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Photo courtesy of Steve Be Cotte

I’ve written before that Pine Avenue in DLTB between 4th and 6th Streets should be dubbed Decadence Row—and I stand by that given that Saints & Sinners Bake Shop and Crepe Crafters are set to open soon in the same neighborhood as the can’t-stop-won’t-stop Pie Bar bustin’ out delicious pies while barely keeping up with demand and Romeo Chocolates just having opened up next door for their chocolatier joint.

In short, it’s already an area that offers some of Long Beach’s best sweets’n’baked goods. But there’s more—oh, so much more.

Saints & Sinners Bakes Shop, the brainchild of Traci Delatorre (which many in Long Beach know as Molly Misdemeanor, one of the fiercest derby chicks out there), is officially open at 6th & Pine after offering the South Bay and Long Beach some of the best shortbread this side of the Mississippi at Crafted in San Pedro and MADE by Millworks in DTLB.

”People had suggested places all over the South Bay, but in the end I wanted to stay in Long Beach,” Delatorre said. “Long Beach had been my home since 2002 and I love it here. It only made sense to open a shop in my community where I had already started to develop a following of supportive customers.”

A longtime lover of DTLB as well as a former resident—she now perches herself near Long Beach Blvd. and PCH—Delatorre kept her bake shop in DTLB for one simple reason: the community.

”People walk, bike, roller skate,” Delatorre said. “They hang out at local businesses and they run into friends on the street—I wanted to be a part of that; I wan to be one of the places people can go to meet up and enjoy fresh from-scratch food and collect memories and good times.”

Working with Sheva Hosseinzadeh of Coldwell Banker Commercial BLAIR WESTMAC after a connection through friend and fellow bakers Dahlia Villegas and Judy Karni of Twice Baked, Delatorre scoured places across the city but it was Pine that caught her eye. Since February, she has slowly fallen in love with the space and, as of a few weeks ago, officially signed a lease and has keys.

”It’s such a great area with so many new things happening all of the time, I feel lucky to be a new business owner in this area. It’s really exciting!”

Working with Handian Construction (the same crew behind neighboring Pie Bar), Delatorre opened shop at 11AM today.

Even better? It won’t just be the cookies and shortbread she offered at MADE.

Delatorre is a master bread maker and for those lucky enough to experience the carby wonder directly from Delatorre’s kitchen, they have experienced her culinary works of art. From sourdough boules to croissants, farmhouse wheat loaves to brioche buns, Delatorre is going to offer DTLB its freshest bread along with possibly making sandwiches on said bread. (Patty melt and pepperoni pizza-stuffed sourdough balls included.)

Commence drooling. (And their Facebook? It’s is a carby collection of heavenly deliciousness that is sure to make you crave more. So is their Instagram.)

For now, however, her main goal is simple: get the shop up to her standards and prepped for opening.

”It’s been a long process, but I’m a cautious person and wanted to make sure that I had all of the pieces to the puzzle before I jumped in,” Delatorre said. “I’m ready and I can’t wait to open my door.”

We can’t wait either.

Meanwhile, just across the street, Crepe Crafters is set to open shop offering a variety of savory and sweet crepes. Our stomachs have opened their doors—we just need Crepe Crafters to open theirs.