Photos by Emma Marie Chiang

GARDEN BAKERY

嘉頓餅家

GARDEN BAKERY is a small mom and pop bakery that has prepared fresh Chinese buns & pastries daily for over 30 years. On any day, many locals enjoy the small space, chatting away, sipping fresh coffee, and nibbling on all kinds of fresh buns pastries. Their website also has online ordering.

They sell an assortment of traditional Chinese pastries on its wide counter display. Many patrons here enjoy the ‘sweetheart cake’ or ‘wife cake’ known in Cantonese as lo paw baang, a pastry with a thin flaky crust filled with winter melon, almond, or sesame paste, and spiced with five-spice powder. A groom’s family will gift the bride these pastries along with an invitation to feast, celebrate and bless the marriage. 

For the mid-autumn festival, Garden Bakery sells an assortment of mooncakes symbolizing the heavenly blessings of longevity and good health. Each province in China has its own distinctive mooncake style, with the ones sold in San Francisco Chinatown hailing primarily from the Guangzhou region, notable for their intricately carved molds of floral designs or classic folktale figures such as the Moon Goddess and Jade Rabbit. Known as yuet baang, mooncakes are given to family and friends in decorative boxes throughout the season. Traditionally eaten with tea, the round mooncakes have sweet centers with filled pastes of nuts, seeds, and citrus peels, and salted duck egg yolks symbolizing the moon. During the mid-autumn festivals, families eat a meal and mooncakes outdoors at night, contemplating the moon. 

Signature items: Egg Tart 蛋撻, Pineapple Bun 菠蘿包, Wife's Cake 老婆餅

Address: 765 Jackson / 765 傑克遜街

Hours: 8 am-8 pm, Open daily 每天開放

Phone: (415) 397-5838

Website: www.gardenbakerysf.com

Cash only