and cashews, which naturally add an interesting nutty tone.

You’ll also find gluten-free muffins (carrot, matcha and seasonal), baguettes, brioche, chocolate chip cookies and more. For lunch, she and her team offer congee and French toast too.

By the way, this greenery-filled cafe is located near Mission Peak, which is good to keep in mind if you need fuel for a trip up or replenishment after coming down.

The treat: The big hit is the aromatic Lavender-Lemon Bread. It’s available by the loaf or as a small toast order, with a side of locally made Rose Petal Jam. Soturi also showcases other like-minded Bay Area purveyors.

Details: Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday-Friday and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday at 43587 Mission Blvd., Fremont; https://forestandflour.com/.

Bake Sum, Oakland

As a kid, Joyce Tang loved to eat at bakeries in Oakland’s Chinatown. “When I got older, I didn’t really feel like I saw anyone iterating those types of flavors at the patisseries I’d visit around the Bay Area,” she says.

Her solution: Quit a Facebook job, land an internship at a three-star Michelin restaurant in Spain, then come back and start her own bakery specializing in memories from her childhood. The philosophy at Bake Sum is pastries should not just be beautiful (though they are, wonderfully so), but also meaningful to a staff of predominantly Asian and female bakers.

“We always try to find nostalgic flavors that speak to us and our upbringings,” Tang says.

Walk into the charmingly decorated shop in Grand Lake and you might see lilikoi “mochi bites” and loco-moco danish with a meat patty, gravy and runny egg. There’s a croissant and Spam musubi crossover called a “crusubi” and an okonomiyaki danish with garlic oil-roasted mushrooms, Kewpie mayo and furikake. It all sounds hearty, but with the skill of the bakers in making delicate, flaky doughs, you’ll be ready for seconds in no time.

The treat: The green-onion croissant is a popular offering that blends two styles of scallion pancakes from Northern and Southern China. It has a pleasantly bready, oily and crunchy exterior, with a soft interior of scallions, toasted sesame oil and sea salt.

Details: Open 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday-Sunday and 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday and Monday at 3249 Grand Ave. in Oakland; www.bakesum.com.

Moves, expansions and other new-ish bakeries to check out:

Lolita Bakery Cafe: Silvia Leiva Browne has supplemented her Hillsdale Shopping Center location, which opened in 2018, with a larger retail shop where fans of Argentinean baked goods can find her alfajores, empanadas and more. 3790 S. El Camino Real, San Mateo; www.lolitaalfajores.com

Republic of Cake: This longtime Orinda bakery known for cupcakes moved to Danville in 2022, expanding its offerings to include more pastries, quiches, sandwiches and ice cream. 730 Camino Ramon, Suite 196, Danville; www.republicofcake.com

Wingen Bakery: Peek into a new bread room and enjoy extra seating with a bistro-style menu of breakfast and lunch items at this recently-expanded Livermore bakery known for bread and pastries. 50 S. Livermore Ave., Livermore; www.wingenbakery.com

Ono Bakehouse: The East Bay’s only dedicated Hawaiian bakery has been open since Dec. 2020 and continues to wow with malasadas, savory ham-and-pineapple buns and tropical Queen Emma cake. Best to pre-order. 1922 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley; https://ono-bakehouse.square.site

Sunday Bakeshop: StarChefs 2022 Rising Star Award winner Elaine Lau marries classic French training with the Asian flavors of her childhood for magically nostalgic treats that have mass appeal: White Rabbit cookies, a char siu croissant, Thai tea milk buns and halo halo cake are all stunners. 5931 College Ave., Oakland; www.thesundaybakeshop.com

“They’re still my customers,” says Soto, now 22. “They liked seeing a young entrepreneur doing his thing.”

But the road to pastry stardom wasn’t always sweet.

“I faced a lot of stigma when I was younger,” he says. “In school, I was told this was a job for a female, and that I should become a doctor or lawyer. That hurt a lot. But I never let it deter me.”

You might say he showed them. In 2020, at the age of 19, Soto became the youngest contestant ever to win a “Food Network” competition when he took top prize for a four-foot architectural masterpiece on “Big Time Bake.” Now, he’s just opened a brick and mortar bakery, Max’s Cakes, in downtown Hayward, selling his cookies, cupcakes, cake pops and classic layer cakes.

At the ribbon cutting, the city honored Soto for being the youngest homegrown entrepreneur and business owner downtown Hayward has ever had.

“Being able to open in my hometown and break these boundaries and stigmas has really been the cherry on top,” Soto says.

Located inside a former ice cream shop at 1007 B St., Max’s Cakes is polished yet distinctively old-timey. The interior is decked out in hardwood floors with black accents, including a monochromatic chandelier dripping with whisks. There’s a giant picture frame for selfies, historic photos of downtown Hayward and an overall family vibe, from the party-hatted baby pictures of Soto eating cake to the gaggle of Soto relatives working the cash register.

In the pastry case, snickerdoodle and chocolate chip cookies are displayed alongside horchata cheesecake, cinnamon-scented cafe de olla cupcakes, massive brownies and brick-sized slices of coconut cream, speckled confetti, luscious lemon and burnt almond layer cakes.

“We wanted to create an old-fashioned bakery with classic recipes and feel-good food,” he says.

The “we” is his family, including mom, Monica, and dad, Mario, who co-own Max’s Cakes and have always encouraged their son. Soto announced he wanted to be a professional baker when he was 9 years old. He started taking those custom orders at 14 and grew his skills, eventually mastering everything from a two-tier vanilla “Encanto” cake with strawberry filling to cakes replicating objects, like Air Jordans, a Louis Vuitton bag and a 1964 Chevy Impala.

“Any type of material I needed, any time of night, my mom would take me to Michael’s or Target, no questions asked,” he says.

The “Food Network” win and a subsequent appearance on Hulu’s “Baker’s Dozen” in 2021 fueled the custom cake business — and a two-year waiting list. On “Big Time Bake,” the producers nicknamed Soto The Cake Gangsta for his winning Roaring ’20s-themed speakeasy cake, complete with fondant money and a life-size tommy gun made of rice cereal. He got dinged on the cupcake round, though. His barrel-topped cupcake had too much whiskey.

“I was too young to taste it, unfortunately,” he says. “But the nickname stuck.”

The day he turned down 40 orders, Soto knew he had to open a bakery. It took two years to find the right location — he was determined to stay in Hayward — and get the family trained and ready to run a bakery. Soto’s best friend, Kristy, is the general manager, and his sister, Vanessa, and cousins help out, too.

“Food is such a big thing in our culture,” he says. “That’s how we show our love and get our comfort.”

Despite his early stardom and work ethic, it’s not “dessert mogul” that Soto sees in his future. It’s teaching.

“I want to teach young people how to bake and be a resource for them, so they feel supported to pursue their dreams,” he says.

Details: Opens at 11 a.m. Wednesday-Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday-Sunday at 1007 B St., Hayward; https://maxscakesofficial.wixsite.com

Yes, the chickens have come home to roost nationwide — if they could roost in a factory farm system that denies them even basic instincts — and consumers are feeling the pinch. Here’s why.

A highly infectious and deadly strain of avian influenza virus has infected tens of millions of birds across Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Outbreaks of avian influenza, also known as bird flu, can lead to significant mortality in infected flocks. It also makes every single bird on a property subject to “depopulation,” which is just a clinical way of describing the mass killing and discarding of the remaining animals.

In the United States alone, the bird flu virus has triggered the deaths of more than 50 million domestic chickens since last February. And sadly, the factory farm system, which values profits and volume over everything else — including the welfare of the individual animals trapped in it — is creating ideal conditions for large-scale outbreaks.

It’s common for large egg-producing operations in the U.S. to house hundreds of thousands or even millions of hens. These operations are highly automated and use battery cages or similar types of housing systems to keep the hens confined. These cages are typically small, crowded and may contain up to 10 hens, with each hen having an amount of space equivalent to less than a sheet of letter-sized paper. The hens are unable to express many of their natural behaviors, such as spreading their wings, nesting and perching, and they are subjected to various forms of physical and psychological stress.

Thankfully, California voters approved Proposition 12, which sets minimum standards for the confinement of hens and other farm animals, but with almost 80% of U.S. eggs still produced in the “conventional” way, the demand for cage-free eggs far outstrips what farms can supply.

Whether it’s part of an intention to make more animal-friendly choices or simply to save some money, consider reducing your use of eggs this January and beyond. The Just Egg product mentioned as a punchline in the Chronicle article actually happens to be an excellent alternative, and makes a delicious scramble or omelet. But if commercially available, ready-made substitutions aren’t your thing, there are many alternatives to eggs that can be used in cooking and baking. Some popular options include:

• Banana. Mashed banana can be used as a binding agent in recipes, such as cookies and quick breads.

• Applesauce. Like banana, applesauce can be used as a binding agent and can add moisture to baked goods.

• Flax or chia seeds. Ground flax or chia seeds mixed with water can be used as an egg replacer in recipes.

• Silken tofu. Tofu can be used as a substitute for eggs in recipes like quiches and omelets.

• Aquafaba. The liquid from a can of chickpeas can be whipped and used as an egg replacer in recipes like meringues and mousses.

Keep in mind that egg substitutes may affect the texture and taste of the finished product, so it may be necessary to adjust the recipe or expect a slightly different result.

January is a great month to try new things, so why not make this small change that can help animals every day of the year?

Carina DeVera is the digital marketing manager for Marin Humane, which contributes Tails of Marin articles and welcomes animal-related questions and stories about the people and animals in our community. Go to marinhumane.org, find us on social media @marinhumane, or email lbloch@marinhumane.org.

Fools are a wonderful way to showcase seasonal fruit. In the spring and summer, berries, such as strawberries and raspberries, are mashed and folded into the cream. In the winter, citrus takes center stage in the form of a curd.

A fruit curd is a thick spread or sauce made with fruit, eggs, butter and sugar. A good curd is bright and puckery, so any fruits with a little zing or tartness, such as lemons, oranges, grapefruit and passion fruit are great contenders.

This fool is a billowy trifecta of whipped cream, Meyer lemon curd and crumbled meringue, unabashedly folded together and layered into a glass, parfait-style. The brilliant yellow curd ripples through the cream, providing a jolt of sweet and tangy citrus. Consider it a little sunshine in a glass.

Meyer lemons are at their peak in the winter months. They are brighter, sweeter and less acidic than Eureka lemons, which are more commonly found year-round. Eureka lemons can be substituted for the Meyer lemons.

Meyer Lemon Fools

Makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

4 large egg yolks

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup fresh Meyer (or Eureka) lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

2 ounces prepared or store-bought vanilla meringues, about 6 (2-inch) meringues

Meyer lemon slices for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Fill the bottom of a double boiler with 1 to 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then lower the heat to a bare simmer.

In the bowl of the double boiler, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and salt. Place over the double boiler and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the curd thickens and coats the back of the spoon (about the thickness of hollandaise sauce), 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until the butter melts before the next addition. Transfer the curd to a glass jar and place a piece of plastic wrap on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or up to 1 week).

Beat the cream and sugar until soft peaks form. Add 1/4 cup curd and, using a spatula, gently fold into the cream, leaving some streaks of the curd visible. Crumble half of the meringues into the mixture.

Spoon a thin layer of remaining curd into the bottom of 6 (4- to 5-ounce) glasses or Mason jars and sprinkle a thin layer of crumbled meringues over the curd. Divide half of the cream between the glasses. Add a drizzle of lemon curd to each glass, then top with the remaining cream.

To serve, top each glass with a dab of lemon curd and a few pinches of crumbled meringues. Garnish with a lemon segment, if desired. Serve immediately.

Lynda Balslev is a San Francisco Bay Area cookbook author, food and travel writer and recipe developer.

Bay Area tech firms may be slashing jobs, but the outlook for domesticated junglefowl work is promising despite the egg shortage. In a newsletter this week, the Bay Area’s beloved bagel entrepreneur Emily Winston asked customers to set aside the table scraps this week in consideration of her growing compost. She needs an army of Boichickens.

“What we clean out of the bagel kettle and trough every day is a mess of wet cooked cornmeal and seeds,” wrote Winston, who is opening her 18,000-square-foot West Berkeley bagel warehouse and cafe in February. “I think it could be great chicken feed.”

Not just any chicken feed. These are toppings of bagels deemed the best in the country, not just by us but by the all-knowing, cream cheese whisperers in New York City.

The seeds and onion bits get washed off cutting boards throughout the day, making a sort of Everything polenta when mixed with the cornmeal mush.

“It’s very fancy,” Winston says. Did she taste it? “I did and it was really wet. It has potential as food.”

Coffee shops give away grinds for your garden. Who’s thinking about the chickens? The Boichickens. Winston is.

“There’s some concern about the onion bits,” she says. “But I talked to some people and they said it was OK.”

Winston, who has shops in Berkeley and Palo Alto, with a Santa Clara location opening this year, says she has already gotten interest from chicken owners. But it is still just a pilot program, and in Berkeley only. Swing by 3170 College Avenue and ask for some. They may give you a whole bin.

“Pick up a bagel, (have your chicken) lay an egg and put it on,” she says.

The controversy erupting from mere talk of banning gas stoves has sparked a culture war that’s about more than politics— it’s about food. And it boils down to one question: Which cooks better, gas or electric?

For most home chefs forced to choose between gas ranges that heat quickly or electric-coil stoves that are inefficient and ugly, the answer is simple: gas. But there’s a third option: induction stoves, which heat with a tightly controlled magnetic field rather than a flame.

On this, even professional chefs are divided. California chef Andrew Gruel, who owns American Gravy Restaurant Group, says induction stoves are “just less efficient” than gas ranges. But Chef Rachelle Boucher, of the Building Decarbonization Coalition, says: “I can boil water or sear a steak or cook something twice as fast on induction.”

What they can agree on is that cooking is an emotional topic.

“When it comes to cultural topics that are close to our hearts and stomachs — mine are one and the same — people have some pretty big opinions,” Gruel said.

The issue raises some genuine cultural questions, too. For instance: Can authentic Chinese food be cooked without a flame or a wok? Can an electric stove produce the quick sear essential to certain cuisines?

Chef and and sustainable cooking consultant Christopher Galarza, who traces his ancestry to a tribe in the Amazon rainforest, says cooking his family’s recipes is a way of connecting with that heritage. “When folks say, ‘You’re trying to change how I cook,’ they think you’re trying to come after my heritage, my past.” But Galarza, who’s opened the country’s first all-electric campus kitchen, argues that traditional cooking doesn’t have to be done in traditional ways, such as over coals or wood.

The debate is front and center after a member of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said this week that the government could  prohibit gas stoves to curb indoor air pollution. Blowback from lawmakers was so severe that the agency’s head walked back the idea days later.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.

Millions of chickens have gone unfed as rail disruptions delay corn shipments to a California poultry farm, according to documents that provide unique details of how one shipper has suffered from poor rail service.

Foster Farms, which processes about 1 million chickens and 12,000 turkeys every day, has said it’s had to pause some operations because of delays from Union Pacific Corp., the second-largest freight railroad in North America.

The supply issues also forced the company to shut down a plant that processes raw corn into animal feed to sell, it said in federal filings. That meant cutting off its dairy farm customers from corn meal and giving priority to its chickens, which start killing each other when they go hungry.

After a flurry of correspondence that offers unfiltered insight into shippers’ problems with rail service, the US Surface Transportations Board ordered Union Pacific on Dec. 30 to deliver more corn-laden trains to Foster Farms.

This is the second time in the past year Foster Farms has asked the rail regulator to intervene directly because of Union Pacific’s failure to deliver animal-feed trains on time. It’s also the latest in a long-simmering tussle between shippers and railroads, which have seen profits rise even as carloads dwindle.

“These service failures, which began in February 2022, have resulted in numerous instances where Foster Farms has suspended its production and distribution of feed for tens of thousands of dairy cattle and tens of millions of chickens and turkeys,” the company said in a letter to the regulatory agency.

Suppliers like Foster Farms complain they have no viable alternative to using rail and can be captive to one carrier. Disturbances to these operations could potentially risk supplies for major food retailers including Costco Wholesale Corp. and Walmart Inc., which stock Foster Farms products.

The Livingston, California-based processor, which is owned by Atlas Holdings LLC, says it is the largest chicken grower in the Western US, with about $3 billion of annual sales. It said it resorted to hauling supplies by truck, but couldn’t find enough capacity and faced soaring costs. It takes 400 trucks to handle the same amount of grain as one 100-car train.

Foster Farms declined to comment beyond statements in public filings.

“Union Pacific is working closely with Foster Farms, providing daily updates and delivering the trains addressed in the order,” the railroad said in an emailed statement. “We continue to experience significant weather delays, including washouts in California, blizzards in the Midwest and rockslides in Nevada.”

Michael Booth, an STB spokesperson, said: “The Board is reviewing all relevant information and determining if further action is necessary.”

Service Breakdown

Union Pacific has been at the forefront of a recent nationwide rail service breakdown that has plagued all carriers including Warren Buffett’s BNSF Railway Co., its closest competitor in the West, and CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. in the East. Railroads have pointed to difficulties hiring train crews since the pandemic hit, along with usual disruptions such as weather and derailments.

Shippers and unions say the problems began with an industrywide cost-cutting push about five years ago that slashed workforces, closed switching yards and parked locomotives. The five largest US-based rails had a 7% drop in carloads versus a decade ago. Under an efficiency strategy known as Precision Scheduled Railroading introduced in the US in 2017, the railroads revamped customer schedules and slashed costs.

“You can only cut so far and they’ve already cut more than they should have, especially as far as employees,” said Daniel Elliott, a principal with GKG Law and a former chairman of the Surface Transportation Board.

The decline in carloads over the last decade coincided with a windfall for the railroads. Net income for the five largest carriers jumped by 75% over the past 10 years. Adjusted operating profit margins rose to a record 41% in 2021 from less than 16% two decades ago.

After successful deregulation legislation in 1980 that rescued railroads from the brink of bankruptcy, carriers became more productive and improved service, allowing profits to rise as shipping rates fell. A wave of consolidation that also followed reduced the large railroads operating in the US to seven from about 40, transforming the competitive landscape.

The railroads’ power to affect service to its customers makes shippers hesitant to publicly criticize rail companies, according to trade groups. The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers said in a Dec. 15 written testimony that its members are “fearful of potential backlash” and one declined to provide service information for the STB’s hearing on Union Pacific “since such testimony could be linked back to their company leaving them vulnerable to retaliation or other subtler recourse from UP.”

The Surface Transportation Board is seeking to correct the imbalance, but has limited power. In December, it called on Union Pacific to explain a spike of service-limit notices designed to alleviate network congestion.

“It’ll be interesting to watch what happens over these next couple of years and see if the railroads do take a little bit of a turn” in their strategy, Elliott said.

‘Every Minute Now Counts’

“We are about to kill millions of chickens,” said Phil Greene, vice president of Foster Farms, in a June 14 email to a Union Pacific executive. “Every minute now counts as we try to save lives. You have never put us in this situation 5 days late with no inventory and 40 to 50 million chickens to feed.”

The next day, Foster Farms filed its petition for an emergency service order. The railroad replied to the petition by accepting blame for poor service and proposed a plan to divert locomotives and crews to increase the trains. Chief Executive Officer Lance Fritz weighed in to spur action.

“Foster Farms is a vitally important Union Pacific customer. However, we have failed to provide adequate service to Foster Farms,” Fritz said in a June 16 letter to the regulator. “I am writing to convey Union Pacific’s firm and clear commitment to providing Foster Farms the service it deserves and the service we expect to provide.”

On June 17, the board unanimously granted Foster Farms’ petition, directing Union Pacific to supply the required trains and report on their status for 30 days. After the 30-day period, the board declined to extend the order. By October, Union Pacific again wasn’t providing enough trains to keep corn stocks fully replenished, Foster Farms said.

The winter storms in December exacerbated the problem and Foster Farms again had to truck in grain in attempt to feed its and customers’ livestock. This time Union Pacific blamed the weather. The board on Dec. 30 ordered the railroad to deliver five grain trains that Union Pacific said would arrive by Jan. 3.

“With the exception of one train, UP did not deliver the five trains on the schedule it represented to the Board and to Foster Farms,” the poultry producer said in a Jan. 4 letter.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.

Paris Baguette: This Asian-inspired Parisian bakery and cafe concept continues its Bay Area expansion with its first and only Contra Costa County location. Tri Valley and South Bay residents already have a taste for Paris Baguette’s large variety of fresh-baked breads, gourmet pastries — hello, curry croquette and sugar mochi doughnut — salads, gourmet sandwiches and cakes. Soon, you will, too. Opening: Mid-February. 124A/B Crescent Drive, Pleasant Hill; www.parisbaguette.com

Morgan Territory Brewing: Tracy’s state-of-the-art craft brewery is making its way west. At the second location, you’ll be able to partake in a large and comprehensive program of award-winning beers, including porters, hazy IPAs, amber ales and much more. The Tracy location has Taco Tuesdays with food trucks and weekend events, too. Opening: Early summer. 14A Crescent Drive, Pleasant Hill; https://morganterritorybrewing.com

Small Cakes: This small Danville bakery is bringing its wide variety of cupcakes and dessert jars to downtown Pleasant Hill. In addition to a rotating cupcake of the day, they offer a dozen flavors, some quite unique, including Caramel Crunch, Boston Cream Pie and Hot Fudge Sundae. They do gluten-free and minis cupcakes as well. Opening: April. 9B Crescent Drive, Pleasant Hill; https://smallcakesdanville.com