60 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {food coloring} BAKERY oven fresh words by JENNIFER JORY • photography by PAULETTE PHLIPOT It’s 5AM at Bonjour Bakehouse and oven timers are sounding off simultaneously. The smell of freshly baked croissants and cookies wafts through the air. “It’s madness,” confesses François Bernaudin, describing the December morning when he and his co-owner, Ingrid Sarlandie, attempted to make 8,000 cookies in a single day at their San Mateo bakery. “Bakers are flying between eight different stations and it's like a hornet’s nest,” he reveals. “I make sure everyone has their coffee so they can be on fire. I try to coordinate everything so we all work toward the same goal.” During the holiday season, François and Ingrid need to perform something of a Christmas miracle, baking and packaging nearly 40,000 cookies a week that are then shipped all across the country. When the orders start streaming in, they rely on support wherever they can find it. “If we say we aren’t going to make it, we have so many people who volunteer to help,” Ingrid says. François’s teenage children bring their friends, Ingrid’s family joins in—even grandmothers visiting from France have pitched in to fill boxes. But the bakery’s business extends beyond cookie deliveries. Peninsula locals can satisfy their carb cravings at Bonjour Bakehouse Cafe, where flaky, buttery pastries are served hot from the oven daily. “I don’t get home with a bag of bacon scones without eating one in the car,” says customer Patty Mayer. “They are to die for and worth every calorie.” The menu includes dozens of options, from chocolatine croissants to scones flavored with smoked salmon or pear and cardamom. The coffee menu includes tradi-
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