Manna Bakery will take over Essen’s Kensington space for a bakery-cafe and restaurant
Saif Manna, who started baking Levantine and Palestinian treats out of his Temple dorm, says he’ll keep his farmers market stops even after he opens at the former Essen Bakery in Kensington.
What a year it’s been so far for Saif Manna, one of Philadelphia’s most sought-after pop-up bakers. He’s achieved two longtime goals: He married his college girlfriend, Stefaniya Surikova, and he signed a lease for his first brick-and-mortar location.
Manna Bakery — a farmers market favorite for its Levantine and Palestinian baked goods — is due to open by early April at 110 W. Berks St., Essen Bakery’s shuttered Kensington location. Manna acquired Essen’s equipment and said he must do only light work on the space.
With seating for about 60, the bakery will be open for counter service Thursday to Sunday from the start, serving such treats as ka’ak al-Quds (Jerusalem bagels), Basque cheesecake, cookies, brioche buns, manakeesh, and sumac-spiced chicken buns.
Manna said he would continue his appearances at the Rittenhouse, Headhouse, and Clark Park farmers markets “because they’re convenient for people in those neighborhoods.”
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The long-term goal is for Manna to be a bakery-cafe during the day and a restaurant at night. Manna said the dinner menu would include traditional Palestinian dishes he grew up with, such as stuffed grape leaves, stuffed cabbage, oven-baked kofta, lamb dumplings, roasted lamb, hummus, and other dips, along with breads.
Manna’s path into baking has the familiar contours of a pandemic-era origin story, but with a longer runway.
His grandparents lived in Akka until Palestinians were expelled during the Arab-Israeli war in 1948. Manna, 27, was born in California and raised in Dubai. He moved to the United States in 2018 for college at Texas A&M, where he played on its Division I tennis team. He transferred after freshman year to Temple University, where he majored in political science and played tennis. As a junior during the pandemic, Manna started baking cookies in his dorm.
“Stefaniya [who also played tennis at Temple] encouraged me to sell them,” he said. At first, students lined up for his wares. Then came local TV coverage.
After graduation, he committed to baking full-time, expanding into pop-ups and larger markets. He lived in student housing because it was affordable, but eventually moved to the Old Kensington/Fishtown area for more space.
When the Kensington pizzeria Char opened in August 2024, he struck a deal with owner Viraj Thomas to bake there during the off-hours. “As things grew, [the] Char [space] couldn’t keep up with my production needs anymore,” Manna said. “At the same time, I was searching for a brick-and-mortar. Every time I thought I had something, it fell through. It was frustrating, but I kept going.”
The Berks Street space, which became available last November, seemed like another near-miss. Another tenant was on the verge of signing, he said.
Manna decided to hit the real estate company with the equivalent of a drop shot: “I went into the [real estate] office and told them, ‘If you sign that [deal], you’re making a huge mistake. Within a year of opening, I’m going to win a James Beard Award.’
“I needed to get their attention,” he said. “I explained why they should take a chance on me, and they did.”