One kind staffer brought in two white boxes filled with little jewels the other day: mini apple, banana nut and blueberry crumb muffins, still warm and yum yum.

With them came welcome news. The Bakery Station (783-1140) is now open at 202 Monterey St. in Salinas.

Over here the muffins helped a sales star who’s been ill with the flu break her unwanted fast (she had to move fast because the two dozen went quickly). Over in Oldtown, best friends, founders and Salinas High alumni Ana Melissa Garcia (the baker) and Erika Olivarez (the bookkeeper) are calling their business “a true match made in leaven.”

They’re doing what they call “handmade, artisan-style fusion baking.” In less trendy terms, that means all is old-school and from scratch. That also means everything from deli sandwiches built like the big Bel Air and its house-baked sourdough, 8 ounces of turkey breast, three strips of thick bacon, gouda, smoked chipotle aioli, spring mix, cucumber, red onion, tomato and pepperoncini ($8.95), to three-cheese-and-ham frittatas ($5) to parmesan-garlic focaccia ($3.50/9-inch loaf). And there are desserts like the chocolate truffle tort, a rustic, flourless, rich treat with ganache on top ($6/monster slice).

All the goods are nestled nicely into a re-styled gas station made over with key aid from the Rancho Cielo Youth Corps (444-3532), who remain eager to help out however and whenever they can – including carpentry, masonry and painting. (Call them – everybody benefits.) The joint reflects a classic car-style motif; a 50-year-old Snap On toolbox is being used as a coffee station, for instance.

“It’s been such an adventure to bring something new to Salinas,” Garcia says.

Response has been so enthusiastic, meanwhile, Olivarez says the biggest challenge at the moment is “keeping up.”

Life with a teacup pot-bellied pig is different.

People yell things in your direction, like they did the other day at the corner of Wave and Prescott in New Monterey.

“It’s a guinea pig!” shouted a woman.

An oblivious Bacon continued to sniff around a built-in brick planter, led by her little spotted scallop of a snout.

“No!” The lady’s companion boomed. “It’s a live pig!”

Some ask to hold her. Many want to pet her. Several zap messages like one I got this week – “She is sooooooooooooooo cute!!! I got to hold her, and now I want one!!” – after visiting with her. Nearly everyone stares.

Sitting in the temporary basement office beneath the Cannery Row Brewing Company (see story, previous page), Sarah Potter, executive assistant to Coastal Luxury Management chiefs David Bernahl and Rob Weakley, has other things to report about her existence with the 8-week-old piece of pork, once she’s reminded her listeners that she is a vegetarian surrounded by world-class meat eaters with political preferences that aim more NRA than PETA.

• Restaurant 1833 Chef Tim Mosblech likes to tuck Bacon into his chef coat, and has made decisions on upscale plate purchases only after modeling Bacon on them.

• Though she’s scheduled to be specially trained to become service swine that ministers to the ill – and is already house-trained – she freaks when leashed.

• She loves Cheerios – but not as much as Mark Ayers’ truffle fries.

We made our own observations during our nearly impossible-to-end visit:

• As Weekly intern Ellen Huet punned, the girl’s a ham – she won’t stop trying to wiggle her nose into the camera lens – but squeals shrill protest when held next to bacon for a photo.

• She wags her tail like a dog.

• While Bernahl and Weakley are riding their celeb chef connections and new restaurants to star status – and their upcoming Harvest Carmel food-and-farm festival recruited WAR and Gin Blossoms (!) for even more rock star power – the Coastal Luxury team has a new leading luminary. See pics and video at www.mcweekly.com/edible.

Aquarium Exec Chef David Anderson’s delivering a four-course menu pimping produce from Serendipity Farms, dessert from Parker-Lusseau Pastries and wines from McIntyre Vineyards. Each purveyor joins the party, as does local fisherman Jerry Wetle, 7:30-10pm Saturday, Sept. 11, $130 per member; $150 per non-member for a reception, dinner, wine pairings and a bottle of McIntyre to go. 648-4880… Learning is fun, I swear: Kim England, Chef Tony Baker and mixologist Anthony Vitacca do the “Holiday Party Basics” noon-2pm Saturday, Sept. 25 – floral arrangements, appetizer and cocktail coaching with lunch, drinks and wine included, $45++. 648-8880… Montrio sibling Rio Grill (625-5436) has a new Sunday brunch by Exec Chef Cy Yontz – from tequila cured-salmon with sweet potato hash to blue corn and piñón pancake stack with guava maple syrup ($10.25-$14)… Another top value: Zeph’s One Stop’s (757-3947) “Does Size Matter?”tasting 5:30pm Thursday, Sept. 16 – boutique wineries who do stellar wines, $20 in advance… “I am fond of pigs,” Winston Churchill once said. “Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”