Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Raquel Goldman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Raquel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

Norte54 started as pastry box delivery during the pandemic. Prior to launching in September 2020 I had been working at Nopa, a San Francisco restaurant, in pastry. Covid shut down the restaurant in March 2020 so I went home and focused on being with my kids and helping them navigate zoom school and adjusting to the new normal. Soon summer rolled through and I had more time on my hands so I began learning more about pan dulce. Watching videos on youtube, reading recipes online, testing recipes at home. I began to wonder how I could take this childhood staple and make it my own and after a summer’s worth of baking I decided to launch Norte54.

Norte54 are modern Mexcian baked goods – it’s a modern take on classic panaderia staples, like conchas, novias, galletas, tres leches etc. Being in the bay area and after having had the learning experience of Nopa, I wanted to make pan dulce to reflect the seasonality of local produce and of using local ingredients as well.

When the box delivery launched it was via my personal instagram and a humble google doc sign up. It was a quick sellout thanks to so many friends and family and as the weekends came along I began to have a steady amount of orders to fulfill and deliver every Saturday. A typical week during those first weeks was making cookie doughs, granola, concha doughs, storing them in my tiny fridge. Then on Friday morning baking everything off – it was a 24 hour carousel of baked goods, hoping my oven wouldn’t crash on me and then setting up a packing station in my dining room.

After a couple weeks I began to ask, well what next? I saw that a pastry classmate of mine had been doing farmer’s markets in her hometown and so I looked into that here in SF. That led to reaching out to Foodwise and the Mission Market, after submitting my application I got approved and so I began coming up with a market menu. Mission Market is a seasonal market, it runs from mid March to mid November, I was able to be there for the the last weeks of the 2020 season, sharing pan dulce, and especially Pan de Muerto at the end felt serendipitous – that first market run lead to being part of a community in the Mission that in all my 20 years of having lived in SF I had never fully explored. It also was where my former boss found me and eventually offered me a place to bake and work out of the commercial kitchen being used by Nopalito.

When Mission Market wrapped up for 2020, Foodwise offered me an opportunity to continue being a vendor at the Ferry Building Market so I jumped at that opportunity and began to show up on Tuesdays at the Ferry Building. Along with farmer’s markets, I began baking some items for Nopalito and eventually Grand Coffee in the Mission that first year.

I think because of Covid there was this luxury of time to focus on setting up a simple website, registering as a food business, learning about all the different food permits.

Each new opportunity to sell pan dulce created new things to solve for and learn – whether it was figuring out weekend menus, market menus, pricing, wholesale pricing etc. There was a lot of learning on the fly but also so much support. None of the momentum would have been possible if it weren’t for the support from Nopalito, Nopa and Foodwise – and friends and family of course.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started Norte54 as a pastry box delivery program in the fall of 2020.

Born in Mexico, I moved to Miami at the age of five, but returned to Mexico every summer to visit my family. We would always stay at my grandmothers house in Mexico City. Norte54 is named after the street that my grandmother’s house is on – it’s a nod to her and her incredible work ethic. It’s also my home away from home – so it felt quite appropriate to name the bakery Norte54.

I graduated with an art degree, married and started a family. Four kids and 15 years later I enrolled in San Francisco Cooking School. This led to an externship and later a job at the restaurant Nopa. I learned to work in high volumes and got to have hands on learning in both pastry and bread my first year. Also working at Nopa deepened my love for local and seasonal produce.

Norte54 offers modern Mexican baked goods focusing on traditional pan dulce (pastries), using seasonal produce and local organic ingredients. I am most proud of being part of the farmer’s market in the Mission. The opportunity to create and bake pan dulce has brought about a reclamation and rediscovery of my culture. It is a rooting practice that grounds me and it really is so fulfilling.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Life is always about pivoting. The first pivot I faced was moving into motherhood. At the time leading up to my pregnancy I had applied to grad school for architecture. I had worked on my portfolio, taken the required classes and entrance exams, submitted my application and hoped for the best. I was not accepted. The week that I got that letter I also found out I was pregnant with my first son. It really felt like one door was closing and another one opening. I had always wanted to have a big family and so I devoted my time to that. In the 15 years I dedicated to my family I gained so many useful skills that I rely on now in the kitchen. It’s this strange education via motherhood; work ethic, patience, time management, having to think on your toes, managing expectations and so much more.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I strive to make pan dulce that is accessible and creative all while using good humble ingredients. I really do feel it comes down to hard work, caring about what you are making and the connections you make with your community. At the end of the day, my work is a throwback to the nostalgic days of my summers in Mexico surrounded by family gathered around a table. If in some way my pan dulce can help be a vehicle for connection for others and help create community then I’ve done my job.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.norte54.com
• Instagram: @norte.54