Seastar Bakery

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.

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
Coordinates45.5629°N 122.6489°W / 45.5629; -122.6489
Websiteseastarbakery.com/index.html

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. "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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