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Parmesan-asiago muffins stuffed with an entire soft-cooked egg, kouignoù amann with blood orange strawberry jam and gateaux featuring flavors like rosemary, oolong, and hibiscus – these are just some of the inventive pastries found at Craftsman and Wolves, a bakery that first opened its doors along Valencia Street in San Francisco in 2012.
This fall, Craftsman and Wolves is expanding out of the city and opening its third location, in Mountain View.
“The cafe will still have the same cool, modern look, but the color theme will be a little darker,” co-owner Lawrence Lai said. “And menu-wise, it’s basically the same, but we will have some Mountain View exclusive items to kick off the opening.”
This counter service cafe will offer a selection of pastries, gateaux, cakes, tarts, breads, sandwiches, coffee, tea and more, with indoor and outdoor seating. Craftsman and Wolves focuses on seasonality, introducing new pastries about every three months, Lai said. He picks the produce from farmers markets, sourcing strawberries from Dirty Girl Produce and stone fruits from K&J Orchards.
“The strawberries that we use in the (red) kouign (are) from Dirty Girl, one of the best tasting strawberries, really sweet, really flavorful,” Lai said.
Since May 2020, Craftsman and Wolves has been selling its signature pastries at the California Avenue Farmers Market. Lai said the positive reception at the farmers market in Palo Alto influenced his decision to open a location in nearby Mountain View.
“Every single one of us on our team, we consider each of them craftsmen (because) everybody is working on perfecting what they do,” Lai said. “But then to make this whole thing work, we have to work as a team, and then that’s the concept of wolf, so wolf pack comes in.”
Lai’s background is in apparel manufacturing, but when he started a Taiwanese oolong tea company with his wife, Ann Lee, the pair met founding chef William Werner (who left Craftsman and Wolves in 2018).
“Coming from the fashion industry, I was quite impressed with the founder chef’s creations and how delicate and balanced and exquisite they looked,” Lai said.
While Lai and Lee no longer operate their wholesale tea business, they still import tea from Taiwan for the bakery, used in gateaux like the blue beauty (Eastern Beauty oolong mousse, blueberry confiture, brown butter yogurt sponge and brown butter sablé) and Egan’s addiction (Taiwanese high altitude oolong white chocolate mousse, strawberry panna cotta, matcha panna cotta, brown sugar genoise, brown sugar sablé and tea-infused glaze).
Lai’s favorite item on the menu currently is the red kouign with blood orange strawberry confiture, blood orange ganache and a miniature macaron.
“The kouign amann is so buttery that it reminds me of when I was little; I would do a toast, and I’d put lots of butter on it, and then lots of jam,” he said. “And that taste for me is just heaven.”
Lai said he hopes to eventually grow Craftsman and Wolves nationwide, opening bakeries in “cool and hip cities.”
“It’s really a team effort,” Lai said. “I quite enjoy … having the whole team work together, working to a common goal, to make the best pastries, and to see people’s joy when they enjoy our pastries. That just feels very good.”
Craftsman and Wolves, 400 San Antonio Road #4, Mountain View; Instagram: @craftsmanwolves. Opening this fall.
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Editor’s note: Due to an error by the Craftsman and Wolves communication team, the initial story had misspelled the name of Ann Lee.