California Gluten-Free Bakery Kirari West Is Expanding to Portland This Fall

One of the best gluten-free bakeries in Southern California Sparkling Waistis a wheat-free, supple Enjoy bread and daytime cafe food in Portland in October The new location will open in the former Boxer Ramen location on NW 23rd Street. Owner Hiro Saito opened Kirari West in Redondo Beach in 2014, a few years after his family opened Kirari in Fukushima in 2010. Saito opens “Confections by Kirari”Kirari, a bakery specializing in gluten-free cookies, has opened in Redondo Beach. The new Portland location marks Kirari’s first U.S. expansion outside of California.

Kirari’s new location in Portland will operate as a bakery, cafe and smoothie bar, serving an all-day menu of sandwiches, bowls and smoothies. (Unlike its Redondo Beach location, the Portland bakery won’t be serving cakes for the time being.) Breakfast will include dishes like brioche toast with ricotta and jam and overnight French toast with Oregon berries, while lunch will feature savory dishes like quinoa bowls, house-bread paninis and seasonal salads. But the star of the show will be the pastry cabinet, stacked with separate breads like brioche loaf, house loaf, rustic boule, muffins, cinnamon brioche, almond brioche and scones. For something juicier, Kirari is making smoothies with berry and green vegetable blends like the strawberry and blueberry “Berry Nice” and the kale, spinach and banana “Grass is Greener.”

Saito chose Portland as Kirari’s next base after seeing online sales grow there. He is working with Ramen Ryoma owner Sei Ichise and manager Soichiro Kato to open a new cafe and bakery, which has helped the restaurant become financially stronger and able to rent a larger space.

Saito himself is not gluten-free, but he has been trying to perfect wheat-free bread for the past decade. Kirari mainly uses wheat flour blended with rice flour, but the ratios vary slightly for each pastry. Kirari’s Japan store also uses rice flour in its pastries, and was the first store to do so in the area. “Normal bread has a history of thousands of years, so there are tons of recipes and they are backed by science,” Saito says. “But gluten-free is something completely new, and it’s important to try recipes, fail, and try again.” Now, 10 years later, he doesn’t experiment as much with his basic recipes, but he is constantly looking for ways to offer a more diverse lineup of pastries and other dishes. Saito doesn’t specifically use Japanese ingredients in his bread making, but he says his background influences how he approaches food.

“My cultural background isn’t about using Japanese ingredients,” Saito says, “but how you treat the ingredients and the philosophy and craftsmanship behind it are important.”

With the expansion, Saito is most excited about being able to serve new communities that may not know about Kirari. “I like to surprise people,” he says. “I like to hear people say, ‘Wow, is this really gluten-free?'” Saito remembers hearing that tone of surprise in people’s voices when he first opened in Redondo Beach, and he hopes to bring that same feeling to the Rose City. When Kirari West opens, it will add to Portland’s already excellent gluten-free bakery scene. Gluten-free masterpiece and New Cascadia Traditional.

“It’s really encouraging to see people, especially gluten-free people, having trouble finding good gluten-free bread,” Saito says. “They’re always looking for something fluffy, something moist, something with that texture, and we can create that.”

Kirari West is located at 1668 NW 23rd Avenue, Portland, OR 97210 and is expected to open in mid to late October.