We didn't set out to open a bakery.
Emma was a line cook. Marcus was a carpenter. In 2017 they started baking sourdough at home on weekends, mostly to have something worth eating on Monday. By the end of that year, neighbors were knocking on the door asking if they could buy a loaf.
In 2018 they leased the corner space on SE Division, gutted it, and rebuilt the kitchen by hand. Marcus framed the counters. Emma wrote the menu on the back of a receipt and, more or less, that's still the menu.
How we got here
Weekend loaves
Emma and Marcus start baking at home. Word spreads through the block. The starter is named Brenda and refuses to die.
The corner store opens
Lease signed on SE Division. Kitchen rebuilt over four months. First service: 42 loaves sold in two hours.
We pivot to pre-orders
Walk-ins shut down. We launched a pre-order system in a week and kept the lights on. Community showed up in a way we will never forget.
Second oven installed
A 1980s double-deck we pulled from a shuttered bakery in Tacoma. We replaced every bearing. It runs hotter than anything new.
Still here, still baking
Same recipes. Same corner. Same starter. Slightly better at it.
Who's doing the baking
Emma Reyes
Former line cook, self-taught baker, keeper of Brenda. Emma writes the menu, runs the morning bake, and will absolutely talk your ear off about hydration percentages.
Marcus Chen
Marcus handles the laminated doughs, the cakes, and every piece of carpentry in the shop. If it has layers, he made it. If it's wood, he also made it.
Ana Patel
Ana runs the counter, remembers every regular's order, and is the person who will tell you — kindly — that the sourdough sold out forty minutes ago.
Real ingredients
Flour, water, salt, butter, eggs. That's the whole list for most of what we make. No stabilizers, no gums, no shortcuts.
Slow fermentation
Our breads ferment for 24 to 48 hours. It costs us time and space. It is the entire reason the crust tastes like it does.
Same-day everything
Anything left at close gets donated to the food bank two blocks over. We do not sell day-old.
Come say hi.
The counter is open Tuesday through Sunday from 7am to 3pm. No reservation. Just walk in.