Noe Landini Will Open Junction Bakery and Bistro in Del Ray

Noe Landini has been wanting to open a bakery for some time, in order to service both his own group of restaurants and other surrounding business with freshly-baked items. Now that he's found the perfect location, he's getting his chance.

Junction Bakery + Bistro will open in the former Mancini's space at 1508 Mt. Vernon Ave. in Del Ray, ideally by May. The restaurant will operate as a cafe in the morning and a bistro in the afternoons and evenings. The retail space takes up about 25 percent of the restaurant: the rest will be devoted to the bakery.

"It was, in my opinion, the perfect place," said Landini of the space, which they secured once Barbara Mancini decided to retire. It's a 1940s-era former Safeway with high ceilings. "It had some character, and it just had some cool bones to it," he said.

Enter CORE, which will be designing the space in a way that pays ode to the building's history. "This is really the first 40s-era project that we've done," said designer Allison Cooke, who payed tribute to the era with a navy and red color palatte, metal enamel countertops, railroad-influenced design touches and more. "It's kind of a feminine space with some masculine touches," she said.

The goal of the space is for the customer to feel like they're right in the middle of the bakery's activity. The bakery, overseen by baker Nathan Hatfield, will supply Landini's own restaurants — think pretzel buns for Bar Deco, rustic loaves of bread for Landini Brothers, and more. They also have a whole list of restaurants that they'll sell bread to wholesale. The bistro will serve dishes like soups, sandwiches and salads for lunch and entrees like pot roast, chicken empanadas, pastas and roasted fish for dinner.

Junction Bakery + Bistro [Renderings: CORE]