"We sold out in like 10 minutes!" pastry chef Melissa Loar told The San Francisco Standard in July. She was describing the first Saturbake pop-up she ran at Octavia, where the line went around the block. Those pop-ups led to Lorella, the bakery she and chef Melissa Perello of Frances and Octavia are building at 2139 Polk St. Its first sale to the public is a Thanksgiving pickup window, and it happens before the regular bakery opens.
Lorella's own site calls it "a holiday preview of what's to come": a short list of preorder items, picked up at 2139A Polk Street on Tuesday, Nov. 24 and Wednesday, Nov. 25, from noon to 4 p.m. both days. Bi-Rite Market's Polk Street store at 2140 Polk sits directly across the street, and its Thanksgiving pickups run that same week. On Russian Hill this year, the pie, the bird and most of the sides can all come from two storefronts facing each other on one block.
Bi-Rite's Owner Spotted the Space
The Standard reported that Sam Mogannam of Bi-Rite Markets was the one who spotted the space, a former bagel shop at 2139 Polk across from his new grocery store. Bi-Rite opened its Polk location on Aug. 29, 2024, Eater SF reported. A little over two years later, the bakery in the space he spotted on the opposite side of Polk is getting ready for its own first holiday.
Lorella is more than a pastry counter. Per the Standard, it will also be the pastry commissary for Frances and Octavia. Loar moves from baking in cast-iron skillets and hand-cranking dough on a manual machine to a deck oven and a sheeter. In July, the Standard reported that architect Seth Boor, who recently refreshed Octavia, would design the full gut renovation, including cutting through the ceiling for a second skylight. Most of the space was to be given to the bakery, with a pastry case at the front and maybe a couple of sidewalk seats. There is also a second story set aside as a play space for kids.
The name joins their two last names, Loar and Perello. Loar baked at Swift & Sons, Somerset and Boka in Chicago before joining Octavia in 2021, and she has used the Saturbake sales to test what a neighborhood bakery could sell.
Two Pie Counters, Priced for Different Jobs
The two Thanksgiving menus are built for different needs. Lorella's is small and chef-driven. Bi-Rite's is a full catering program, with a scale that runs, in Bi-Rite's own description, from full feasts down to individual turkey TV dinners.
| Lorella, 2139A Polk | Bi-Rite Market, 2140 Polk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pumpkin pie | Black futsu pumpkin, $55 | Pumpkin, $29.99 |
| Apple pie | Orchard apple crumb, $55 | Apple crumble, $29.99 |
| Third pie | Chocolate pecan, $60 | Pecan or chocolate bourbon mousse, $31.99 |
| Beyond pie | Nine-piece take-and-bake biscuits, $30; stuffing crouton pack, $18 | Turkeys, sides, full meal kits |
| Pickup | Tue. 11/24 and Wed. 11/25, noon to 4 p.m. | Turkeys Fri. 11/20 to Sun. 11/22; menu items 11/23 to 11/26 |
Lorella's pies cost close to twice as much as Bi-Rite's, and they are a different product. Black futsu is a specific heirloom squash, and Lorella's five-item list reads like a sampler of what the bakery will do once it is open full time. Bi-Rite's pies fill out a meal that is already planned. The stuffing crouton pack and take-and-bake biscuits sit in the space between the two stores. They are the pieces a host might take from Lorella to pair with a turkey from across the street.
The turkey side has a clear price ladder. Bi-Rite lists whole organic birds from $59, whole heritage birds from $129, and a whole roasted organic turkey at $119. For a host who wants to skip most of the cooking, the large roasted whole-turkey kit costs $349.99. It serves 8 to 12 and includes the turkey, sides and two pies. A smaller sliced-turkey kit is $219.99.
Frances fans should note one detail. Eater SF's Thanksgiving guide says preorders run through Lorella, but Frances's lumberjack cake is picked up at Frances, not at 2139A Polk. The Medjool date cake with maple ice cream has been on the Frances menu since 2009.
Thanksgiving Week in Order
The two stores' pickup windows don't overlap much, so a Russian Hill host can plan the week as a short series of trips across the same crosswalk:
- Friday, Nov. 20 to Sunday, Nov. 22. Bi-Rite's whole turkeys become available on Nov. 20, with turkey pickups at the market that weekend.
- Monday, Nov. 23 to Thursday, Nov. 26. Bi-Rite's Thanksgiving menu items are available for store pickup or local delivery.
- Tuesday, Nov. 24 and Wednesday, Nov. 25, noon to 4 p.m. Lorella preorder pickup at 2139A Polk.
- Thursday, Nov. 26. Thanksgiving. Bi-Rite's markets are open 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., with holiday pickups and deliveries from 8 a.m. to noon. Regular hours at 2140 Polk are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
- Friday, Dec. 4, 4 to 8 p.m. The Discover Polk Holiday Sip & Stroll on Polk between California Street and Broadway.
Lorella's window opens Tuesday afternoon and closes Wednesday afternoon, which puts it after Bi-Rite's turkey weekend. Someone who brines or dry-brines a bird can collect the turkey first and pick up pies and biscuits midweek. Lorella's four-hour windows are the tighter limit of the two, so the rest of the week's Polk Street errands fit most easily around them.
What the Preview Previews
The Thanksgiving list is Lorella introducing itself before the doors open for regular business. The Standard put Lorella on its list of November's most anticipated openings with a target of "late November." It described what to expect as loaves of country levain, savory tomato-basil croissants, and masa milk buns filled with elote-style street corn. Further out, the owners hope to add ice cream, whole cakes, and rotating pizza biancas, such as one with Zuckerman potatoes, caramelized leeks, house-made crème fraîche and rosemary.
Back in July, Loar described more ideas: savory scones with shishitos and cheddar, chocolate banana bread muffins, and a Chicago beef croissant with spicy giardiniera, a nod to her hometown. The lumberjack cake is planned for Lorella by the slice or whole, and the bakery plans to keep sourcing grain from the Tehachapi Heritage Grain Project.
A black futsu pumpkin pie and a crouton pack for stuffing come from a bakery thinking about what neighbors put on the table. That is the same thinking behind Octavia's monthly bake sales, which regulars had been asking for long before Lorella had an address.
Polk Street Beyond the Crosswalk
The 2139/2140 pair sits in the middle of a corridor that has added more than baked goods this fall. A few blocks north, Handroll Hawker opened on Sept. 29 at 2360 Polk St., at Union. It is a counter-service, Australian-style handroll shop serving salmon, tuna, shrimp tempura and teriyaki chicken rolls, according to The San Francisco Standard. It works as an easy weeknight dinner between holiday cooking days.
Down the hill, Juniper at 1401 Polk St. comes from the team behind Saint Frank. SFGATE reported that Juniper won the Grand Prix, People's Choice, and Best Original Creation awards at the May 2024 Best Croissant in San Francisco competition, the last for its Cubano croissant. Once Lorella settles in, Polk will have two serious laminated-dough bakeries on the same street. The Standard made the same point when it previewed Lorella's arrival.
The season's last scheduled Polk event comes the week after Thanksgiving. Discover Polk's Holiday Sip & Stroll runs Friday, Dec. 4, from 4 to 8 p.m., on Polk between California Street and Broadway, and the organizers have invited merchants along that stretch to take part. Lorella and Bi-Rite both sit between those two cross streets, at the Broadway end of the route.
Lorella is opening with a short, carefully chosen preview before its full debut, and a home sale on Russian Hill can begin the same way. If you are weighing a move, a sale or a renovation next year and want a quiet first conversation, Beverly Barnett and her team would welcome you. Schedule a Private Consultation.
