Found Treasure: Carmel Bakery in…Monterey

Oct. 3, 2025 – Talk about a tasty paradox.

This treasure turns out to be both high traffic and low visibility, small at first sight and big upon inspection, with a local celeb-level patriarch at its helm and a workingman’s hustle in its soul.

I did not plan on liking Carmel Bakery’s under-the-radar second location—which contrasts in interesting ways with the original CB-by-the-sea, while retaining a lot of parallel qualities—because I figured it wasn’t for me.

The vast majority of its clientele are visitors on the way to Fisherman’s Wharf or Monterey Conference Center convention attendees.

But then my Found Treasure consigliere, long time colleague, and new Edible contributor Stuart Thornton provided a little course correction.

And on the way to one of his tours, I found it heaven-sent too, with a few surprises flowing from its coffeepot.

What isn’t a surprise is how smooth, professional and dynamic the operation works.

This type of spot represents a core competency for one of the most established restaurant groups in the area.

Carmel Bakery slots into the Chef Pèpe portfolio, which includes popular venues Vesuvio, Little Napoli, Bar Napoli and Peppoli’s in Spanish Bay, but started with the OG Carmel Bakery way back in 1985, at a business that dates back to 1899.

Big personality Rich Pèpe worked the equivalent of full time at a bakery in high school, via shifts before and after class, in his native New Jersey.

Fast forward through his relocation to another Italian-American stronghold in Monterey, and years working in area bakeries…and he and his wife Sandra acquired Carmel Bakery, then set about gradually building out the dynasty that exists today.

What might be my favorite thing about the place keeps with his teenage work experience: It’s a pipeline for local youngsters to learn the hospitality game, with opportunities to move from the coffee shops to work in the family restaurants.

Onto the surprises, #1 being be how roomy CB2 is. Perhaps I was expecting a shotgun layout with limited seating, but there’s a whole side area with tons of tables, outlets and elbow room.

“It’s a nice place to hang out and study,” Gian Pèpe says, noting the hotel WiFi is solid.

Gian serves as CEO of his family’s Chef Pèpe business, though he acknowledges a more common title tends to be “youngest son.”

The coffee at CB2 earns respectable reviews. A fun side note there: It was localized—and upgraded—from beans sourced in Africa and South America, then shipped for roasting in Italy by famous label Lavazza, to java now arriving directly to Carmel Valley Coffee Roasting Company from the source and roasted and blended to Italian-style specs laid out by Carmel Bakery.

The Chef Pèpe website describes “bright, crisp flavors with hints of citrus and chocolate, balanced by smooth, medium acidity.”

The menu from there also provides a lot of territory to traverse, with a ton of baked goods and affordable croissant breakfast sandwiches with various sausage and bacon options, egg and cheese, which Thornton endorses with enthusiasm.

Leo Hernandez, who helps manage both Carmel Bakery locations, reports best sellers include cannoli, sea salt-chocolate chip cookies and the bread pretzels pictured in some bakery logos, and that customers in Monterey provide a change of pace from the local-leaning audience on Ocean Avenue in Carmel.

“Working in our industry is really fun in general,” Hernandez says. “And [at Portola] we get to meet people from all over the country and the world.”

Part of the joy of cruising around the Custom House section of the original capital of California is unlocking all the joys that come with playing tourist for a few hours.

Thornton and company lead tours throughout the adobes, gardens and historic firsts—like the theater—that populate that zone.

Part of the fun is experiencing some of the region’s restaurant heritage, like Mama Garcia’s Kitchen where John Steinbeck was a known regular.

(For more Steinbeck food-forward flavor, check out the current print issue’s “Eats of Eden: Traversing the lands, characters and foods that fed John Steinbeck’s soul,” and my remixes of Travels With Charley, with my own Charlie, across Watsonville.)

Part of the joy of tracking the Pèpe family arc, meanwhile, is how they’ve dipped into their own product projects with increasing ambition.

The current lineup includes pasta sauces, limoncello, wine, Pèpe’s Lab batch cocktails (overseen by Christian Pepe, Gian’s older brother) and a hot sauce that I didn’t know was a thing until I saw it on the shelves at the Monterey bakery.

Gian Pèpe keeps it real when describing that piece of the family’s food trade.

“I’m half kidding,” he says, “But we’re hoping one of our products hits it big one day and we can get out of restaurant business and just sell pasta sauce.”

Insiders understand the 50% joke: This crew isn’t quitting the game. They’re too good at it. And, perhaps more importantly, enjoy it too much.

That becomes clear when I share his son’s thoughts with papa Rich Pèpe, who along with his wife has been able to ease away from the demands of the family’s properties as his sons bear more leadership burdens—though Rich adds, when they’re not in Italy or Hawaii, “Sandra and I are working everyday.”

That why I’m betting, even if this family’s batch cocktails or pasta sauce go nuclear, they aren’t leaving the industry.

“You still have to have a sense of purpose, and something that excites you every day,” Rich says. “Even thought G and Christian can joke about how hard the business is, having the guests keep coming back, to make them happy, to fulfill their expectations, is meaningful. We like cooking and baking for people. When you have a lot of happy guests, it feels good.”

More at chefpepe.com.