What started in a home kitchen with a single jar of starter has become a quiet ritual on NE Alberta Street.
Margot is our sourdough starter. She was born in 2017 in a Mason jar on a windowsill in Northeast Portland, fed nothing but flour and rainwater. Two years later, we opened our doors.
We've never used commercial yeast. We've never rushed a fermentation. We've never sold a loaf that wasn't baked that same morning. These aren't marketing promises — they're just how we work.
Our team is small: five bakers, a pastry chef, and a couple of friends out front. We bake what we can do well, and not a loaf more.
Good bread takes time. We let our doughs rest, ferment, and develop flavor on their own schedule — not ours.
We know every farmer who grows our wheat. We visit their fields. We mill what they grow within days of harvest.
We shape every loaf by hand. We score every crust by hand. The signature on each bake is a real one.
Unsold bread goes to Blanchet House by 5pm. Crusts become breadcrumbs. Even our starter discards become crackers.