Librae is part of a nationwide shift that’s been building for years, as bakers push back against rigid expectations of authenticity—and incorporate their lived experiences into their work. Breadbelly, which opened in San Francisco in 2018, blends Asian ingredients and baking traditions with Californian influences, leading to creations like dulce de leche-filled sesame cookies and focaccia topped with mapo tofu. In Chicago, the Filipino restaurant Kasama, which opened in 2020 to much fanfare, fills its pastry case with matcha-pandan eclairs and decadent foie gras danishes, along with more traditional European offerings; and Third Culture Bakery in Berkeley has been turning out kimchi and cheese-topped mochi waffles and chewy, many-flavored mochi donuts since 2018.
This movement was fast-tracked in the early days of the pandemic, as dedicated pastry roles in restaurants became scarce. Pastry chefs needed work, and selling their boxed-up goods online was a way to stay afloat, but for some, being freed from the confines of restaurant menus also created space to experiment and stretch out. They harnessed their creativity into dishes like street corn focaccia and Spam musubi-inspired croissants.
Now, an entire constellation of hard-to-define bakeries is reshaping what baking looks like in America. The nine bakeries on this list exemplify this movement, imbuing their work with an unmistakable flair and sense of personality. They’re helmed by people who value experimentation and self-expression over strict ideas about what does and doesn’t belong in a scone, a concha, or any number of classic pastries.
At Comadre Panadería in Austin, baker Mariela Camacho has updated the classic Barbie-pink sheet cake of her youth to incorporate local grain and a coat of prickly pear buttercream. In New Orleans there are king cakes that pull apart like braided babka, and in Detroit, puffy Roman maritozzi filled with makrut lime whipped cream. These bakeries offer something much more rare than a precisely laminated croissant: pastries with a story to tell. The kind worth waiting in line for. —Elazar Sontag, restaurant editor
This list is organized alphabetically.
Ayu’s kaya bun, filled with coconut jam.Photograph by Brittany Conerly
With its light blue façade, white shuttered windows, and stately columns, Ayu Bakehouse blends in with the historic architecture of downtown New Orleans. But inside the space is sleek and modern, with a display of pastries that deftly nod to local flavors and pull from those of New York, Southeast Asia, and beyond. From the dining room, there’s a clear view of the workstation where bakers spin out flaky red bean rolls, muffuletta breadsticks, and kaya morning buns. The bakery’s take on the iconic king cake is a braided crown of babka, a nod to New York’s Breads Bakery, where co-owners Kelly Jacques and Samantha Weiss met. Boudin, the famed Cajun pork and rice sausage, makes an appearance as well, sandwiched between layers of laminated dough alongside soft-boiled eggs for something akin to a ham and cheese croissant—or maybe a Hot Pocket. These combinations might not be traditional to New Orleans, but they make perfect sense in one of America’s most diverse and thriving food cities. —Kate Kassin