In the broad and beautiful world of San Francisco baking, the classic English muffin is still an underdog — offered on some menus, sure, but rarely the star of the show, unlike the croissants and bagels and delicate little pastries that go viral and garner headlines in the city.
To me, having an English muffin means one of two things: It’s either a grocery-store box of vaguely stale Thomas’, or it’s a McMuffin from McDonald’s.
Jamieson Leadbetter chuckled when I told him that Monday.
“People think of an English muffin as this thing that comes on the side of breakfast, or is just a neutral vessel,” Leadbetter said. “It’s never center stage. And I think it should be.”
He’s betting on that belief with his bake shop Leadbetter’s, which soft opened in the Castro this past weekend at 554 Castro St. The menu remains limited while operations ramp up, but I’m happy to report that the English muffins are already coming out in prime form.
Leadbetter’s English muffins are wider and thicker than most, with fewer “nooks and crannies” in the interior. Instead, they have a tighter crumb with a plush feel and pleasant chew. The exteriors are perfectly bronzed and crusty, a result of cooking the rolled dough slowly on a hot griddle. In addition to a classic plain, Leadbetter’s currently offers muffins with flavors like roasted onion and olive, with more variations to come.
The English muffin makes for an excellent sandwich bun: Check the breakfast version, filled with a slab of soft eggs, thick-cut bacon, and oozing cheese. And while the public may be exhausted by the concept of yet another avocado toast in San Francisco, using a soft English muffin is a game-changing tweak. Leadbetter’s take melds the avocado with tart pickled onions, a mound of alfalfa sprouts, and the warm hum of cumin.
Other sandwiches include a mushroom melt, variations on peanut butter-and-banana, and a pizza version topped with marinara and mozzarella. The preview menu is rounded out by some sweet pastries, including a sticky pull-apart bread and fruit turnovers.
Leadbetter is a fourth-generation baker whose roots go back to Portland, Maine, where his great-grandmother opened the very first Leadbetter’s in 1931. It was the only bakery in town, and the business thrived for decades under the guidance of Leadbetter’s grandfather, then father.
The English muffin obsession in the family was birthed by his grandfather, who saw a hole in the market for the fluffy roll in the 1950s.
“My grandfather was president of the Retail Baker’s Association of New England, and at that time, everyone was talking about the New York bagel,” Leadbetter said. “He wanted to differentiate Leadbetter’s from what was trending in the industry.”
As the youngest of five kids, Leadbetter and his sisters worked in the bake shop from a young age, even as their father warned that they shouldn’t pursue a career in baking. He enrolled in college in upstate New York, but flamed out after two years; he went back to Portland, working construction jobs and helping out at the family bakery again.
In his mid-20s and itching to see the world, Leadbetter then bolted for San Diego, drawn by the prospect of a stint in the Navy. His recruiter talked up potential for Navy SEAL training (“Of course I thought I could do it”). A dislocated shoulder ended those dreams, and after four years of enlistment, Leadbetter had enough.
Next came a flurry of jobs. He bartended, took a white-collar gig at Prudential Financial, moved to SF, jumped over to business development at UPS, got bored, went to culinary school, and made pastries at Beach Chalet for a time. Finally, in the early aughts, Leadbetter landed a formative baking job in the city: Working with Michael and Mary Gassen of Noe Valley Bakery.
“That is probably the pinnacle experience in my growth as a professional baker. Working under Michael was special. I learned how he thinks about baking, how he runs his operation, how he’s efficient, streamlined,” Leadbetter recalled.
After a few years, Leadbetter departed with dreams of his own bakery, but it wasn’t quite meant to be. In the 2010s, he began selling his English muffins to boutique markets, hotels and cafes, but ended up focusing on a more lucrative business helping other artisans manufacture and package food. The opening of the Castro store, in other words, is finally a return to Leadbetter’s origin — a family-run bakery, where he makes things by hand.
He’s still perfecting the English muffins (“They’re really finicky”), but the Leadbetter’s menu will expand in the future with more substantial sandwiches, pies, rotating pastries and drinks from Andytown Coffee Roasters.
So far, everything on the menu is under $12; the cheapest item on Sunday was a large chocolate chip cookie for $3. While some larger options will eventually creep toward the $20 mark, Leadbetter says offering value is important to entering the Castro community, even if he runs on “razor-thin” profit margins. He credits his grandfather for hammering home the ethics of using a business to serve a neighborhood, not the other way around.
Given that his two teen sons work in the bakery with him, odds are that lesson — and some gorgeous English muffins — will be passed on to a fifth generation.
Leadbetter's is scheduled to operate Wednesday-Friday from 7 a.m to 2 p.m., and Saturday-Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
