Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Quan.
Hi Eric, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My brother, Joe Quan and I started Bakers & Baristas eight years ago. Our mission since inception was to provide the community that we live in with the highest quality food and beverage we can. We source intentionally and have our hands in all aspects of the business. We bake all our sourdough bread in-house, laminate all our croissants with butter from Normandy, and source flour that is freshly milled. All of our cakes and desserts are all made from scratch.
Our coffee program is simple – work with some of the best roasters in the world, source great milk, and make any flavored beverages with real ingredients. We scrape vanilla bean pods, make ganache with Valrhona chocolate, and make real caramel. Nothing out of a pump or premade bottle. Our brunch program is always changing and inspired by everyone’s background.
After eight years, we decided it was time to push ourselves again. We are never ones to be content or fall into comfort. We are constantly inventing and re-inventing ourselves. Luka is a natural progression of our experience in the industry. Joe and I have been working in this industry for almost our whole lives. Our chef and close friend for Luka, Mike Judilla has worked at the likes of Carbone and did a stint in Argentina cooking. Our FOH manager, Holly Chi has been with us since day one. We all unanimously decided to once again give our community something that we felt was lacking. Our food will ebb and flow with the seasons. We are sourcing proteins from Peads and Barnett and dry-aged beef from Flannery. Seafood is delivered to us every day for service. Our wine program is curated with thoughtfulness. The vendors we work with source natural, organic, or biodynamic wines.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t think the restaurant industry has ever been a smooth road for anyone. It is notoriously hard with razor-thin margins. A big part of our struggle right now is figuring out how to run a sustainable and profitable business with the ever-rising costs.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Joe and I have been working in the industry at our parent’s bakery, Candle Light Bakery since we were young. Luka is a culmination of our experiences traveling, eating, and putting out the food we want to eat. We’re proud of the fact that we are still able to be open and have the opportunity to constantly improve and do what we love.
Image Credits
Henry Tang
