Jin Goldman, Owner
Company Mission
I’d been making chocolate for hotels in Las Vegas. I had three chocolate retail shops there. Baking and pastry have always been my passion. After 20 years of cutthroat time in Vegas, I wanted to move out of that. Seven years ago I started to come to Portland. It’s more slow-paced. I wanted a work-life balance. So I opened a small shop to gain a niche in the community. I wanted to make pastries and comfort desserts I like to eat, French with Asian flavors, laminated products like croissants. People drive two hours away from Seattle to come to our shop.
Having a small bakery rather than a huge operation I had in Vegas worked to my benefit, because a lot of businesses closed down during the pandemic. We didn’t even close for one week. We felt it was our mission to feed the neighbors. They were so supportive of our business. People anonymously left $100 tips in an envelope. We shared our sourdough starter and our flours because people couldn’t buy flours.
Signature Products
Because we have an array of products, people come and they say I’m going to buy morning pastries. But they see the eye-catching desserts and they cannot pass them up. They buy one dessert, but then there are some good-looking chocolates, so they get those. It’s an easy sell.
Production Tip
My partner Kyurim Lee and I don’t have huge production, but we do turns very quickly. A lot of bakeries have their overnight bakers. They bake products between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. that sit for several hours before the customer tastes it. We bake our croissants every couple of hours. So people can get a croissant hot out of the oven at four in the afternoon. Having the fresh smell in the store is great marketing. But people cannot pass up on smells like our smoky ham with bacon and melted gruyere cheese. People know even though the dough was prepared a couple of days ago, they are getting a product out of the oven. Also, I’m very much hands on. I’m always at the shop. Having the owner’s face when you go to the shop is very important for my business.
Equipment ‘Must Haves’
Being a bakery, we have to have a nice mixer to make the product. But I always have this really long offset spatula. I’ve been a chocolatier for so many years. I use it for a lot of chocolate garnishes, and that’s something I cannot live without.
Secret of Success
Be kind to yourself in the kitchen and be patient with the process. Nowadays, young people watch Instagram and they think, oh, I can make this overnight. People have this notion that it’s easy. It took us many, many years to refine that skill. Be patient with your skill sets.
Future Goals
That’s a question I ask myself every day. Going to the James Beard Awards [in June in Chicago, where Jinju was a nominee for Best Bakery in the U.S.] really inspired me. I would like to do some collaborations with other chefs and other bakeries. On the weekends we have lines all day long, so I have been thinking about having a second location. But I also like to keep things small, and I would like to give back more to our community. We want to maintain a business that’s healthy financially, but we also want to teach our skill set to the community, maybe by working with schools here where I can go share my knowledge. We have been talking about giving a portion of sales to non-profits here. I want to be conscious of waste and using sustainable ingredients, just be a more valuable citizen.
For more info, visit www.jinjupatisserie.com
(This article appeared in the Summer 2024 issue of Pastry Arts Magazine)
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