It was 6:20 a.m., and Chaumont Bakery & Cafe in Santa Monica was already buzzing with lo-fi music and the chatter of dozens of people wearing bibs — not for eating (though they were doing just that) but the type you wear for a race. In this case, the half-marathon L.A. Bakery Walk.
About 2,000 people had signed up for the chance to join the February event, according to its organizer, with 100 tickets offered by lottery — for the opportunity to walk more than 13 miles through L.A.’s Westside, eating several pastries along the way over the course of eight hours.
L.A. might not be the most walkable city, but add six bakery stops and the steps (30,000 of them) become easier. It helps that new bakeries are popping up all over the city, where wellness culture can intersect with treat culture.
For participants Dganit Shtorch and Michelle Boll, the bakery walk was a chance to taper down their L.A. Marathon training and a rare chance to see the city in all its glory on foot.
“You just sit in your little car box, and nobody talks to each other, and you don’t get to do anything,” said Shtorch, an architect. “But here, having this opportunity to walk, all of a sudden, you start seeing people. You see more and it’s a different perspective of the city that you actually get to experience.”
Irene Chang, a 25-year-old working in tech, created the event last year, hosting a 50-person half-marathon walk through the Pasadena-Highland Park area in November, featuring popular bakeries including ID-Eclair and Neighbors & Friends.
“Everyone just has their own kind of reason to be there,” Chang said. “But ultimately we’re just having a good time walking and eating.”
The event blew up on social media, garnering thousands of likes and views on Instagram and TikTok. The comment sections were filled with people begging for a Round 2.
So on a recent Sunday, 100 people — some early risers, some willing to get up early for pastries — gathered for the trek to Chaumont, Fat + Flour, Häsi Bread, Manifold and Petitgrain Boulangerie, on a looping route starting in Santa Monica, winding through Mar Vista and Venice before circling back oceanside.
In exchange for opening early, Chaumont was met with a constant flow of people in desperate need of caffeine, slowly coming to terms with the miles they had signed themselves up for.
Half-marathoners mingled in a sprawling outdoor area of the Colorado Avenue bakery, bumping shoulders and breaking the 7 a.m. ice.
Just as the sky’s blue began to brighten and the sun rose, Chang stood on a chair to grab everyone’s attention. “If you can hear me, clap twice.”
She led a group stretch, and Chaumont employees began rolling out trays of freshly baked pastries and tea. Before any steps could even be Strava-ed, the first in line for pastries grabbed a vegan strawberry croissant filled with vanilla custard in one hand and a za’atar jalapeno olive roll in the other.
As the sunlight intensified, so did the conversations, and groups began melding together as they set out for the next bakery, four miles away: Fat + Flour in Culver City, known for owner Nicole Rucker’s pies.
But this group were there for white chocolate macadamia cookies. Participants spilled out of the storefront onto the road, with the line for a cookie almost as long as the one for the bathroom. Layers of sweat-wicking long sleeves were peeled off, and sunscreen was reapplied.
Just a half-mile up Washington Boulevard at Häsi Bread, the living room-esque ambience and close quarters fostered more socializing while everyone waited for the viral bakery’s prosciutto and cheese sandwich with saba, arugula and local blackberry jam on sourdough bread marbled with turmeric and butterfly pea flower.
Häsi owners Matias and Dawn Barang said they have a consistent flow of regulars and designed the bakery, which opened near Mar Vista last year, with community in mind.
“Entering other people’s communities is like our, pun intended, bread and butter,” said Dawn Barang.
Many of the walkers made the trip from Pasadena, Burbank and even Orange County for the event.
“It was nice to try new things that you would never expect to try,” said Pasadena resident Mia Dixon. “It gave us more exposure. So we’re gonna go tell more people, ‘You should go try this place.’”
At a surprise stop, Japanese bakery Uncle Tetsu on Sawtelle Boulevard supplied samples of fluffy soufflé-style cheesecake and a selection of matcha and Oreo cookies.
“It’s moist, it’s fresh. It’s my fave,” said Priscilla Noriega of the cheesecake,.
Noriega, who came from the Valley for the event, used the walk as an opportunity for scouting: “It’s helpful to know which bakeries to hit, where to get my goods,” she said as she tucked a cookie away for her husband.
After catching confused glances all through Venice, traversing neighborhoods and winding along Abbott Kinney, the group landed at the home of Matt Ricotta. Ricotta started plant-based Manifold Bakery in late 2024 selling pickup pre-orders and later hosting pop-ups out of his backyard in Venice. He has since paused them to work on a bricks-and-mortar.
As an exclusive for the bakery walkers, Ricotta prepared his signature brioche bun filled with matcha and pistachio cream topped with whipped vegan cream cheese, as well as a pistachio macaroon.
They were a crowd favorite.
“Oh my God, the [bun] was literally butter,” said Evy Favretto, who is from Pasadena, where she went to high school with Dixon.
After gathering in Ricotta’s garden-lush backyard, some defected to return home or to their cars. They missed out on the last few miles.
The loop finally came to a close after one last, highly anticipated stop at Petitgrain Boulangerie in Santa Monica, the nearly two-year-old bakery widely praised for its flaky, buttery pain au chocolat. Oven-fresh chocolate croissants flew off the table — the only evidence: dough flakes clinging onto T-shirts.
At nearby tree-lined Douglas Park in Santa Monica, small cookies, electrolyte drinks and — most importantly — the finish line awaited.
“June, you made it!” The group may have dwindled, but all of the community remained.
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