This Popular Bakery Is Bringing Ube Custard Buns to Mission Valley

Since 2020, Justin Gaspar has been quietly supplying some of the region’s best salmon tartines and crunchiest baguettes to some of the area’s top cafes through his wholesale business Hommage Bakehouse. At siblings Willy Wu Jye Hwa and Karine Beers’ La Clochette Du Coin, for example, Gaspar is the head bread supplier. Now, Gaspar is opening a shop of his own in Mission Valley. The flagship location of Hommage Bakehouse will open in the Civita Properties by early summer 2023.

Gaspar says he’s excited have a place Hommage can call home. “Having spaces of our own will allow us to really get to know our fellow San Diegans and reintroduce them to Hommage Bakehouse, separate from its sister company, La Clochette du Coin,” Gaspar wrote in an email to Eater San Diego.

The flagship bakery will open with a focus on seasonal flavors using local produce and will offer an expanded bread and pastry menu. The team is in the experimentation phase for now, though. Ube bibingka (Filipino custard buns) — a sell-out hit when run as a special, Gaspar points out — should make an appearance on the menu and, hopefully, become a regular offering.

The wholesale operations and business as it stands is expanding into a larger facility in Sorrento Valley, complete with its own small retail window. The bakery’s new wholesale space will host a grand opening once final dates are in place. And fans don’t need to worry — La Clochette will continue to receive Hommage bread and pastry daily.

The business is now found in dozens of cafes and restaurants around town, and Gaspar says it’s always a good feeling to walk into the team’s favorite places to see their bread and pastries on the menu. Further details will emerge as the date draws nearer, but for now it’s heads down work time to get everything ready. “We are so excited to grow into a space that can handle our current volume and support the team that has helped us get to this point,” Gaspar wrote.

Hommage Bakehouse will aim to open in early summer 2023 within the Civita Properties in Mission Valley. Expected hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Update: October 18, 12:40 p.m.: This story has been updated to reflect that Hommage Bakehouse debuted in August 2020. La Clochette opened in 2015 and Gaspar joined the owners at the end of 2019.