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January 15, 2022

Comments

Pat T.

When it was "Hola's", they hosted my wedding reception on the back patio. They've been a reliable to-go pickup for us during the pandemic. I'll miss the carnitas.

This does seem like good news for Stella Alpina, and I hope they have success in the new location.

Thanks for providing reliable local news and updates! We're glad to be able to make some more stops here before the doors shut thanks to this update.

Sally Meakin

Hi, Joe. In the ‘30s, my mother and her friends would drive down from San Francisco to enjoy an evening at The Bit of England. That place went back a loonnggg time, yes?

Joe

Yes, indeed it did. I believe The Bit had San Mateo County liquor license #1 from after Prohibition. I hear that #1 is now held by 31st Union in San Mateo which is apparently now operating as Fogbird.

I also know where there are a couple of original barstools from the Bit :-)

Mom

I'm pleased that Copenhagen will not change much. The local paper had this news

Copenhagen was opened at its Burlingame Avenue location in 1977 by brothers Ralf and Ben Nielsen, who moved from Copenhagen, Denmark, in the 1950s as children. Prior to opening the bakery, Ralf returned to Denmark to learn the bakery business from his uncles and grandfather who were bakers.

The bakery has expanded over the years, including into a next-door building in the early 1980s. Full-service dinner offerings were added in the 1990s, something cut amid the pandemic but that could be reinstated under new ownership.

Ralf, now 78, said it was a tough choice to sell the business, but he is looking forward to his next chapter in life, which will include more time to sail and ski while spending more time in Lake Tahoe.

The new owners are Brothers Sean and Ali Azad plan to take ownership next month, and apart from some cosmetic upgrades like new furniture and paint, Sean said the duo will preserve things as they are, including retaining the existing staff and bakery selections.

Joe

Thanks, Mom. This is a quintessential American success story--two actually! Here's the link

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/new-owners-for-burlingame-s-copenhagen/article_025a3f5c-96c4-11ec-bb7c-1710caea437f.html?utm_source=smdailyjournal.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1645887611&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

Dawn

Joe? Who has the original bar stools from the Bit? My friend is opening her restaurant at this location and we are doing a wall of the history of all the business at that address. We would love to get one of those.

Joe

Funny you should write now as I just found out he recently moved and the bar stools did not go with him. I was disappointed but understand his situation ;-(

I know your friend and hope she is quite successful in the space. She can ping me (she has my email) or even better get in touch with the Burlingame Historical Society who have an amazing archive and also manage the printing of historical photos for people (for a modest fee).

Joe

The DJ has a nice long piece about the opening of Stella in the Sixto's space. One of the nice things about the Voice is you can recall when things happened--so we know that all of the extensive work described took 15 months.

Only one correction to the piece--the Bit had liquor license #1 in the County, not the City.

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/burlingame-s-stella-makes-a-move/article_72ed0f92-d8e0-11ed-9433-fb4a5151a7f3.html?utm_source=smdailyjournal.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1681308002&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

Sheila Callaghan

I have been trying to remember the name of one of the bakeries on Burlingame Ave before it became The Cakery. It was the first name of the woman who owned it, something somewhat Nordic, if I remember correctly. I've lived in north San Mateo / Burlingame since around 1970, and I always used to buy my Mother's birthday cakes there. It was a great bakery, but the name escapes me! Someone must remember. An email would be appreciated!

maxine

Ingeborg’s

Jennifer Pfaff

That one was Ingeborg's Broadway Pantry-- (yes, Broadway as homage to their "Broadway Pantry" roots in 1929).

Though this may be more than you want to know, I'll continue, just in case it is of interest...

Amazingly both of these locations and sometimes an additional one in San Mateo, survived many decades ion the bakery business, with few ownership changes.

The business had a long run perhaps best known in the early years as "Polly Anna Bakery" (1930s onward). Briefly Danish and then French bakers ran it in the late 1950s into the early 60s, then known as "Anatole's Broadway Pantry" (though this was also located on Burlingame Avenue).

Finally by the 1960s, Erwin and Ingeborg Hammer (German) who knew Anatole Arnold, the owner, and had developed a life-long relationship with the family, as their sponsors for US Naturization in the mid-1960s, convinced Erwin and Inge to try out their love of baking on a trial basis.

In 1965, they took over both Burlingame locations.

In 1997, Ingeborg's Broadway Pantry was sold to an SF baker and in 1998 The Cakery took over the space when the Ingeborgs retired.

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