Keeping kosher with SunFlour

Bakery owner Kathy Magbouleh whirled around the back room of SunFlour Natural Bakery in Costa Mesa Thursday afternoon, nibbling on a piece of chocolate babka.

Six-foot-tall racks of round challah bread, each loaf the size of a hub cap, cooled in one corner of the large warehouse space, while workers bagged up crusty bricks of Jewish rye.

The day before Rosh Hashanah is always busy for Magbouleh. Tucked away on a quite side street dotted with warehouses near the 73 Freeway at 2950 Grace Lane, SunFlour is Orange County’s only kosher bakery. Kosher refers to foods that adhere to Jewish dietary laws.

Challah and orange-brown wheels of honey cake dotted with walnuts are big sellers for the holiday.

The Jewish year 5770 begins at sunset today. The holiday is typically marked with eating special foods and the casting off of the sins of the past year.

“People want the round challah because they symbolize the year, which is round, and honey cake because it is sweet,” Magbouleh said.

Magbouleh bought the bakery, which has been operating in Costa Mesa since 1989, in 2005.

“I wanted a challenge,” Magbouleh said.

The entrepreneur and mother of three left a career in interior design with visions of turning SunFlour into the only all-natural, kosher bakery from San Francisco to San Diego.

Most items from SunFlour are made with all natural ingredients, no preservatives, and are gluten free.

“There is a large Jewish community here in Orange County,” Magbouleh said. “There are kosher butchers and many temples, but there was no bakery, so there was a definite need.”

It took the business about two years to earn its kosher status from Kosher Supervision of America, a nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles that certifies food as kosher.

To earn the kosher seal, the bakery had to adhere to strict standards of cleanliness. A rabbi visits the bakery once a week to make sure all the ingredients used in making everything from rougeleh to wedding cakes are kosher.

SunFlour bakes about 1,200 to 1,500 loaves of bread each day, plus pastries, pies, cookies and more. The bakery supplies specialty markets with kosher baked goods from Santa Monica to San Juan Capistrano.

Locally, SunFlour products can be purchased at Promelli’s Market, Grower’s Direct, the Irvine Ranch Market and Mother’s Market.

Magbouleh’s babka, which she says is her favorite, can only be had at SunFlour’s Costa Mesa bakery.

“We get so many comments from customers who love our products,” said Vivian Gonzalez, who works the cash register at the Costa Mesa bakery. “They call to let us know how good it is and that they’ve tried other breads, but ours is the best.”

Rosh Hashanah Services

Temple Bat Yahm

1011 Camelback St., (949) 644-1999

Erev: 8 p.m. today

Family service: 9 a.m. Saturday

Main service: 11 a.m. Saturday

Tashlich: 2 p.m. Saturday at Morning Star Beach

Newport Beach Chabad Jewish Center

Services held at the Newport Beach Hyatt Regency, 1107 Jamboree Road, call to RSVP, (949) 721-9800

Evening and children’s program: 7 p.m. tonight

Morning services: 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday

Children’s service and program 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday

Evening services: 7 p.m. Saturday

Shofar sounding: 11:45 a.m. Sunday

Back Bay Tashlich services will follow Sunday services

Temple Isaiah

2401 Irvine Ave.

(949) 903-0770

Erev: 8 p.m. today

Morning services: 9:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday

Evening services 7:30 p.m. Saturday