Inspire Me: Benicia bakery provides comfort food and kitchen staples in stressful times

As a veteran of Le Cordon Bleu, as well as Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery and The French Laundry, Hannalee Pervan is used to high-pressure situations. But the co-owner and head baker of One House Bakery in Benicia wasn’t ready for a crisis of this magnitude.

On a normal day, the popular cafe on First Street would be bustling with customers stopping in for a morning coffee or during their lunch break. Now designated an essential service, the expansive restaurant stands nearly empty except for a skeleton crew of about half a dozen employees, all of whom don cloth face masks and gloves while doing their best to maintain social distance in the open kitchen.