The Brief
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Giant bread sculpture of a Labubu is in front of One House Bakery in Benicia.
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The idea comes from the Pervan family who moved to California from Canada.
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The move stems from tragedy, but there are new blessings, too.
BENICIA, Calif. – There’s a 7-foot bread sculpture of a popular Labubu grinning in front of a Benicia bakery, and it’s the creation of a Canadian family who moved to the Bay Area to start a new chapter in life.
300-pound Labubu
The 300-pound Labubu, normally a tiny cute creature on a keychain, named LeVanVan, went up outside One House Bakery at 918 First Street this week and will remain outside until Halloween, said Catherine Pervan, who owns the bakery with her husband, Peter, and daughter, Hannalee, 40, who is the baker and entrepreneurial leader of the group.
“One of my grandkids suggested the Labubu,” Catherine Pervan said on Friday. “At the time, I didn’t even know what it was.”
But it’s obvious the children of Benicia know of the Labubu’s popularity.
Catherine Pervan said the other day, kids were lined up outside the bakery to take selfies with the creature, which took a “couple hundred” hours to bake, cut and glue together out of “dead dough,” which is made without yeast.
“Some of the kids were asking us why we waited so long” to put up the bread sculpture this year, Catherine Pervan said. “They wanted it up earlier. They’ve come to ask for it and ask us, what are you going to do this year?
(L-R) Catherine and Hannalee Pervan stand with their bread sculpture outside One House Bakery in Benicia. Photo: Pervan family
Backstory on bread sculptures
This is the eighth year mother-and-daughter – have been fashioning sculptures out of bread, which they time to coincide with Benicia’s Annual Scarecrow Contest – a community event to showcase the business district’s creativity.
In years past, Catherine and Hannalee sculpted a 7-foot Groot from “Guardians of the Galaxy” that they named “Guardians of the Gorgonzola.” They also made a character from Game of Thrones, which they called “Game of Scones.” The first year, they made a skeleton out of baguettes.
“There always has to be a bread pun,” Catherine Pervan said.
And then there was the 6-foot-tall, 400-pound bread sculpture of Han Solo, which they created in 2022 and got the attention of Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, who shared an image of the creation on X with the caption, “Mmmm …. Pan Solo!”
“That one went viral,” Catherine Pervan said.
Hannalee Pervan puts a piece of dough on a Labubu sculpture while her mother, Catherine, claps her hands. Photo: Pervan family
Born from tragedy
While the Pervan family is enjoying the new community in which they live – and bake – Catherine Pervan said their move from north of Toronto to the East Bay was born from tragedy.
Her son died 11 years ago from anaphylactic shock after a wasp bite, she said.
She and her husband were “lost souls,” and Hannalee, who earned a pastry diploma from the Le Cordon Blue In Ottawa and made bread for the French Laundry, She suggested they all move to the United States and open a bakery. Her daughter also married a CBS sports reporter who covers the Warriors, so the East Bay was a natural fit, she said. He also helps out with the bakery.
Catherine Pervan said that some of her new blessings include loving Benicia and being able to spend so much time with her daughter, brainstorming and baking the bread sculptures the community has come to look forward to.
“We start planning in mid-summer,” Catherine Pervan said. “We want to make sure we stay up on the latest trends.”
