The fan-favorite vegan Filipino bakery finds a permanent home in Long Beach!
By now, you can find a vegan burger or slice of pizza in just about every Los Angeles neighborhood. But some cuisines are more rare to find—like vegan Filipino pastries. In fact, San & Wolves Bakeshop is the only business in LA that offers 100% vegan Filipino cuisine. Since its debut, the bakery operated as a pop-up only. But San & Wolves Bakeshop just announced plans to open a brick-and-mortar in early 2024!
Kym Estrada of San & Wolves Bakeshop
Kym Estrada, owner of San & Wolves Bakeshop, started this venture in 2017 in New York. At first, Estrada worked full-time at another vegan bakery, using San & Wolves Bakeshop as a way to share her veganized Filipino recipes and advocate for animals.
“I would do these monthly vegan markets and realized how much I kept having to explain what ube was (which everyone probably knows by now) and other types of Filipino pastries/flavors that were just so common to me (like bibingka, pandan, macapuno, cassava, etc). Up until starting San & Wolves, I was the only vegan Filipino I knew, so I didn't think San & Wolves was needed or even wanted. But I was proved wrong. Through doing those pop-ups in the early days, I met vegan Filipinos in New York and you can imagine, even more online as our following grew. At some point I noticed what I was doing mattered to a lot of people,” Estrada told VegOut.
Courtesy of San & Wolves
Vegan Filipino Baked Goods
After about two years in New York, San & Wolves Bakeshop moved to Los Angeles, getting into a routine of popping up in Long Beach. With a rotating menu of scratch-made vegan Filipino baked goods that are also free from soy, nuts, and palm oil, San & Wolves gained a solid following in Los Angeles. Customers couldn’t get enough of their Pandan Buko Pop-Tarts, Ube Buns, and Calamansi Mango Corn Bibingka, among other delectable treats.
“I always recall this one time I did a pop-up that took me by surprise. I had just moved to Long Beach and was finding my footing in a new environment. Whenever I had a pop-up [before], it would be chill—no lines, maybe one or two customers every five minutes. But this one pop-up, [when] I went outside to put up my banner, I saw this line going down the street and turning the block on a residential street. I was doing the pop-up on my own and was not ready for that at all. And, I hope this doesn't come off cocky or anything, it has stayed like that for the most part—with the exception that I have help, and we're able to feed more people,” said Estrada.
San & Wolves Bakeshop Brick-and-Mortar
This August, Estrada dropped the announcement on Instagram that San & Wolves Bakeshop would open a brick-and-mortar. Since the business grew in Long Beach, it only felt natural to plant roots there. But with several renovations ahead, San & Wolves Bakeshop has yet to announce its official opening date, currently estimating sometime in early 2024.
Upon opening, the storefront will serve all of their customer favorites. And after its soft opening period, San & Wolves Bakeshop plans to roll out savory breakfast pastries, grab-and-go kakanin, and weekly specials ranging from donuts to savory sandwiches.
Highlighting Filipino Culture
San & Wolves Bakeshop is more than just a new vegan bakery. It is a way for Estrada to highlight her Filipino culture and honor her family.
“San & Wolves Bakeshop has and will forever be, for the culture. Our goal has always been to create nostalgic Filipino treats and flavors without using animal-derived products and to continue to introduce and highlight our culture through food to vegan and non-vegans alike. The expansion of our brick-and-mortar is sort of a trophy for my parents, who sacrificed a lot to immigrate and adapt to this new country in order to give better opportunities to my sisters and I. It's validating to know most of our customers are in fact Filipino. We'd be nowhere without the support from the Filipino community. My culture is what grounds me. It's like this thing I can come to if I'm feeling unsure of myself. I'm just very excited to see the new wave of first-generation Filipino American entrepreneurs flourish and am so so grateful to be a tiny piece of that,” shared Estrada.
Courtesy of San & Wolves
San & Wolves Bakeshop’s storefront will open at 3900 E 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814. For more details, go to SanandWolves.com or follow @sanandwolvesbakeshop on Instagram.
