Baked goods you can Feel Good about
Stroll through the Concord Farmers Market on Tuesdays and you’ll catch a glimpse of Feel Good Bakery, with a delightful display of tempting baked goods.
They bake up some delicious rustic artisan breads, fanciful pastries, buttery croissants and scones, crunchy bread sticks and an array of decadent cookies. They make everything daily from scratch with the best locally sourced ingredients and then bring them to the market at peak freshness.
Small-batch, handcrafted, European-style breads are what Rick Kellner, founder of Feel Good, does best. Kellner grew up on the Upper West Side of New York City, where his grandfather was a baker in the 1920s. Though he never knew his grandfather, baking was in his blood.
While working in the energy-efficiency business years later, Kellner took a vacation that changed his life. He attended the San Francisco Baking Institute to learn more about the sourdough process, sparking the idea for Feel Good Bakery.
He decided to move to San Francisco. In 2002, he started baking in his small apartment and eventually supplied local shops and restaurants with artisan breads that couldn’t be found at other bakeries.
“I wanted to raise the bar on bread in the Bay Area,” he says.
Two years later, Kellner opened Feel Good Bakery in Alameda’s Marketplace. He makes his baked goods with organic, non-GMO ingredients that are sourced locally and of the highest quality. He buys flour, nuts, fruit and chees from local vendors who share similar beliefs on quality and freshness.
Along with producing the finest baked goods they can, Kellner and his employees are committed to giving back to the community and being environmentally sustainable. They donate excess baked goods to homeless shelters and reduce/recycle waste whenever possible. Whatever can’t be donated is composted.
“I believe in what our name stands for,” he says. “It dictates how we treat our customers, each other, our vendors and the community.”
At the farmers market, they enjoy talking with customers about how they bake their breads with old-world techniques and new-world creativity. Be sure to try their seeded cheesy breadsticks, wonderful bagels and cookies, and rustic wheat and rye breads. But you better get there early if you want one of their fabulous ham and cheese croissants – they sell out quickly.
We want to share what you love about your farmers market on Facebook and Instagram while we share what we love: Engaging in conversation with farmers, finding new and interesting varieties of produce, learning about the support they receive from customers and the engagement from the community surrounding the market.
The Concord Farmers Market is in Todos Santos Plaza Tuesdays & Thursdays. See ad page 7, FEB. 15 Pioneer for hours.
Debra Morris
Debra Morris was born and raised in Pasadena, CA. Her father was a landscape designer so she grew up helping him in the garden and learned to love planting and caring for vegetables and flowers. Debra began her own graphics business in 2002. She now works for the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association and became a Master Gardener in the process, combining her interests into one.