Old Companion

Old Companion Man can't live on bread alone, so bring a friend! Companion was created in 2006 with the help of a supportive community and out of the love of hearty sourdough.

In the early years Erin spent long days in the kitchen hand-mixing all of the dough, baking, packing and working the famers markets. The work of those long days was made lighter by the many hands of many friends. It seemed no one owned Companion, it was lead by the few of us that had the vision to see it through. You could say that Erin was last one standing —literally with dough up to her elbows.

Early relationships were formed with local farms to put lofty loaves of sourdough in CSA boxes and slowly a solid, loyal customer base was built. Today we still see the faces of our first customers. Companion thrives now because of this great foundation. A self taught baker, Erin loves a kitchen with aromas of cinnamon, butter and the tanginess of sourdough. She holds a degree in Agriculture & Fruit Sciences from Cal Poly State University. She continued her education at UCSC completing the CASFS (Center for Agro-ecology & Sustainable Food Systems) program. It was during this program that she brought her love for agriculture to the kitchen. In 2008 Erin met Jeremy and they fell in love over bread and avocados at the farmers market. Jeremy is the main reason Erin continues to bake. Not only does he love baked goods, but he has a love for great coffee. Jeremy brought caffeine to the business and he is the passion behind Companion's coffee bar. Most importantly he is the grounded, loving business partner that was needed for Companion to thrive. Jeremy spends his time co-managing Companion, working full time as a registered Dietitian and helping to raise their sweet daughter Annie Rye. In 2010 Erin & Jeremy found a home for Companion and opened the Bakeshop doors on the Westside of Santa Cruz. Much to their surprise the Bakeshop has been greeted with happy lines of customers that come back every day. These days, Companion is still run as a family; meaning the business has grown from 2 people to over 20 employees. We still can't believe it! Our employees are the butter to our bread. They have become the soul of Companion. Together, we work hard for our community, our food system and our love for turning great ingredients into delicious pastries and sourdough breads. For us, Companion Bakeshop is a love story. It is the story of a business that has so much heart and soul that it seems an anchor to our community. It's not often that you hear of a collaborative beginning like this, but we are thankful for ours and we open our doors each day ready to share it with you.

Mother's Day is just a week away and we'll be celebrating the weekend with a special pastry: Strawberry Shortcake! Avail...
05/06/2023

Mother's Day is just a week away and we'll be celebrating the weekend with a special pastry: Strawberry Shortcake!

Available next weekend at both of our shop locations, come and grab this delicious mix of strawberries, whipped cream, and pastry!

Plus our Mother's Day pre-orders are now live! We have vegetarian and bacon frittatas available for your weekend brunch and a very special Mother's Day Basket perfect for the baker in your life (or maybe even yourself!).

Click here for an update from Companion Bakeshop!

Upcoming Kid's Class!Check out our latest kid's class: a kid's pizza making party! Join us on Wednesday, May 10th from 2...
05/04/2023

Upcoming Kid's Class!

Check out our latest kid's class: a kid's pizza making party! Join us on Wednesday, May 10th from 2pm-4pm for a fun afternoon of making, baking, eating and playing with our food! We will teach and learn together how to make delicious pizza and enjoy being in the kitchen. Please note, this class is designed for kids between the age of 6-10.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP! (https://companionbakeshop.squarespace.com/classes-and-workshops/kids-cookie-party-ke22c)

UPCOMING KIDS SUMMER BAKING CAMPS

WEEK 1: CAMP COOKIES
Monday, May 29th, Wednesday, May 31st, and Friday, June 2nd from 9am-2pm.
Join us for our first week of Companion Kids summer camps. These camps are full days of making, baking, and playing with our food! Each day we will focus on making a variety of delicious cookies as we learn together in a fun and supportive space! These camps are designed to foster a love of food and of being in the kitchen. Each kid will go home with their very own Companion apron!

WEEK 3: CAMP PASTRIES
Monday, June 26th, Wednesday, June 28th, and Friday, June 30th from 9am-2pm.
Join us for our third week of Companion Kids summer camps. These camps are full days of making, baking, and playing with our food! Each day we will focus on making scones, teacakes, and muffins as we learn together in a fun and supportive space! These camps are designed to foster a love of food and of being in the kitchen. Each kid will go home with their very own Companion apron!

WEEK 4: CAMP BREADS 2
Monday, July 10th, Wednesday, July 12th, and Friday, July 14th from 9am-2pm.
Join us for our fourth week of Companion Kids summer camps. These camps are full days of making, baking, and playing with our food! Each day we will focus on making more bread as we learn together in a fun and supportive space! These camps are designed to foster a love of food and of being in the kitchen. Each kid will go home with their very own Companion apron!

Click here for an update from Companion Bakeshop!

Our newest class offering is Sourdough Basics!In this class we take you through the process of baking bread at home. We ...
04/29/2023

Our newest class offering is Sourdough Basics!

In this class we take you through the process of baking bread at home. We begin with the care and keeping of sourdough sourdough starter, then take you through the steps of mixing, fermenting, shaping and baking a delicious rustic loaf. You will go home with a sourdough starter and a loaf ready to be baked off in your oven after class, and a bread basket.

Wednesday, May 24th, 5:30pm-7:30pm
$125.00
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP (https://companionbakeshop.squarespace.com/classes-and-workshops/sourdough-basics)

Our Upcoming Companion Kids Summer Camps:

Week 1: CAMP COOKIES
Monday, May 29th, Wednesday, May 31st, and Friday, June 2nd. Camp days run from 9am-2pm.
Join us for our first week of Companion Kids summer camps. These camps are full days of making, baking, and playing with our food! Each day we will focus on making a variety of delicious cookies as we learn together in a fun and supportive space! These camps are designed to foster a love of food and of being in the kitchen. Each kid will go home with their very own Companion apron!

Week 2: CAMP BREADS
Monday, June 5th, Wednesday, June 7th, and Friday, June 9th. Camp days run from 9am-2pm.
Join us for our second week of Companion Kids summer camps. These camps are full days of making, baking, and playing with our food! Each day we will focus on making BREAD as we learn together in a fun and supportive space! These camps are designed to foster a love of food and of being in the kitchen. Each kid will go home with their very own Companion apron!

Week 3: CAMP PASTRIES
Monday, June 26th, Wednesday, June 28th, and Friday, June 30th. Camp days run from 9am-2pm.
Join us for our third week of Companion Kids summer camps. These camps are full days of making, baking, and playing with our food! Each day we will focus on making scones, teacakes, and muffins as we learn together in a fun and supportive space! These camps are designed to foster a love of food and of being in the kitchen. Each kid will go home with their very own Companion apron!

Week 4: CAMP BREADS 2
Monday, July 10th, Wednesday, July 12th, and Friday, July 14th. Camp days run from 9am-2pm.
Join us for our fourth week of Companion Kids summer camps. These camps are full days of making, baking, and playing with our food! Each day we will focus on making more bread as we learn together in a fun and supportive space! These camps are designed to foster a love of food and of being in the kitchen. Each kid will go home with their very own Companion apron!

Click here for an update from Companion Bakeshop!

We're very excited to share our class schedule for the next couple of weeks! Spring Pie Making Workshop$125.00Sunday, Ap...
04/20/2023

We're very excited to share our class schedule for the next couple of weeks!

Spring Pie Making Workshop
$125.00
Sunday, April 23rd 2023 1:00-3:00pm
Our upcoming class for adults is all about pie! In this workshop you will learn the essentials of pie baking. We will hone in on making an all butter pie dough, weave lattice, and mix up a delicious fruit filling. To sign up for the workshop or for more information, click here (https://companionbakeshop.squarespace.com/classes-and-workshops/holiday-pie-lab-r7d2x) !

Our Spring Kids' Classes

Kids' Cookie Party!
$85.00
Wednesday, May 3rd 2023 2:00-4:00pm
Join us for a fun afternoon of making, baking, eating and playing with our food! We will teach and learn together how to make a variety of delicious cookies and enjoy being in the kitchen. Please note, this class is designed for kids between the age of 6-10. Click here (https://companionbakeshop.squarespace.com/classes-and-workshops/kids-cookie-party) to sign up!

Kids' Pizza Making Party!
$85.00
Wednesday, May 10th 2023 @ 2:00-4:00pm
Join us for a fun afternoon of making, baking, eating and playing with our food! We will teach and learn together how to make delicious pizza and enjoy being in the kitchen. Please note, this class is designed for kids between the age of 6-10. Click here (https://companionbakeshop.squarespace.com/classes-and-workshops/kids-cookie-party-ke22c) to sign up!

Click here for an update from Companion Bakeshop!

We're honored to be participating in Knead Peace, a global baking initiative in support of Ukraine. Founded by chef Andr...
04/08/2023

We're honored to be participating in Knead Peace, a global baking initiative in support of Ukraine. Founded by chef Andrew Green with the idea that the baking community has the power to make a difference, Knead Peace benefits bakeries in Ukraine which have continued to stay open and serve their communities during the conflict.

This weekend we baked a special flax seed loaf from the Knead Peace cookbook. This recipe is from Anna Makievska and The Bakehouse Kyiv. A portion of the proceeds from these flax seed loaves will be donated to the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal of the Disasters Emergency Committee, a collective of humanitarian organizations helping to support communities in crisis around the globe.

If you're interested in learning more about Knead Peace, visit kneadpeace.org (https://www.kneadpeace.org/) !

Click here for an update from Companion Bakeshop!

11/15/2022

We’re thankful for you!

There is still time to place your pie, bread & pastry pre-orders for the 2022 Thanksgiving Holiday. We love being your neighborhood Bakeshop and are thankful for your support always. Wishing you all a wonderful Holiday season.

Click here for an update from Companion Bakeshop!

Fall is finally here and we've got some PIE for ya!Visit our website or come into one of our bakeshops to purchase your ...
10/13/2022

Fall is finally here and we've got some PIE for ya!

Visit our website or come into one of our bakeshops to purchase your Thanksgiving pies and treats for your holiday table.

Click here for an update from Companion Bakeshop!

Insider's Club: Edition 2 -
08/25/2022

Insider's Club: Edition 2 -

Welcome to our Insider's Club Newsletter, we're so glad you could join us for a sneak peak into what's going on at the Bakeshop!

Insider's Club: Edition 1 -
03/11/2022

Insider's Club: Edition 1 -

Welcome to our Insider's Club Newsletter, we're so glad you could join us for a sneak peak into what's going on at the Bakeshop!

Our shortbread gift bags are perfect for Valentine’s, galentines, or just as a festive pick me up! Featuring four delici...
01/28/2022

Our shortbread gift bags are perfect for Valentine’s, galentines, or just as a festive pick me up! Featuring four delicious shortbread cookies in Dark Chocolate Espresso and Lemon, and a $15 Companion giftcard. Preorder online, and pick up on February 13th!

Westside update: Back to door service until Sunday this week. Thanks for hanging in there with us. Staff shortages and e...
01/26/2022

Westside update: Back to door service until Sunday this week. Thanks for hanging in there with us. Staff shortages and employees needing to get tested....We will be open both locations 8-2pm with no bread for the remaining of the week. Never thought we would be back to door service- but here we are 😕 thanks for the support, we so appreciate it!

Dear sweet community, we have a few employees who have tested positive for covid this week at our westside shop. We are ...
01/25/2022

Dear sweet community, we have a few employees who have tested positive for covid this week at our westside shop. We are being extra cautious and have decided to pause our bread production for a week to allow our close contact staff to be tested.

With our remaining healthy and non close contact staff, We will still be able to keep our retail doors open for shortened hours this week 8-2pm. We will have pastry and coffee service only, no bread or toast bar. Once our staff has time to get tested and come back safely, we will re open our bread production and be back at it with our full team. Thank you for understanding our staffing shortage and for your immense support always!

Address

2341 Mission Street
Santa Cruz, CA
95060

Opening Hours

Tuesday 7am - 3pm
Wednesday 7am - 3pm
Thursday 8am - 4pm
Friday 8am - 4pm
Saturday 8am - 3pm
Sunday 8am - 3pm

Telephone

+18312522253

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