Anne Moser started Backhaus like many of our makers do – in her home.
She was working as a free-lance translator after moving to California from Germany, and despite her stable job and supportive partner, she felt like something was missing.
Anne decided to try baking bread at home because she missed having a neighborhood bakery with fresh bread like those she remembered in Germany. With no previous baking experience, she never thought it would be possible to create delicious loaves of fresh bread, but after reading Chad Robertson’s Tartine Bread, and watching a Josie Baker Google talk, she baked her first naturally leavened, sourdough bread, and suddenly, everything changed.
Photography by Alana Ippolito
THE BEGINNING
With a cottage food license, Anne started selling pastries and bread to friends and family in April 2016. By June, her orders were too large to fulfill out of her home kitchen, and she moved into KitchenTown. KitchenTown was the perfect place for Anne to start scaling up her production. With industrial sized equipment, an artisan deck oven, and ample room for her growing operation, she was able to focus on baking and growing her business.
KITCHENTOWN
Anne started baking at KitchenTown solo, during the overnight swing shift. She started selling bread and pastries in the KitchenTown Cafe and at the San Mateo Farmers Market. Word quickly spread about her sourdough loaves and flaky pastries, and soon, customers were lining up for hours before the Farmers Market opened, and calling in to reserve their loaves of Backhaus bread. Her team grew from one baker to six.
WHAT SETS THEM APART
Like many of our Makers, Backhaus was born out of passion, curiosity, and courage. Anne took a chance on something she loved and was met with deep community support. “She leads with a passion for baking and serving customers and a curiosity that drives successful founders, and her bread is absolutely delicious”, says Rusty Schwartz, founder and CEO of KitchenTown.
Anne quickly saw that Backhaus was filling a need in the local community, a place for people to come together over food. Backhaus sparks conversations, facilitates relationships, and creates a way for people to relate to each other. Their brick and mortar shop in downtown San Mateo is expected to open in June 2019 and will be a place for Peninsulites to continue to gather, break bread, and build community.
Anne leads with a passion for baking and serving customers, and a curiosity that drives successful founders, and her bread is absolutely delicious.
CONGRATULATIONS BACKHAUS
“We couldn’t be more proud of Anne, Robert and the Backhaus team. Backhaus is definitely one of the finest startups to come out of KitchenTown”, says Schwartz. We are thrilled when our Makers graduate from KitchenTown to open their own spaces. Our mission to help build the future of food and shift the culture of eating is realized through our Makers. When they open their own cafe or start distributing nation-wide, we share in those successes. We work side by side with them, hold space for them to grow their businesses and do everything we can to support their journey. When they graduate, we stand next to them knowing that together we accomplished something really big, and that food really can change everything.
Backhaus’ new location is:
32 East 3rd Ave. San Mateo, CA
June 2 is the last day to buy Backhaus bread in the KitchenTown Cafe.
Backhaus will be selling at the San Mateo and Burlingame farmers markets June 1-2, then they are taking a few weeks to focus on getting their bakery up and running.
Backhaus is definitely one of the finest startups to come out of KitchenTown.