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what is razava?
Razava (ra-ZA-va) was a dark, nutritious bread born in Eastern Europe. It was made from hearty flour that kept more of the grain's natural goodness, and they said if you ate enough of it, you would become as strong as a horse. Henry Baldinger brought the recipe to St. Paul in 1888 and turned it into a dense rye at his family bakery just over a mile from our home on Grand Avenue. Today, Razava Bread Co. bakes the same idea into everything we make: naturally leavened sourdough, long fermented, with more of the grain left in.
The path to
685 Grand Avenue
1888
The beginning
Henry Baldinger opens a bakery out of his St. Paul home, serving freshly baked artisan bread to the local community. (This is Henry standing outside of Fleischmann's Vienna Bakery in New York, where he completed an apprenticeship.)
1901
Carroll Avenue
Baldinger Bakery relocates to 369 Carroll Avenue, a short distance from the current Razava Bread Co. location on Grand Avenue.
1920-1940
The namesake
Baldinger Bakery launches Baldinger's Razava Bread, a dark, dense, 100-percent-rye-bran loaf touted for its health benefits—they said if you ate enough of it, it would make you strong as a horse. (The FDA wasn't so sure.)
1959
The MOVE
The construction of I-94 forces Baldinger Bakery to relocate. The business continues to grow over the following decades, but the desire to bring baking back to the original neighborhood endures.
2022
A NEW CHAPTER
Acclaimed sourdough baker Omri Zin-Tamir (The Bakery on 22nd St.) joins Steve Baldinger (Henry's great-grandson) to create Razava Bread Co. The partnership combines Zin-Tamir's high-hydration, long-fermented, wholesome sourdough philosophy with Baldinger's St. Paul baking legacy, and restores Razava's association with wholesome, nutritious bread.
2024 - TODAY
685 Grand Avenue
Razava Bread Co. opens at 685 Grand Avenue, returning old-world sourdough to the neighborhood where this baking story began. Today, Razava is a full-service bakery, café and gathering place for the Grand Avenue neighborhood and beyond.
Our team
The people behind the bread.
If you're interested in joining our team, get in touch here.
Christopher is (in addition to his role as General Manager) Razava’s Chief Vibes Officer. He oversees day-to-day operations, menu development, facilities, team culture, and is also the inventor of the S.L.T. which is probably what he’d most want you to remember.
Ella runs Razava’s bread program. She leads the bakery team, keeps the formula book, and plans out every stage of Razava's long-fermentation, high-hydration process, making constant adjustments through seasonal temperature spikes, humidity swings, and crop changes, all to keep the bread the same from one bake to the next. If there’s bread on the shelf first thing in the morning, it’s because of Ella and her team.
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Claire is Razava’s go-to for outside sales and events. That means she’s equally great at planning for and setting up at a weekly farmer’s market stall, a 200-person Bar Mitzvah kiddush, or an intimate wedding reception. She also makes a truly outstanding Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie.
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Cora oversees the guest experience at Razava: the warm welcome, the hot coffee, the pickle lemonade with just enough bite. She also controls the music and the adjustable sun shades, and she keeps both at exactly the right level. Her team’s goal is to make you feel like a regular whether it’s your first visit or your 50th.
Alex Baldinger figured out his calling was in a bakery when, while working as a food journalist, the stories he most wanted to write always seemed to be about bread, bagels, or baking. Today, he gets to tell the modern-day Razava story, adding a new chapter to one his family started in 1888.
Grab a loaf today
Order our long-fermented sourdough and bagels for pickup or delivery.