Colossus in the Press!

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Company Overview:

Colossus was founded in 2018 by Kristin Colazas Rodriguez a pastry chef and baker (formerly of Petit Crenn SF, Outerlands SF, Octavia SF, Osteria Mozza LA) out of a small shared kitchen space in her hometown of Long Beach, CA.

In 2019 we opened our first shop in San Pedro (about 6 months before pandemic shutdowns) and we opened our second slightly larger retail bakery in Long Beach in 2021.

Today, Colossus spans 2 towns on either side of the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Long Beach and San Pedro. We bake out of our Long Beach store a seasonally inspired menu of croissant pastries and artisan breads. Our menu changes often with the seasons and the whims of our chefs and bakery artisans. We have fun dreaming and making up our products—- we like to think that joy transfers to the consumer.

We are most known for our signature croissant pastries, the most popular being our kouign amman (flakey croissant dough layered with butter, sugar, vanilla bean + a pinch of salt) and our seasonal danishes which change about once a month (sample: fig, thyme + brown butter pastry cream, miso mushroom + gruyere).

Our Bread:

Our bread is beloved by those seeking more nutrition and lasting quality out of their artisan bread. Kristin is passionate about whole grains, a variety of grains, high hydration and long fermentation, and this is reflected in our bread offerings! All of our sourdough loaves contain organic whole wheat spelt, red wheat, + whole grain rye in addition to organic sifted wheat flour and organic bread flour. We do not use bleached flours and aim to include as much whole grain flour and variety of whole grains in each loaf as possible while still delivering a light and approachable product. Why? —- well, because we believe it tastes better and is better for you. We have a commitment to organic flours and source all of our flours directly from Camas Country Mill and Central Milling.

Our Coffee:

Kristin’s husband Nick Rodriguez is our Head of Coffee and coffee roaster through his side project Penny Coffee Roasters. Nick is a coffee enthusiast and veteran, having working for roughly 15 years in the LA coffee scene as a barista and manager in local shops and roasteries Rose Park Roasters, Paramount Coffee Project and Steelhead Coffee. Nick’s team at Penny roasts coffee for both of our stores while Nick holds it down at Colossus as our Operations Manager.

Our Kitchen/Food:

We offer a full brunch and lunch menu daily out of our Belmont Shore shop, with the simple goal of creating delicious food that pairs with bread. Chef de Cuisine Jeff Paletz crafts a seasonal with beloved menu items such as the french style omelette, fun avocado toasts highlighting local fuerte avocados, and loaded turkey and brie and vegetable forward sandwiches.

Pizza Nights happen every Friday night from 5 PM-8 PM, when we turn up the heat on our bread oven and transform our open bakery space into a pizza shop. We make whole pies to order and offer a simple consistent menu of 14” pizzas and large format salads with a seasonal special or two which change weekly or bi-weekly.

Equitable Pay/ No Tipping Policy:

This started from our humble belief that pay should be the same regardless of whether you are making the food or serving it. We founded Colossus as curious cooks and servers ourselves, who moved across departments in the world of hospitality to learn and grow, and had to negotiate wage decreases and large social divides in the process. When we opened we were a pooled tip house and openly encouraged cross-training and the “mixing of roles” in our open-bakery concept.

Recently, we expanded on this and took it a step further, by doing away with tips all together, raising our prices, and raising our wages.

You can find more information about this here.

Raising the prices of our house-made goods has allowed us to raise starting wages across departments, continue to offer employer-sponsored health care for our employees, and will allow us to offer performance-based raises. In an effort to be as transparent as possible we have clearly posted the starting respective wages for entry-level positions and lead positions.

Awards + Accolades:

Long Beach Chamber of Commerce- Rising Star Entrepreneur Award 2021- Kristin Colazas Rodriguez

Food & Wine Magazine- Best Bread in California (Best Bread in Every State)

LB Post- Top 5 Bakeries in Long Beach 2021

Eater LA- Essential Bakeries in Los Angeles

Social Media:

Instagram: @colossusbread

Contact:

Kristin Colazas Rodriguez

personal inquiries/consulting: kristincolazasrodriguez@gmail.com

business inquiries: hello@colossusbread.com