Seastar Bakery
The bakery's interior, 2022
Restaurant information
ClosedAugust 14, 2022 (2022-08-14)
Owner(s)
  • Katia Bezerra-Clark
  • Will Fain
  • Annie Moss
Street address1603 Northeast Killingsworth Street
CityPortland
CountyMultnomah
StateOregon
Postal/ZIP Code97211
CountryUnited States
Coordinates45°33′46″N 122°38′56″W / 45.5629°N 122.6489°W / 45.5629; -122.6489
Websiteseastarbakery.com/index.html

Seastar Bakery was a bakery in Portland, Oregon, United States. Annie Moss and Katia Bezerra-Clark owned and operated the business, which shared a space with Handsome Pizza in northeast Portland's Vernon neighborhood starting in 2015. Seastar served breads, cookies, pastries, and toast, among other baked goods. Despite garnering a positive reception and being deemed one of the city's best bakeries by Eater Portland and Portland Monthly, Seastar closed in August 2022.

Description

Exterior sign, 2022

Seastar Bakery shared a space with Handsome Pizza in the One Stop Building in northeast Portland's Vernon neighborhood.[1] The businesses used a custom wood-fired oven built by Hot Rock Masonry of Eastsound, Washington.[2][3]

Seastar's menu included breads (challah, rosemary cornbread,[4] rye, sourdough), cookies, English muffins,[5] pastries, buckwheat scones, and toast.[6] Toast toppings included fruit, coconut-honey butter, and honey-nut butter, as well as coppa, pickles, and fried egg.[7]

In 2019, Matthew Korfhage of Willamette Week wrote, "Starting in the morning, Seastar Bakery makes pizza-dough-muffin breakfast sandwiches, plus obscure-grain pastries and fancy toasts so fancy they almost don't seem like toast anymore—using spelt and cornbread and rye and something called kamut-sesame, made with grain first discovered in the tombs of the Pharaohs."[8]

According to Eater Portland, Seastar "uses Pacific Northwestern flours and Oregon produce in its flavorful breads, chewy cookies, and ultra-flaky cinnamon rolls, but what really sets Seastar apart is its use of savory herbs and spices in its baked goods — we're talking sage in a glaze on a molasses cookie, or turmeric in a moist muffin."[9]

Seastar used Camas Country Mill flour for croissants.[10] On weekends, Seastar served chai lattes, as of 2021.[11] The drink menu also included coffee, hot chocolate, and tea.[4]

History

Interior display case, 2022

Katia Bezerra-Clark and Annie Moss, who were friends and colleagues at Tabor Bread,[12] owned and operated Seastar with Will Fain of Handsome Pizza starting in 2015.[1][13][14] Fain had previously operated Handsome Pizza at the North Station food cart pod from 2011 to January 2015. Property development of the site caused him to relocate a few blocks east.[15]

In January 2017, Seastar and twenty other female-owned businesses collaborated on cookie boxes, raising funds for Planned Parenthood ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration.[16]

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Seastar stocked baking ingredients such as eggs, flour, and yeast.[5] The bakery reportedly sold 600 pounds of Camas Country Mill flour in two days in April 2020.[17] Seastar was open for take-out and outdoor dining during the pandemic, but owners did not allow indoor dining until all staff were vaccinated.[18] Face masks were still required, as of April 2022.[19]

In 2022, owners announced plans to close on August 14.[20][21][22] The pizzeria No Saint moved into the space which had housed both Seastar and Handsome Pizza.[23][24]

Reception

Cookie from Seastar Bakery

In 2017, Samantha Bakall included the fancy toast Little Beirut in The Oregonian's "cheap eats" list of "99 delicious dishes for $10 and under".[25] Michelle Lopez included the Patsy's Biscuit in Eater Portland's 2018 list of "15 Portland biscuits that would make any Southerner proud".[26] The website's Nick Townsend included Seastar a 2021 list of "11 places to find charming chai lattes in Portland". He described the chai latte as a "hidden gem on the menu" that is "distinctly peppery and restrained in its sweetness".[11] Lopez and Brooke Jackson-Glidden included Seastar in a 2022 list of "outstanding bakeries in Portland and beyond".[9]

Portland Monthly included Seastar in a 2022 "opinionated guide" to the city's best bakeries. Katherine Chew Hamilton wrote, "These grain-centric baked goods are part free-spirited Portland and part French finesse, united by a love for butter."[27] She, Matthew Trueherz, and Karen Brooks also said, "Restaurant industry burnout is a real thing... We'll remember [Seastar Bakery and Handsome Pizza] for pastries including the turmeric Zena cakes, cinnamon rolls, and apricot-cardamom tarts, while pizza toppings ranged from ricotta to za’atar, plus pay-what-you-can cheese pies."[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Centoni, Danielle (2015-01-23). "Handsome Pizza Teams Up with New Seastar Bakery to Open on NE Killingsworth". Eater Portland. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 2017-03-11. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  2. ↑ Bakall, Samantha (2015-08-06). "First look: Handsome Pizza and Seastar Bakery in Northeast Portland". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on 2022-01-09. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  3. ↑ Russell, Michael (2015-01-23). "Handsome Pizza finds new location in NE Portland, partners with Seastar Bakery". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  4. 1 2 Fodor's Inside Portland. Fodor's Travel. 2020-04-07. ISBN 978-1-64097-251-3. Archived from the original on 2023-05-03. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  5. 1 2 Lopez, Michelle (2020-04-13). "How to Get Desserts for Delivery or Takeout in Portland Right Now". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  6. ↑ Stevenson, Jen (2017-04-18). Portland Family Adventures: City Escapades, Day Trips, Weekend Getaways, and Itineraries for Fun-Loving Families. Sasquatch Books. ISBN 978-1-63217-100-9. Archived from the original on 2023-05-03. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  7. ↑ Walsh, Chad (2015-08-17). "Handsome Pizza Gets a New Home; Shares Space With Seastar Bakery". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  8. ↑ "How Handsome Pizza Got Too Fancy for Its Own Good". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on 2022-03-03. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  9. 1 2 Lopez, Michelle (2015-12-01). "Outstanding Bakeries in Portland and Beyond". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2021-06-03. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  10. ↑ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (2021-12-22). "The Flour Mill Behind Portland's Best Bakeries and Pizzerias". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2022-01-03. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  11. 1 2 Townsend, Nick (2021-01-28). "11 Places to Find Charming Chai Lattes in Portland". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2021-10-29. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  12. ↑ Halloran, Amy (2015-06-26). The New Bread Basket: How the New Crop of Grain Growers, Plant Breeders, Millers, Maltsters, Bakers, Brewers, and Local Food Activists Are Redefining Our Daily Loaf. Chelsea Green Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60358-568-2.
  13. 1 2 "The Most Notable Portland Restaurants and Carts that Closed in 2022". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on 2023-02-02. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  14. ↑ Bakall, Samantha (2015-08-08). "The top 10 Portland food stories of the week: July 31 - Aug. 7". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  15. ↑ Waterhouse, Ben (2015-09-08). "Handsome Pizza rises again in NE Portland: Cheap Eats". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  16. ↑ Bakall, Samantha (2017-01-07). "All-star Portland chefs bake cookies for Planned Parenthood". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on 2022-08-22. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  17. ↑ Teel, Emily (2020-04-20). "Quarantine baking trend has Oregon mills running overtime, home bakers hunting for flour". Statesman Journal. Archived from the original on 2022-06-26. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  18. ↑ Hamilton, Katherine Chew (2021-03-11). "Restaurant Calls Out Governor Brown over Lack of Vaccine Access for Workers". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on 2021-05-15. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  19. ↑ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (2022-03-30). "A Running List of Portland Restaurants Still Requiring Masks". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2022-04-24. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  20. ↑ Wong, Janey (2022-08-03). "Portland Legends Seastar Bakery and Handsome Pizza Will Close This Month". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2022-08-03. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
  21. ↑ "Handsome Pizza and Seastar Bakery Will Close August 14". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on 2022-08-03. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  22. ↑ Wong, Janey (2021-01-20). "Portland's Restaurant, Bar, and Food Cart Closures". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  23. ↑ "The Hottest New Restaurants and Food Carts in Portland, April 2023". Eater Portland. 2015-04-02. Archived from the original on 2022-06-13. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  24. ↑ Wong, Janey (2022-11-30). "Portland Pizza Pop-Up No Saint Didn't Just Open a New Restaurant — It Opened Two". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  25. ↑ Bakall, Samantha (2017-03-01). "99 delicious dishes for $10 and under around Portland". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on 2021-01-20. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  26. ↑ Lopez, Michelle (2018-06-19). "15 Portland Biscuits That Would Make Any Southerner Proud". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2021-05-10. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  27. ↑ Brooks, Karen; Hamilton, Katherine Chew (2022-04-08). "Portland's Best Bakeries, Ranked". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on 2022-04-14. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
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