GoodLife Cafe & Bakery

Some Mendocino businesses become landmarks not because they are loud, but because everyone knows where to find coffee, pastry, breakfast, and a warm place to sit.

Overview

GoodLife Cafe & Bakery occupies 10483 Lansing Street in the village of Mendocino, carrying on a bakery tradition at this location that reaches much farther back than the present business.

GoodLife is known today for breakfast and lunch, organic pastries, breads, bagels, coffee and espresso drinks, soups, salads, desserts, and other foods prepared in-house. The business describes itself as a family operation and emphasizes organic ingredients, locally sourced foods when available, and items made from scratch.

But the most interesting part of this address may be that GoodLife is only the latest chapter in a remarkably long bakery story.

Location

GoodLife Cafe & Bakery is located at 10483 Lansing Street, Mendocino, California, in the commercial center of the historic village. The business continues to list this address as its bakery and café location.

Lansing Street has long been one of Mendocino's working commercial streets, with stores, restaurants, lodging, services, and gathering places sharing a relatively compact stretch of the village.

History

Historic evidence shows that the bakery tradition at 10483 Lansing Street is considerably older than GoodLife.

The Kelley House Museum has identified the building in a photograph looking south along Lansing Street from about 1930. A visible BAKERY sign marks the building at what is now 10483 Lansing Street, and Kelley House identifies the business during that period as the Mendocino or Crystal Bakery.

That gives this property an unusually strong continuity of use. Although individual businesses, owners, recipes, and customers have changed, people have apparently been coming to this part of Lansing Street for baked goods for close to a century.

Community recollections add another layer to the building's more recent history. The address is remembered as the home of Mendocino Bakery for many years. According to memories contributed to this project, the bakery was started by Carla Jupiter and Laoma Bryant, initially using only the left side of what later became the larger café space. The beginning is remembered as being sometime around the late 1970s, although that date should be considered a community recollection rather than a firmly documented opening year.

Other historical material connecting Mendocino's businesses and residents also associates both Carla Jupiter and Laoma Bryant with Mendocino Bakery. Community memory further recalls that Thanksgiving Coffee later purchased the bakery and that Joan Katzeff operated it during that period. Business-record information independently associates Joan Katzeff with a company named Mendocino Bakery Inc., lending support to that portion of the remembered history.

The present GoodLife chapter began in 2012. GoodLife's own history says Teddy took over the café in March 2012. Rather than immediately throwing out everything that had come before, she initially worked with recipes inherited from the previous bakery, changing ingredients and gradually developing her own recipes and menu. Another local account likewise places the purchase of the business in 2012 and describes Teddy's effort to reshape the café while building on recipes and knowledge already present in the operation.

That makes GoodLife part of a long succession rather than a business that appeared at an unrelated storefront. The bakery was there before GoodLife. And, in one form or another, bakery activity at this address was there generations before that.

The Building Today

GoodLife has developed into one of Mendocino's recognizable breakfast, lunch, coffee, and bakery stops.

The café serves pastries baked fresh in the morning, scratch-made bagels, coffee and espresso drinks, soups, salads, entrées, desserts, and daily specials, with gluten-free and vegan choices also represented on the menu.

Its popularity has also become part of its identity. Community memories describe returning many times over the years and remark on how busy the café can become, particularly when Mendocino is full of visitors.

Why It Matters

In a very real sense, the building is still doing something remarkably similar to what it apparently did decades ago: feeding people while serving as one of the village's everyday gathering places. 10483 Lansing Street has been a Mendocino bakery address for generations.

Community Memories

People responding to the original post remembered that GoodLife followed earlier bakeries at the same location.

One particularly valuable recollection identified Mendocino Bakery as the longtime predecessor, remembered its beginnings in only part of the present space, and connected its early years with Carla Jupiter and Laoma Bryant. The same recollection remembers Thanksgiving Coffee later purchasing the bakery, with Joan Katzeff operating it before Teddy eventually took over the business.

Others remembered visiting the café many times and praised the food, while also noting just how crowded the popular restaurant can become during busy visitor periods.

Timeline

circa 1930 — A Kelley House Museum photograph shows a BAKERY sign on the building, identified as the Mendocino or Crystal Bakery.

Late 1970s (remembered) — Mendocino Bakery is started by Carla Jupiter and Laoma Bryant, using only the left side of the present space.

Later years — Thanksgiving Coffee purchases the bakery, with Joan Katzeff operating it.

March 2012 — Teddy takes over the café, gradually developing new recipes and the GoodLife menu.

Today — GoodLife Cafe & Bakery operates as a family-run breakfast, lunch, coffee and bakery stop at 10483 Lansing Street.

Sources & Original Research: This history combines current business information, historical documentation, community recollections, and original research. Sources include GoodLife Cafe & Bakery's official website and business history; GoodLife's contact and current business information; Kelley House Museum's historical Lansing Street photograph and identification of the Mendocino or Crystal Bakery at 10483 Lansing Street circa 1930; Mendocino County tourism information; Word of Mouth Mendocino's history of GoodLife and Teddy's 2012 purchase; historical material published by Think in the Morning mentioning Mendocino Bakery, Carla Jupiter, and Laoma Bryant; business-record information associating Joan Katzeff with Mendocino Bakery Inc.; the original Buildings and Businesses in Mendocino post provided by Gee Bee; and community memories supplied by Carole White, Anna Roeth, Richard Mary Atkins, and April Hawkes.