The Wild Tale Behind Relic Bakery’s Origin Story

On this episode of Happy Half Hour, Relic Bakery owners Samantha Bird and Derek Hadden pull up with a selection of their best fare including Crunchwrap Supreme croissants, paté en croûte, an XO sausage wrapped in laminated dough, and a tahini strawberry cookie.

Derek and Samantha share their Midwestern pandemic love story and discuss their culinary training in Copenhagen which includes a bike crash outside of Noma (Chef Rene Redzepi’s restaurant) that remains the most expensive night in bakery history. We also learn how the pair ended up in a 600-square-foot San Diego apartment with butter baked into the walls and an $800 electricity bill. 

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Offering a wholesale delivery service out of their butter-baked apartment (they bribed their neighbors with croissants), they soon graduated to a ghost kitchen. Last fall, they opened a proper café on 15th Street in East Village with a beer and wine license. 

Listen to or watch the full episode now learn more about how Relic Bakery became one of San Diego’s best.