Mission Mercado baker to open storefront at 18th and Capp

The corner of Capp and 18th streets will welcome a new bakery, perhaps as early as March, though the baker is not new to the Mission: Xan Devoss, founder and owner of Fox and Lion Bread, has been selling her signature purple barley and four-grain levain loaves at Mission Mercado Farmers Market for three years. She also supplies bread for Breakfast Little.

The new storefront, which Devoss says was last occupied more than three years ago by a five-and-dime store, will supplement the baked goods stand with coffee, espresso, salads, soup, sandwiches, and pizzas to order.

“Everything is ready to go,” Devoss said. The fridges are stocked with drinks; chips and pizza boxes sit stacked on the shelves; and milk-frothing pitchers are lined up by the espresso machine.

Devoss is just waiting for a permit to operate from the health department.

This is not Devoss’s first storefront. She operated Fox and Lion in Bayview from 2014 until May, 2022. When her business outgrew the space, she thought of moving to the Mission because of the customer base she had cultivated from her years at the farmer’s market on Bartlett Street.

She’s excited to be at 18th and Capp because it’s close to Valencia and Mission, but “still a bit off the beaten path.”

Devoss said that when she would talk about the location with customers at the farmer’s market, she’d hear from them: “‘my grandma lives on Capp, I live on Capp.’”

“Everyone seems to live on Capp,” said Devoss, who grew up in San Diego but has lived in the Haight for almost all of the 25 years she has lived in San Francisco.

Devoss signed a lease on the space last May, got her permit to begin construction in August, and has been renovating the space by herself ever since.

She learned design and construction through building her place in Bayview, which makes renovation less expensive and more time efficient: “I’m not waiting for a contractor, you know?”

“A lot of people have helped me,” Devoss said. “A friend of mine came and helped me dig all the floors for the plumbing.” She dug her own holes and built her own walls; she just hired an electrician and a plumber to lay wires and run the pipes.

The business allows Devoss to use many different skills. She studied at the San Francisco Art Institute and worked in the restaurant industry for a long time before going on a “homesteading kick” — fermenting things and making bread — when her oldest child was young.

She saw the bakery as an opportunity to use her creative side and to create a community. “I like the idea of having this space in the city that’s a refuge for people to relax and get some food that’s affordable and of really high quality,” she said.

And how does her bread differ from other Mission bakeries, such as Arizmendi or Tartine? “What’s amazing about bread and baking,” she said, “is that there’s only three or four ingredients, but everybody’s bread comes out super different.”

She says each bakery has its own style; that her bread is “rustic, everyday bread.” Fox and Lion’s country loaf is $7, compared to Tartine’s $12.75.

“My whole thing is to not come off with a super sour bread,” she said, “but it’s still sourdough, for all the health benefits and qualities.”

Devoss is optimistic that the storefront will be open soon. She hasn’t experienced any issues with permitting thus far, which she attributes to the connections she made through operating her previous store.

“I just talked with my old inspector yesterday, and she said, ‘Oh, I’m so happy for you,’” she said. “You know, they want to help you get open.”