Ariella Wolkowicz founded Toasted in 2017, launching at the Napa Farmer’s Market. Since then, she has expanded her business to three other farmer’s markets, local grocers, bakeries, hotels, resorts, school districts, and home deliveries.
Growing up only an hour and a half from Montreal, Ariella was accustomed to having bagels as a staple of every family gathering. Her passion for baked goods led her to study Baking and Pastry Arts at Johnson and Wales University in Providence, RI. Once she completed her degree and formal training, she set out to pursue a career as a pastry chef in Napa, CA, at Bouchon Bakery. It soon became clear that the type of bagels she loved were not on the menu anywhere. As she honed her skills in her field, she began to seek a niche for herself.
After some soul-searching, and the desire to offer her new community, as well as herself, access to traditional bagels, she stepped away from her career as a pastry chef and embarked on her new-found passion: to produce artisanal hand-rolled and boiled bagels for the Napa Valley.