Saint Bread opens stunning new bakery on Seattle’s Portage Bay

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In a historically blessed location on the shores of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, Seattle’s newest bakery, Saint Bread, offers a divine, if eclectic, menu. Located on a tiny corner of Boat Street on the edge of the University of Washington campus, Saint Breads Pastry Shop offers Scandinavian cardamom knots and Japanese melon pan, while the menu prepared includes a sausage sandwich, avocado toast, and an okonomiyaki tortilla.

Before the arrival of the baguette-wielding stained-glass saint watching out of a window over the covered courtyard of Saint Bread, the site was home to the nearly 100-year-old Jensen Motor Boat Company, which one customer aptly referred to as the “wooden boat” cathedral it was closed in 2018.

Holy bread

Courtesy of Saint Bread

Now the bakery gives Gluten the same fame as part of a new multi-building complex called the Jensen Marina Project designed by Graham Baba Architects – the company behind other restaurant concepts like Melrose Market, Chophouse Row and the Kolstrand Building (Staple & Fancy, The Walrus and the carpenter).

At the helm of Saint Bread is Yasuako Saito, the co-owner of London Plane, and he brings together a crew of bakers whose craft, if not their names, will be known to Seattleers: Michael Sanders, who created Plane Bread, and Randi Rachlow, whose Scandinavian-style pastry had previously surfaced at Acres Baking Co. Together, the trio have high hopes for what the little shop will be – even beyond the food. “It’s going to be kind of organic and collaborative,” Sanders said on his Instagram.

When they settle into the new space at 1421 NE Boat Street, all of the food is take-away, but the deck has heaters, a partial roof, and lots of tables. The bakery plans to open Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and start small as they are back to work for the first time in nearly a year – Sanders closed Plane Bread in July and Rachlow stayed home with her new baby.

Saint Bread opens stunning new bakery on Seattle’s Portage Bay

Holy bread

Naomi Tomky

“We want to create a place where we can all work and still live our lives,” Rachlow said on social media, echoing a message that restaurant workers seem to have been constant with after the pandemic gave them the alternative to long hours and low wages for which the industry is famous. “We want to pay people enough to live their lives. We want to support local agriculture and be part of the community we serve. “

But the top priority remains strong: “Above all,” writes Rachlow, “we want to make delicious things.” Perhaps the tastiest – and probably soon the most coveted food in town – is the melon breakfast sandwich. Similar to Chinese pineapple buns and resembling Mexican conchas, the slightly sweet, soft bun has a crumbly crust on top. For the sandwich, Saint Bread will split the bun and add a square of steamed egg, which is just the right texture to hold together in the tender bread – especially when backed by a square of American cheese. This combination of Japanese bread with American cheese fits perfectly with the diverse sources of inspiration at Saint Bread.

While the idea of ​​sipping coffee from an Australian roastery (Proud Mary) while nibbling on a Norwegian school roll filled with custard, in the glow of the sunlight streaming through the stained glass window that reminds of the name of the bakery and quinoa and Tofu Waiting Grain Bowl may seem like a strange, unnatural combination, but Rachlow’s Instagram post gives the best explanation for the wide range of offerings: “There will be things we love and grew up with and some versions of things that combine out of all are from these. “