On a recent stay in Santa Fe, my brother texted something about a friend’s daughter’s bakery. We only had two days, so I ignored the message—until we were looking for a quick breakfast stop. From now on, I’m listening to my big brother. Bread Shop turned out to be a highlight, yes, for baked goods—its sour dough boules must be the best in Santa Fe, they’re that good. And also as a model of utilitarian chic.
Self-taught baker Jacob Brenner opened in January 2020 six weeks before the pandemic hit, with his brother, Zac, an artist, as his lone helper. The response was so wildly enthusiastic that Jacob’s wife, Mayme Berman, lent a hand during the daily rush—and soon became Bread Shop’s chief business and aesthetics officer. At the time, they were located in a tiny storefront across from their current location in a lively creative enclave known as Lena Street, aka the local’s alternative to Canyon Road. (Jacob’s parents happened to be the first to develop Lena Street in 1999—”it was a really rundown bus yard on a dead end,” says Mayme—and are their landlords.)
Bread Shop has since become a community hub assembled with help from friends and family: at the get-go Daniel Strongwater came up with the playful bread-shaped logo; Jacob’s mother, Rachel Watson, a ceramic artist who works a fews doors down, makes Bread Shop’s dishware; and regular Joey Blaha came up with the memorable curtains. If you’re in town, I’d make a beeline for Bread Shop and its neighboring shops and cafés. In the meantime, take away some shoestring remodeling inspiration.
Photography by Krysta Jabczenski unless noted, all courtesy of Bread Shop (@bread.shop.sf).
1. Learn from what was.
Above: Bread Shop is located in what was originally a welder’s workshop and its interior not reflects that. Fittingly, there’s also a metal canopy over the door and Corten Box Planters from Veradek in the front and back: “They’re sturdy enough to hold our wild summer displays but also look great (if a little brutalist) in the winter months,” says Mayme. Our neighbor and dear friend Rebecca Bluestone tends all the flowers and landscaping.”
2. Discover furniture designs on open-source sites.
Above: Bread Shop’s pastry case and counter are made of laser-cut birch plywood: the decorative crosses are actually structural elements. Mayme says in their first months, they found the design on an open-source site for free, tracked down a local woodworker with her own CNC router, and have since applied the approach throughout. “We like keeping the joints visible as an intentional flourish. The pieces are super exact and don’t require much glue or screws.”
Mayme wasn’t able to find the exact open-source design, but notes this CNC Plywood Table Project on Etsy comes close—and the plans for it start at $3.23.
Above: Plywood tables on castors were the first pieces Jacob and Mayme had built for the shop: “In the early days, they served as our counter, and later, during the pandemic, when we shifted entirely to window service, they became worktables. When we moved into our current location, we repurposed them as communal tables and built the service counter in the same style.” Metal garage shelving holds Bread Shop’s pantry offerings.
The couple added the concrete floor before moving in: “It was previously an exercise studio with slippery laminate floors that were essentially plastic and wouldn’t last,” Mayme tells us. “We didn’t want fake materials in here. The gray concrete brings it back to a calm, stripped-down workspace—and it never looks dirty.” As for their vintage metal ceiling lights, they’re hand-me-downs that came out of a friend’s basement. Mayme dreams of powder-coating them butter yellow.
3. Stick with hardworking, display-worthy everyday tools.
Above: Bread shop’s dish towels and aprons are from Linen Tales: “you can use and wash them, and use and wash them and they still look great,” says Mayme. “Jacob even uses the towels as potholders.”
Jacob learned to cook by working during college and after in several popular Portland, Oregon, restaurants. He started baking on his own—obsessively honing his skills through trial and error and by studying Tartine-founder Chad Robertson’s books and Maurizio Leo’s website, The Perfect Loaf. When The Perfect Loaf cookbook came out, Bread Shop held a book party for Maurizio, who lives in Albuquerque. Photograph by Kim Richardson.
Above: Bread Shop offers a few simple, well-made bread- and dining-related items—each voted on by the staff before making the cut. Mayme and Jacob designed the breadboards with loop handles (for use with Shaker pegboards) and had them fabricated locally. The $35 wood-handled bread knives are a restaurant-supply store find: “We wanted a workhorse rather than a brandname, because there’s no way to sharpen serrated knives, so they don’t last forever. We tested a lot and this one was the winner.”
4. Celebrate local talent.
Above: A Lena Street neighbor introduced Jacob and Mayme to Matt Pierson, who was about to start a mobile coffee biz. He fixed their broken coffee grinder; they invited him to pop-up on their back patio on Saturdays—and that led to Pivot Coffee’s permanent stand inside Bread Shop.
“We happened to have an extra work table that Matty retrofitted to house his espresso machine and accoutrements,” says Mayme. “He roasts his beans just down the road.” Pivot’s cups are different from Bread Shop’s so they don’t get mixed up—they’re made by Kimmy Rorhs, the mutual friend whose ceramics studio and shop, Whiskey + Clay, is right across the street. Kimmy also made the carafe/vase that holds the bread knives shown above.
Above: The dining area’s trio of still-lives—with breakfast, lunch, and dinner themes—are the work of Jacob’s brother, Zac Brenner, who painted them on commission. (Bread Shop’s metal tables and chairs were selected “partly due to their simplicity and partly due to budget; they’re easy to move and easy to clean”—source below.) Photograph by Kim Richardson.
Above: A sampling of Rachel Watson ceramics. “During the holidays, we sell a small cache of her candleholders and serving pieces,” says Mayme. Photograph by Kim Richardson.
5. Source well-priced shelves and chairs from restaurant and industrial suppliers.
Above: Mayme selected Bread Shop’s standard-issue metal garage shelves “to allow our ingredients and pantry items to take centerstage. I’ve thought about having custom shelving made, but it’s hard to commit to when these work so well.” As for their Tolix-style metal furniture: the Cafe Chairs, $44.99, and Backless Counter Stools, $37.49, are from Webstaurant: a Table and Four Chairs set is $318.99.
Mayme, 35, and Jacob, 37, both went to Lewis & Clark and met when they were living in Portland, Oregon, post-college and working in hospitality: Mayme was in sales for craft breweries and a winery before they fully launched Bread Shop. They moved together to Santa Fe: “It was a landing place for us before traveling,” she says, “but we never left.” Jacob and his team start baking in-house at 4 am. Photograph by Grace King Palmer.
6. Splurge on impactful upgrades.
Above: For curtains, Mayme initially took a favorite Remodelista DIY approach and put canvas drop cloths to use. One day, when artist and Santa Fe Playhouse costume designer Joey Blaha dropped in, she asked if he could make them something better. The results include this pojagi-inspired front for the bussing station.
Note the Stand Dustpan and Lobby Broom—they’re made by Santa Fean Hannah Beatrice Quinn.
Above: Rachel Watson’s mugs and dishes work well colorwise with the pojagi—for more, see Trend Alert: Stitched Patchwork Cloths as Curtains.
Above: Joey also stitched patchwork curtains for the front and back of the shop that he dyed with black tea.
- Bread Shop is at 1703 Lena Street and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 am to 3 pm.
- Featured photograph by Grace King Palmer.
- Another favorite Lena Street spot is Ozu, a Japanese restaurant and market, located in Bread Shop’s original space.
- For a Santa Fe place to stay, consider El Rey Court—it’s from the couple behind Wonder Valley.
