A new bakery and market called Bread and Friends (website, instagram) is under development in Portland. Bread and Friends is the creation of two couples: Maggie and Tanner Rubin and Jessica Rattey and Jeremy Broucek, who all recently moved to Portland from the California where they worked in the bakeries and restaurants of the Bay Area including Tartine, State Bird Provisions and The Progress (more details below).
Bread and Friends will be an artisan bakery and specialty market that will serve a menu of breads, pastries, sandwiches, house-made products (spreads, jams, etc), prepared foods, and wine and beer.
The team plan to launch this spring initially selling through subscriptions, wholesale and at some local farmers’ markets. They are looking for a space to open a brick and mortar establishment by the end of 2021. The team shared with us that they “love how food can tell a story, and want to be a space where Portland can find approachable products that have integrity of ingredients and process, and where they can learn about the people behind their food.”
Tanner Rubin will be the head baker for Bread and Friends. He has spent a number of years in the Bay Area baking for Josey Baker Bread, Midwife and the Baker, and Tartine, and prior to moving West got his start at Publican Quality Bread in Chicago. Rattey, Broucek, and Maggie Rubin met when all three worked at the Michelin-starred State Bird Provisions and at its sister restaurant The Progress. Rubin was part of the admin and operations staff, Rattey worked front of house, and Broucek was the chef de cuisine at The Progress.
All four have worked together before on small projects and pop-ups and have wanted to expand on that experience on a larger scale. The impact of the pandemic on the restaurant industry accelerated the process of honing a vision for Bread and Friends and turning it into a reality. Broucek and Rattey are from New England and were drawn to Portland for the outstanding food scene and quality of life.
We miss bread and friends terribly since they left the Bay Area. Such an incredibly talented group. Portland is my happy place. Its food scene is as sincere as it is delicious.Thankful I have family in Portsmouth NH so I can come East and get my fix.