Madison Park Bakery

What’s a village without a bakery? For nearly a century, Madison Park Bakery has been a neighborhood staple. Remarkably, it has been run by just three families: the Stolls, the Hofmans, and current owners Cecilia and Isak Lystad, who took over in December 2022.

 Raised in a small village in France’s Provence region, Cecilia learned to bake from her grandmother. Although she studied political science in college, she soon followed her passion – attending pastry school, working with a prestigious baker in Spain, and ultimately running her own bakery in Florence, Italy. It was there she met Isak, who was teaching Italian cooking to tourists. In 2020, the couple, along with their son, Flavio, moved to the Seattle area where Isak grew up.

 While Madison Park Bakery still offers the doughnuts, maple bars, cinnamon rolls, and sugar cookies long popular with neighborhood regulars, those items now share the display case with Cecilia’s classic French pastries like croissants, éclairs, gâteau au chocolat, and paris-brest. You'll also find other European favorites such as sachertorte, panna cotta, tiramisu, and baklava. Don’t have a sweet tooth? Stop in for a fresh French baguette or one of the bakery’s savory pastries, paninis, and deli sandwiches, paired with a drink from the coffee bar.

 Whichever treat you choose, you can be sure it’s made with intention and love. “Baking is like meditation to me,” says Cecilia, who thinks fondly of her grandmother while putting in long hours in the back of the bakery – a space that has been humming since 1929.