Aug. 26, 2025—Call it a case of following gourmet bread crumbs.
Details on the new occupant of the former Izakaya West End, which departed Ingalls Street in Westside Santa Cruz at the end of last month, were sparse.
But there was a whisper from a reliable source, and the fact a nearby neighbor enjoys a big name and a tiny space, so the move made sense.
Which inspired Edible Monterey Bay to make some calls and confirm the appetizing news: Yes, Avery Ruzicka and Manresa Bread team have signed the lease.
Manresa’s current Santa Cruz location occupies 300 square feet—”a postage stamp!” Ruzicka has called it, with affection—and distributes bread, laminated pastries and a few to-go items in an art-appointed and well-lit room.
It debuted November 2022 as part of a brisk brand expansion that included the all-day cafe/flagship Los Gatos shop launching a week previous and Manresa Bread Palo Alto throwing open its doors the previous spring.
“I’m relieved to have [Los Gatos] open, and very excited for the Santa Cruz store!” Ruzicka told EMB’s Laura Ness at the time, as part of a piece headlined “Santa Cruz Manresa Bread ‘Mini Shop’ to Open Nov. 7.” “COVID really impacted the supply chain, but things have a way of working out the way they are supposed to.”
The Manresa Bread family of bakeries now numbers five, with additional places in Los Altos and Campbell.
Celebrated chef, cookbook author and Santa Cruz resident David Kinch partners on Manresa Bread, as part of a long—and Michelin-starred—career that inspired Edible to call him the area’s most famous chef.
Along the way he has earned a reputation for guarding information about his projects to maximize control over the narrative. Ruzicka sounds content to continue the tradition, declining repeated requests for any details on the West End space and reiterating, “We have nothing we want to share yet.”
The property at 334 Ingalls St. Unit D—which for years played home to West End Tap before channeling the izakaya vibe—will offer a dramatic uptick in square footage, with multiple potential dining spaces, a big kitchen and a sizable bar area.
It will also allow Kinch and Ruzicka to deepen their connection with the city they call home, which evokes something she told EMB when their smaller Ingalls shop first materialized: “We have wanted to do this forever!”
More at manresabread.com.
About the author
Mark C. Anderson, EMB's managing editor and "Found Treasures" columnist, welcomes responsible and irresponsible feedback. Correspond via mark@ediblemontereybay.com.
