OAKLAND — An East Bay outpost of a popular San Francisco bakery and cafe is open for business in the Woodminster neighborhood.
Restaurant owner Matthew Roder quietly opened L’acajou Bakery and Cafe Feb. 20 in the former home of Woodminster Cafe at 5020 Woodminster Lane. The restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.Tuesdays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the weekends.
Roder decided to bring his business across San Francisco Bay after eight successful years operating at busy South of Market intersection. Hoping to find an East Bay home for his sweet and savory pastries, sandwiches and bowls, Roder had looked at different spaces near his Laurel District home — among other spots in the city — before finding the Woodminster Cafe site.
“I like how close it is to the woods and Joaquin Miller Park — it’s very woodsy and isolated,” Roder said. “It’s a great change of pace from the corner of 9th and Bryant near the freeway.”
The California Culinary Academy-trained chef has brought to Oakland the sugar-dusted vanilla almond and dark chocolate orange marmalade croissants and other pastries that have made his San Francisco bakery and cafe a neighborhood go-to spot. There’s a Parisian Breakfast Sandwich with egg, bacon, havarti cheese and fixings on a housemate rustic roll, and a twist on eggs benedict that pairs two poached eggs on a cheddar chipotle biscuit with a side of golden smashed potatoes.
For lunch, diners can choose from a list of Mediterranean, French, Italian and American-influenced dishes such as a Tri-Tip steak sandwich with roasted mushrooms, baby kale and whole grain dijon; a Mediterranean veggie sandwich on whole wheat levain bread, and the L’acajou burger, which Roder placed on the menu as a sort of homage to the Woodminster Cafe. There’s also a quinoa bowl with customizable toppings for those wanting “a healthier option.”
Owning and operating two restaurants on either side of the Bay is big leap from Roder’s early days as a culinary school student and former public school teacher.
Raised on his mother’s chocolate chip cookies and brownies and inspired by his grandmother’s talents as a cook, gardener, pickler and jam-maker, Roder worked in restaurants while attending college in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, but decided to pursue a career in education. After relocating to the Bay Area and teaching and traveling for a bit, he had a change of heart and enrolled in a culinary arts program at the now-defunct California Culinary Academy.
But it was while working as a private chef that Roder dove into the world of baking. Armed with cookbooks by famed Yountville chef Thomas Keller, Tartine’s Chad Robertson and Dorie Greenspan, Roder taught himself how to create the breads and baked goods he began selling and delivering to cafes, before opening L’acajou in 2010.
Today, Roder oversees both locations, shuttling between Oakland and San Francisco to transport his baked goods and occasionally step in to man the registers during a rush. He’s confident residents of Woodminster will embrace their new neighbor.
“The community is really happy we’re here because there’s not a whole lot going on,” Roder said. “Everyone has been really excited that we chose to invest in this area.”