The Model Bakery — Restaurant in St. Helena

If you’re looking for those tiny artisanal cakes with edible petals and $12 price tags — keep walking. Modal is all about the real stuff: fresh bread, solid pies, chewy cookies. The kind of baked goods that actually fill you up and don’t come with a side of snobbery.

We tried the banana bread (moist and comforting), the English muffin (pillowy perfection), and an espresso that… took its sweet time.

Now, the real highlight wasn’t even the espresso — it was the silent ballet of introversion I got to witness while waiting for it. My husband, who would rather surrender all caffeine than speak to a stranger, had to go back up because we forgot the receipt. The guy at the counter — who bore a striking resemblance to Harry Potter, complete with that “don’t want to trouble you but also want to do right by you” vibe — met him with equal levels of socially awkward kindness.

What unfolded was two introverts politely circling the issue: my husband hovering hesitantly near the counter, the barista wanting to help but also caught up taking new orders. Neither wanted to inconvenience the other, yet both were completely committed to resolving the espresso situation. It was quiet, hesitant, and oddly heartwarming — like watching two turtles bow at each other.

It was a hot day. And this tiny, almost nothing of an interaction stayed with me — something I didn’t fully savor until now, writing this. Modal has good baked goods, yes. But apparently, it also serves up delicate, unsaid moments of humanity. I’ll take that with my...

Strike three I guess. I've been to Model 3 times in the last few months. It keeps getting worse. Service, bad. Food, bad, Coffee, bad. I don't know what has happened to this place. The staff seem disaffected if not just morose. I watched the barista making drinks for 15 minutes while my cold breakfast sandwich was "cooked". I was surprised when he didn't produce a gas can and try to self immolate out of sheer misery. I don't know if this place has a manager. One would assume. But that person or persons seem to have no concept of how to "manage" anything.

Of my 3 recent visits, the first was an online order for a group of friends. It wasn't ready when expected, it was missing several items, the staff did not care. The most recent visit was for myself. A breakfast sandwich and coffee. Coffee order was wrong. Sandwich came out cold. Like it had been pre-made the day before and they just pulled it out of the fridge cold. The cheese was hard and foul. The Bacon was oddly overcooked, but ice cold. The croissant was pretty good.

I really have no interest to go back. I noticed over on Yelp that many others have very similar concerns. I also noticed that the Owner is really good at cutting and pasting in a...

This could have been a 5 star review - so why not you ask?! The chaos is the answer. It’s pure chaos and mayhem due to popularity it’s packed and multiple lines and doors not knowing who’s coming going etc. So don’t go when you are ‘hangry’ it will get worse. The food is incredible, worth the wait. But definitely would have ordered and ate more if we could relax versus deal with the chaos and pressure of being in stuffy interior and lines of people. Not to mention so many chalkboard boards to read. Seriously - i would rather scan a QR code so I can at least look at one single list and pick my food. No surprise when we got our order and sat outside to eat, they forgotten one of our pastries. Almost a duh! it’s surprising they got the rest of the order correctly. Get a receipt so if something is missing they can better help you. Anyhow… onice you get past all this, you can finally relax and eat the incredible tasty sandwiches and pastries. The English muffin breakfast sandwich with sausage is to die for. I could eat here every morning but the stress they induce with the chaos during ordering process stopped me from doing so. Definitely worth one stop if not more, maybe go when it’s not...