Buyers closed on the sale of Point Reyes Station’s artisan bakery, Brickmaiden Breads, this week. While the business is changing hands, the new owners say their goal is to honor the legacy that founder Celine Underwood spent over two decades building.
“We love what Celine has built here and we understand that the community loves what she does, so to come in and change everything would not be the right thing,” said Darcy Matteucci, who is buying the business with her brother, Daren Dick, and a partner, Ron Cook.
Ms. Matteucci will take Ms. Underwood’s place as the new head baker. Trained at the California Culinary Academy, she was head pastry chef at Comforts in San Anselmo for 18 years and most recently worked at Good Earth Natural Foods. When her brother proposed buying the bakery, she said it was a “no-brainer.”
“I’ve been baking for other people my whole life and so the opportunity to do it on my own, from my own business, was very exciting,” she said.
The siblings grew up in Forest Knolls and have been Brickmaiden customers since Ms. Underwood started the business in 2000. Mr. Dick, who worked in the biotech industry with Mr. Cook, says when he learned the bakery was for sale, he worried about what would happen to his favorite bread, and decided to buy the business to preserve it.
The team says their goal in the transition is to continue serving customers the same menu items they love and expect. Many of the employees from the bread team are staying on staff, so they’re confident in their ability to continue baking the bread true to Ms. Underwood’s recipe. They plan to dial back on some of the pastry and savory items while they master those recipes, and hope to return to the full menu by July.
“The first and most important thing for us is to make sure that the things that people have come to expect to see when they come into the shop are still there,” Mr. Dick said. “We can’t promise that it will all be perfect right from the start, but that really is our approach: to make sure that the bakery is still there as is before we start adding any of our own flavors.”
Ms. Matteucci said she wants to get to know the community before incorporating any new recipes. “I really feel like you need to know the business and know the people that you’re serving before you can add things, right, because it’s all about them,” she said.
About half of Brickmaiden’s employees, many of whom work in the front of house and kitchen, are leaving. While the new owners hire new staff and learn the ins and outs of the business, they plan to cut store hours for the first few months. For now, they will be open only on weekends from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The team will continue vending at the Civic Center Farmers Market on Thursdays and Sundays and at the Mill Valley Farmers Market on Fridays. They also plan to sell at the Point Reyes Farmers Market when it opens in June, though they might miss the first few weeks.
Mr. Dick and Ms. Matteucci agree that although there is a lot to learn, they are up to the challenge of serving their favorite baked goods to their hometown community. Ms. Matteucci says Brickmaiden’s spelt chocolate chip cookie is her new favorite cookie, and Mr. Dick can’t get enough of the classic sourdough baguettes.
“We love the bread so much that we’re buying the bakery,” Mr. Dick said.