Vegan Bakery Near Me in Old Pasadena: Yvonne's Vegan Kitchen Guide

Yvonne's Vegan Kitchen opens at 7 am Monday through Wednesday, and everything in its case is both vegan and gluten-free. The storefront sits at 11 W. Dayton St., a side street a few steps off Fair Oaks Avenue. A Cinnamon Roll costs $6.98 and a slice of Ube Cake with Vanilla Buttercream is $12.50, so a vegan bakery near me search here has two clear starting points.

The founder's path explains the menu. Yvonne Ardestani trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena and started her blog, My Eclectic Kitchen, in 2009 while cooking for chef Suzanne Goin at Lucques and Tavern. Hypothyroidism and high cholesterol pushed her to drop butter, cream and sugar, and in early 2013 she went plant-based, vegan and gluten-free. The flagship storefront opened on September 29, 2023, in what she called her beloved hometown.

That restaurant training shows in the flavors, especially the Southeast Asian ones. Ube, the purple yam, and pandan, the grassy leaf used across Southeast Asian sweets, appear in cakes, pies, loaves and cookies. A slice of Ube Cake or Pandan Cake, each with vanilla buttercream, costs $12.50. Ube Pie and Pandan Pie are $10.50 a slice or $83 whole, and an Ube Loaf slice is $5.95. Pandan Cookies sell in a three-pack for $11.55.

For a quick breakfast, the classics are cheaper. A Chocolate Chip Cookie is $3.60 on its own, and a Chocolate-Covered Donut costs $5.50, or $32.25 for six. The Cinnamon Roll at $6.98 is the item to grab with coffee before work. The storefront also carries morning pastries and ready-made cakes that are not sold online, so the case can hold things you will not find on the website.

Honest call: the cake slices are expensive at $12.50, and if you are buying for one person, a slice of pie at $10.50 or an ube loaf slice at $5.95 gives you the same flavor for less. Save the cake slice for when you want the buttercream. Families feeding a crowd should skip single slices entirely and look at whole cakes, which work out much better per serving.

Halloween is on the menu right now. Creepy Halloween Cakes cost $29.99 and Halloween Rice Krispy Treats are $5.98, both listed as available starting October 18 and in very limited quantities. Halloween cupcakes are sold by the dozen, from $54.96 for simple mini cupcakes to $90 for the decorated Creepy and Spooky sets, and a DIY Halloween Cookie Decorating Kit is $49. These seasonal items are local delivery and pickup only.

For fall birthdays, the Naked Vanilla Spice Cake with Sunflower Date Caramel and Pumpkin Ganache is the showpiece: $99 for a six-inch, two-layer cake, $129 for eight inches and $158 for ten. The simpler Naked Vanilla Cake with Raspberry Jam starts at $74 for six inches. Both read like restaurant desserts rather than birthday-party sheet cakes, which is exactly the point of a chef-run bakery.

The lead times are the rule that catches people out. The bakery's policy page asks for standard cakes to be ordered a week in advance at the latest, and custom cakes need at least a month's notice, with rush fees from $30. Pickup windows run 8 am to 5:30 pm on weekdays, 9 am to 5:30 pm Saturday, and 11 am to 4:30 pm Sunday. Cakes already in the store are sold while supplies last.

Plan B if the case is bare: the bakery's products are sold in more than 50 retail locations across Southern California and beyond, and the online shop offers nationwide shipping, though the seasonal cakes are local pickup and delivery only. Locally, a second plant-based French option, ID-Eclair on West Green Street, is a couple of blocks away. Rainy-day visitors can browse online and pick up in the shop instead of waiting at the counter.

The neighborhood makes it easy to stay a while. Central Park, a leafy block with old trees and benches, is a couple of minutes south and suits a slice of pie in the shade. One Colorado, the restored brick courtyard of shops and restaurants, is around the corner on Colorado Boulevard. The Norton Simon Museum, with its sculpture garden and Impressionist collection, is a pleasant walk west along Colorado.

The bakery is bigger than its narrow storefront suggests. Beyond the counter, it runs an online shop, a wholesale line, custom and wedding cakes, catering and corporate events, plus a recipe app and an e-book. The About page says its clients include names in entertainment, sports, wellness and beauty, and even two former US presidents. So do not be surprised if a large catering order is going out the door while you are still choosing a cookie.

Practical notes: Yvonne's Vegan Kitchen is at 11 W. Dayton St., Pasadena, CA 91105. Hours are Monday to Wednesday 7 am to 6 pm, Thursday and Friday 8 am to 6 pm, Saturday 9 am to 6 pm and Sunday 11 am to 5 pm. Order whole cakes at least a week ahead, custom cakes a month ahead, and expect seasonal items to sell out.

Who will love Yvonne's: celiac and vegan households who rarely get to choose freely from a case, anyone curious about ube and pandan in Western-style cakes, and Pasadena parents ordering a dairy-free birthday cake. Who might pass: those wanting a cheap sugar fix, since slices run high. For a lower-cost cupcake, Cake Girl in Boyle Heights, reachable by Metro via Union Station, sells cupcakes starting at $5.50.