More to the Story

Bakeries were located in the Valley since its pioneer days. In 1849, Mathias Purcell's Bakery was. founded in the mid-block of First street East. Joshua Chauvet owned a bakery in Glen Ellen or Sonoma.

In 1885, Golden & Hunter's Union Bakery on West Napa was popular. George Golden sold delicious cakes, pies, nuts and candies. The bakery also had white, rye and brown bread.

By December, 1886, the German Bakery and Coffee House had opened on the East side of Broadway, just below Napa Street, Wagner and Weitz were the proprietors. In 1887, Otto Wagner was in charge and during the following year, August Schweikhardt became the proprietor. Pete Kiser still remembers the German Baker's excellent baked goods and candies from his boyhood Scbweikhardt was in poor health and forced to retire in 1917. The Schweikhardt Building stood on the site of the later Friberg's Drug Store. Its facade has been replaced, recently, with an old-looking store front.

Cottage Home Bakery in El Verano was operated by the Ammann family during the same period,

Buena Vista Home Bakery, run by Luke. A. Roth, provided "6 different kinds of health bread" by 1916. They were sold at Duhring's on First Street East

Mr. and Mrs. Rothmuller ran the Vienna Bakery in Fetters Springs for several years.

When the Sebastiani Building on First Street East was completed in 1933, Willett's Bakery was located in the Northern section and remained until late 1935. Then the Gordon family leased the space and opened a combination candy store, soda fountain and restaurant. Several restaurant operations followed.

Stoll and Son opened the Sonoma Sanitary Bakery in the former Sprouse-Reitz section of the Maffei Building on West Napa Street during October, 1940. Danish pastries, raised and potato doughnuts, cakes, cookies and rolls were sold. Cream puffs were five cents, lemon meringue pis were twenty-five cents and you could eat them on the premise. Stoll remained until 1950. Later, A. Cristophel managed the bakery.

In the 40's there was a French bakery on the West side of Broadway, located in the building that now has the yogurt shop in it, kind of near the Sonoma Valley Museum.  The bakery was run by the Dutil family. The Dutil's sold it to the Cossi family.The Cossi's left, and Santa Rosa's Burlington Bakery ran it as a satellite shop from their main store in Santa Rosa for a while. Then it too, closed.

At about the same time, the Bertolotti brothers, Pio & Puccio, had a bakery at 127 E Napa St. Pio committed suicide, and his wife leased the business to Izzio Mangiantini.Izzio Mangiantini later sold it to Dominic Carafa. (Somewhere along the way here, it became known as the Pioneer Bakery).

About 1956, Carafa left Pioneer Bakery, and Mrs. Bertolotti leased it to Gratien & Amelie (Lili) Guerra. About 1957 or so, the Guerra's moved to the Sebastiani building, at 460 First St. East.The Guerra's left behind the Pioneer name, and started the Sonoma French Bakery. They had new gas brick ovens installed, called Portable Ovens, by a German man from Oakland, Paul Metz. The ovens cost, at that time, $6,000.00. This bakery became Basque Boulangerie Café tracing its origins to 1956, when it first emerged as the Sonoma French Bakery.

In the early 1970's, two sisters living in Glen Ellen, opened a bakery in the newly created "Jack London Village" on Arnold Drive.  Soon, they were lured to Yountville shopping complex.  Their bakery became famous as "The Court of the Two Sisters" which they moved to San Francisco after a few years.  Sonoma Valley lost these superstars!

A new kind of bakery business opened in the late 1970's, Sonoma’s first bagel factory, Home Grown Bagels, which is still on West Napa Street.

Current bakeries:
Les Pascals Patisserie in Glen Ellen
Baker & Cook in The Springs
Sweat Pea Bake Shop in Sonoma