A light leafy green wall welcomes customers into GK Pastry. What began as a mother baking for her kids became a multi-location business with stores in Palo Alto and Mountain View. Specializing in cookies, jar cakes and crepe cakes, the Musa family opened their Palo Alto location on 417 Park Blvd. in late 2023 and have emphasized using organic, high-quality ingredients.
GK Pastry co-owner Gulnoza Khayotenova’s passion for baking started during her time growing up in Uzbekistan. When she moved to America she continued this hobby, eventually turning it into the business it is today.
We wanted something more unique. Something that would make us stand out a bit more compared to just regular cakes and croissants. If we didn’t have something unique like jar cakes we would never be able to get into the farmers markets.”
— Hasan Musa, GK Pastry store and social media manager
The business is family-run with Khaytenova overseeing the baking, her son Hasan Musa working as the store manager and social media manager, her other son Osman Musa helping bake and her husband Khayrulla Musa helping with both the business and the baking process.
“For more than 20 years she [Khaytenova] always loved baking,” Hasan said. “My dad having a sweet tooth didn’t really help it, but rather, only intensified a love for baking.”
After much insistence from family members, Khayotena finally agreed to sell her creations.
My mom loved baking and we as a family will do everything in our power to support her and this business as much as we can.”
— Hasan Musa, GK Pastry store and social media manager
She first started by selling her signature jar cakes at grocery stores, then farmers markets and finally at the first brick-and-mortar GK Pastry shop in Mountain View. Their unique options helped them gain popularity.
“We wanted something more unique,” Hasan said. “Something that would make us stand out a bit more compared to just regular cakes and croissants. If we didn’t have something unique like jar cakes we would never be able to get into the farmers markets.”
Along with their unique pastry selection, GK Pastry prides themselves on their high quality ingredients, which has been a selling point for the store.
“Using very good ingredients is also a very important part,” Hasan said. “So that’s why we only use natural [ingredients] and the best ingredients we can get our hands on.”
Hasan said that the family enjoys contributing to their mother’s efforts.
“My mom loved baking and we as a family will do everything in our power to support her and this business as much as we can,” Hasan said.
This combination of a passion for baking, and meticulously thought-out pastries makes GK Pastry stand out from the rest. This family has created something special: a whole business out of what started as a hobby.
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