The Bakery Boom: A Guide to Minnesota’s Best Bakeries

Courtesy of Rush City Bakery

Why are bakeries booming in Minnesota while restaurants in general are still struggling? “It’s an affordable luxury,” says Sarah Botcher, chef and owner of Black Walnut Bakery. “Compared to a sit-down restaurant, it’s low commitment, too.” You can pop in, have a coffee, hang out, not talk to anyone—or you can find community over a Kouign Amann.

Razava Bread Co. just opened on Grand Avenue, Diane Moua’s pastries are a key part of her outstanding new Diane’s Place in Northeast Minneapolis, and newly arrived national brands like Tous les Jours and Paris Baguette are packing in crowds in the suburbs. With such a bounty of boulangeries, we’ve got you covered with places we see as on the rise.

Masters of Bread

• Brake Bread: Thrived as a pandemic-era bike delivery, now baking beautiful sourdoughs and special breads like the fabulous Wilhelmina Rye with caraway, fennel, and coriander. 1174 Seventh St. W., St. Paul, brakebread.com

• Duluth’s Best Bread: A New York Times food writer and his younger brother with a master’s degree in math team up; Robert and Michael Lillegard make the best bread in Duluth. Multiple locations in Duluth, duluthsbestbread.com

  

  Courtesy of Duluth's Best Bread

• LAUNE Bread: This is the bread of Minneapolis—with local grains and flour, and local yeast and bacteria, Chris MacLeod and Tiff Singh specialize in nutty, earthy, rich flavor. 3605 E. Lake St., Minneapolis, launebread.com

• Mother Dough Bakery: I dream of David Fhima’s sourdough, made with a starter he brought to America from Paris that Fhima says is 130 years old. Multiple locations in Minneapolis, motherdoughbakery.com

• Rustica Bakery: The OG—now led by Shawn McKenzie and her team, Rustica’s baguette and Levain Loaf are the local legends. 3220 W. Lake St., Minneapolis; 200 Southdale Center, Suite A, Edina, rusticabakery.com 

• Sun Street Breads: The Great Northern, the Figgy Rye, the Kingfield Sourdough—just incredible attention to detail by baker Solveig Tofte and her husband Martin Ouimet. 4600 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, sunstreetbreads.com

Photo by Jeff Wheeler

True Artists of Pastry

• Black Walnut Bakery: Sarah Botcher is a wizard of laminated pastry—the Almond Croissant, the Croissant Loaf, the Kouign Amann! Her palate, plus her obsessive technical talent, makes this one of the best bakeries in the country. 3157 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, blackwalnutbakery.com

  

  Courtesy of Edelweiss Baker

• Cooks | Bellecour: The Vanilla Crêpe Cake stands alone, layer after luscious layer, but I also adore the Bread Pudding, Pain au Chocolat, and the Everything Croissant Twist. Gavin Kaysen and his team create incredibly consistent and delightful bites. Multiple locations in Edina, Minneapolis, and St. Paul, cooksbellecour.com
• Diane’s Place: Diane Moua is our most awarded pastry chef, and her new restaurant is a triumph. It’s far more than pastry, and yet that pastry is also spectacular—creative fillings, impossibly light and buttery doughs, and a balance between sweet and savory that puts flavor at the forefront. 117 14th Ave. NE, Minneapolis, dianesplacemn.com
• Marc Heu Patisserie Paris: It is almost impossible to avoid taking a photo of everything you buy from French-Hmong pastry chef Marc Heu. The pistachio Paris Brest, the Passion-Fruit Raspberry Tart, the Chocolate Saint-Honoré! Spectacular.
  156 Dale St. N., St. Paul, marcheuparis.com
• Patisserie 46 and Rose Street Patisserie: John Kraus is internationally known. He’s part of a prestigious society of pastry chefs, among the best chocolatiers and bakers in the world. The Chocolat Cake with dark chocolate mousse is emblematic of his genius—simplicity executed at an unbelievably high level. 4552 Grand Ave. S., Minneapolis; 171 Snelling Ave. N., St. Paul, patisserie46.com

Courtesy of Diane's Place

The Sweetest Treats

• A Baker’s Wife: Cake donuts are killer, but don’t miss the American tea cake. 4200 28th Ave., Minneapolis
• Bread & Chocolate: Best brownies and bars on the East Side. 867 Grand Ave.,
  St. Paul, breadandchocolatebakery.com
  

  

  Courtesy of Bread & Chocolate

• The Buttered Tin: Alicia Hinze’s pies. Period. 237 Seventh St. E., St. Paul; 2445 NE Marshall St., Minneapolis, thebutteredtin.com
  
• Durango Bakery: Mexican conchas, elephant ears, pan dulce—sabroso!
  2418 Central Ave. NE, Minneapolis
• Honey & Rye: Anne Andrus makes killer monkey bread, coffee cake, and an awesome morning bun. 4501 Excelsior Blvd., St. Louis Park, honey-and-rye.com
• Trung Nam French Bakery: The croissants capital of Frogtown. Bring cash. 739 University Ave. W., St. Paul, trung-nam.squarespace.com
  

  

  Courtesy of Trung Nam French Bakery