Kathleen Stewart along with 23 employees.

In 1987, Kathleen and two friends, all former employees at Chez Panisse, opened an old-fashioned full-service bakery in downtown Healdsburg. All of Downtown Bakery’s products are mixed, rolled, shaped and cut by hand, and then baked in either an old-style tile pizza oven or rack ovens.

Depending on the season, as much as 90% of Downtown Bakery's ingredients are certified organic. The bakery uses a natural sourdough starter, Clover-Stornetta and Petaluma Farms eggs, cane sugar, and fresh fruits. All flours are organic and sourced from a South San Francisco-based mill that buys grains grown in the Western United States. Many of the fruits and nuts in Downtown Bakery's products are sourced from Sonoma County growers.