Legendary Napa Valley baker perfects pillowy English muffins, artisan pastries

The first time Karen Mitchell walked into a Napa Valley bank 40 years ago, prepared with meticulously organized paperwork to secure funds to establish a bakery, the loan manager took one look at her, then told her to bring her husband in to approve her request.

Today, Mitchell, 81, owns four thriving Model Bakery cafés in the Bay Area, has launched a national shipping service and has Oprah Winfrey’s credit card number on file. The celebrity has featured Mitchell’s now-legendary English muffins on her annual Oprah’s Favorite Things list multiple times and is so obsessed with what she calls “pillows of happiness” that she always has them in her pantry.

“We’re shipping to her today,” Mitchell said during a recent interview. “We send muffins to her every month depending on where she is. Sometimes she’ll be in Hawaii. This month, she was in Telluride and normally she’s down in Montecito. But whenever she has house guests, she’ll order maybe 200 muffins or so, just to have on hand.”