Coyle’s Bakeshop Is Just About Ready to Open

After running a wildly popular bakery popup in Fremont's Book Larder, followed by a successful Kickstarter campaign, Rachael Coyle's Greenwood bakery Coyle's Bakeshop is finally gearing up to open early March.

The former Café Presse pastry chef turned local entrepreneur says this last month of preparation is all about ironing out the details and focusing on the bakeshop experience outside of the pastries themselves.

"We are working on our coffee program," says Coyle, who is using Ballard's True North Coffee Roasters and Kusmi Tea from Paris to flesh out the beverage offerings. She is not trying to compete with the local coffee shops-her bakeshop remains pastry-first-but what's most important to Coyle is focusing on items that compliment one another. "The obsessive in me is getting to really create an experience I'm excited about, to think of our beverage menu and pastries in tandem."

And don't forget about the pastries. Expect to find many of the same favorites that made her popup such a massive success, including cretzels (croissant-pretzels), passion fruit curd tarts, and sourdough spelt English muffins. Only this time there is no need to rush over and grab croissants by the armful before supply runs out. "At the popup we were baking remotely. Whereas with the brick-and-mortar not only can we bake more if we need it, but we can be serving things to people that are even fresher."

Part of the popup's charm was this busy, festive atmosphere. And Coyle says she has hopes to transfer that over to the bakeshop. "In a lot of ways we've created that to mimic some of what we did at the popup," she says. This includes using butcher table instead of a traditional pastry case, where the goods will be plated, tiered, and set on risers. She's also planning on having special items on Saturdays. "Weekends will be big, and I kind of want to keep the popup spirit. It'll be a bit more of a party."

While all items will initially come from the pastry table, Coyle hopes to offer more lunch items as they grow into the space, including salads and other seasonal veggies.

Contributed by Darren Davis.