Bakery and coffee bar · Califon, NJ

Warm bread on Feed Mill Lane.

Sourdough, butter croissants and the cardamom knots Maren's grandmother baked every Saturday. All of it made before sunrise in Califon's old feed store.

See the menu

4.9 from 212 neighbors (sample rating)

Baskets of sourdough, baguettes and seeded loaves on a wooden counter in front of the plastered oven wall, lit by a single hanging bulb

Open Tuesday to Sunday from 7 AM

Next out of the oven

Cardamom knots at 8:15

AboveThe bread shelf by the oven, a little after 7.
The bake board

What comes out, and when.

Maren lights the oven at 4:30. This is the order things come out every morning, so you know when to come for what. The knots usually sell out by 11.

A tray of cardamom knots cooling on a wire rack, half covered with a linen towel

Country sourdough

Long ferment, dark crust

Butter croissants

Rolled and folded over two days

Cardamom knots

Hilde's recipe, pearl sugar on top

Apple hand pies

Hunterdon apples, flaky crust

Seeded rye

Sunflower, flax and a little molasses

Lunch

Soup of the day and sandwiches on our own bread

Second tray of knots

Saturday and Sunday only

Closed Mondays. The oven runs Tuesday to Sunday.

Since 1961

Hilde's Saturday knots.

Hilde Lindqvist moved from Gothenburg to a farmhouse at the edge of Califon in 1961. Every Saturday she baked a tray of cardamom knots, wrapped them in a red-checked tea towel and walked them down the road to the neighbors.

Her granddaughter Maren learned the recipe standing on a kitchen chair. In 2021 she and her husband Sam opened the bakery in the old feed store on Feed Mill Lane. The brick walls and plank floors stayed. So did the feed scale by the door.

"She never wrote it down. I baked it forty times before it tasted like her kitchen."

Maren Lindqvist, baker and owner

4:30oven on, every morning
3Hunterdon farms for flour, apples and eggs
1red-checked towel, still on the counter
A bowl of sugared cardamom knots on a red and white checked cloth
AboveCardamom knots on the checked towel, the way Hilde carried them.
Loaves for the week

Take a loaf home.

Reserve by 6 PM and it waits on the shelf with your name on it the next morning. Pickup from 7.

A round country loaf held in a linen towel

Country sourdoughV

Two-day ferment, dark crust. Keeps all week.

$9.00
A dark seeded rye loaf on a wooden board next to a bread knife

Seeded ryeV

Sunflower, flax and a little molasses.

$10.00
A soft white sandwich loaf on a cloth with a dish of butter behind it

Sandwich loaf

Soft, made with milk and honey. For toast and lunches.

$8.00
A full tray of cardamom knots on a checked tablecloth

Box of six knots

For Saturday guests. Warm them for 5 minutes at 300°F.

$24.00
Inside the feed store

Pull up a chair.

The long table and yellow chairs against the old brick wall, with two bare bulbs glowing above
Two regulars reading at the window counter under hanging lamps
Hot water poured from a copper kettle into a pour-over coffee

The feed scale

It still works. Most kids weigh themselves on the way to the counter.

Bikes and muddy boots

The Columbia Trail is two minutes down the lane. The bike rack is by the porch.

Dogs on the porch

Water bowl out front, and a plain biscuit if you ask at the register.

Kind words

From the regulars.

4.9Sample rating, 212 reviews

"I time my Saturday ride so I reach Feed Mill Lane when the second tray of knots comes out. Still warm, every single time."

Sample review

"The country sourdough would last all week in our house. It never makes it past Tuesday."

Sample review

"Sat at the window with a cardamom latte and a hand pie for an hour. Nobody rushed me, and Sam remembered my order the next week."

Sample review
Visit

14 Feed Mill Lane, Califon.

Califon, NJ 07830. Free parking behind the building, and the bike rack is out front.

Sunday8 AM to 1 PM
MondayClosed
Tuesday7 AM to 3 PM
Wednesday7 AM to 3 PM
Thursday7 AM to 3 PM
Friday7 AM to 3 PM
Saturday7 AM to 2 PM
Call (908) 555-0142 Get directions (opens in a new tab)
A sunny window counter with two stools and a small vase of flowers

Office mornings, showers and birthdays. Trays of knots, croissants and hand pies with 48 hours' notice.

Ask about a tray