Breaking bread with Companion
Bakeshop’s Erin and Jeremy Lampel
 Jeremy and Erin Lampel. Photos by Freda Banks |
Gone are the days of the one-track mercantile. Garden nurseries serve single-drip coffee and small-batch ice cream…oh, and vintage shoes. Barber shops and antique stores double as wine bars at night and the next day offer quiches, host pop-up dinners, book signings and DIY terrarium workshops. Heck, even Safeway’s consolidated: get your groceries, find those flowers for Nana and grab a Starbucks before picking up your antibiotics and money order on the way out. The butcher is the baker is the candlestick maker.
Are we that pressed for time?
Maybe so. Or maybe we’re just connecting the dots; hybridizing our interests to see what may come of it and who will show up. It’s a quirky experiment, often fun but sometimes a little forced. Not at Companion Bakeshop in Santa Cruz. They’ve dialed in the multi-use retail model—and it’s working just fine.
Owner-husband-and-wife team Erin Justus Lampel and Jeremy Lampel opened their doors last year with the very intention of serving the community with much more than just bread, pastries and coffee. The two met in 2007 over avocados and bread at the Santa Cruz farmers’ market. Jeremy sold the green, warty fruit and Erin, her breads, which she began baking in 2004 while she completed the prestigious UC Santa Cruz Apprenticeship in Ecological Agriculture. Soon her baked goods were found in local farm CSA boxes and eventually, at farmers’ markets. In a big push, Nesh Dhillon, manager of the Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Markets, helped the Lampels find a commercial kitchen space where they could begin pursuing their vision of a dynamic, food and community-oriented business. “In this day and age, you can’t have a standard business model where it’s singular and do the things that people have done for years,” says Jeremy.
Indeed, Companion Bakeshop holds baking and parenting workshops (entitled “It’s Alright to Cry”), serves as a CSA pickup (Live Earth Farm, Freewheelin’ Farm, H & H Fresh Fish Co. and Fogline Farm) and hosts live music. On Tuesday evenings, its Community Pizza Night comes to life, when close friend and devout pizza maker Roland Konicke spins dough and local produce into tasty pies (we can say that because he hails from New York) for the masses at the restaurant’s long communal table.
Walking into the bakeshop, you can feel things are more interactive than at your usual café. There are no heads buried in laptops or ears glued to cellphones, no quiet mumbling over keyboard chatter, no nests of computer cables. People make eye contact, smile, converse, eat together. The definition of its name says it all: Com•pan•ion: “a comrade.” Its Latin roots imply “sharing bread with others.”
The space was even built entirely by their community of friends, family and neighbors.
OK, got it. This is a people-based business.
“Our community plays a huge role in making decisions,” says Erin. “Ultimately we are here for the community, and our goal is to see happy people. We want them to be inspired by what we do and of course enjoy it with their friends and family. When we think of making changes, we always think community first.”
This comes through in their product. Everything feels cared for and packed with flavor, attention to detail and a ton of heart. Sourdough croissants (the starter is from Santa Cruz, naturally), cinnamon- apricot bread, buttermilk scones, an assortment of wheat-free options are just a few of Companion’s offerings. Flour is sourced from nearby Pie Ranch in Pescadero (ground by hand in their German mill). Produce comes from local farms and meats from el Salchichero, just across the way. The espresso is from Santa Cruz’s Lulu’s Coffee, whose owner, Manthri Srinath, provided barista training and even helped them out behind the counter on Companion’s opening day.
This is the difference between hand-made and mass-produced.
“We really wanted to keep things on a smaller scale and make sure we knew what we were doing at all times and touch every loaf of bread as it comes out and see that the quality stays there,” explains Erin. The quality is there. If you’re able to make the trip to Companion Bakeshop, you will most likely learn something new, expand your community and eat great food.
Strangers are most welcome. And you are, too.
Cameron Cox is a general food enthusiast and divides her time between making and eating soup, chasing down the next best hot sauce and pretending cheese consumption is a viable substitute for cardiovascular activity.
About the author
At Edible Monterey Bay, our mission is to celebrate the local food culture of Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey Counties, season by season. We believe in sustainability, and we believe everyone has a right to healthful, clean and affordable food. We think knowing where our food comes from is powerful, and we hope our magazine, website and newsletters inspire readers to get to know and support our local growers, fishers, chefs, vintners and food artisans.
