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After four years Gwen left The Bakery and
Seattle for a new life on a farm, raising sheep,
shallots and children in rural eastern
Washington. Her baking was now focused on
providing the daily bread for a family of six.
During a trip to San Francisco, Gwen discovered
the emerging artisan bread scene and returned
home thoroughly inspired to re-create those delicious loaves.
Back at home, she tried spray
bottles of water and bricks in her own oven but didn't get very much
further than simple sourdough. It wasn't until she got her hands on a copy
of The Italian Baker by Carol Fields that she began experimenting in earnest.
A few years later, widowed and with children grown, Gwen returned to Seattle
and The Bakery with little doubt where her interest lay: bread.
In June 1989, Gwen joined longtime friend Alan Black in remodeling The
Bakery, which he had recently purchased. They renamed their venture
the Grand Central Baking Company and solicited the help of Thomas Solis
to develop the initial recipes for a line of artisan breads. Gwen found a used
Italian hearth oven, hired head baker Leslie Mackie and began a modest
production of about five varieties of "rustic breads." In November of the first
year, The Seattle Times headlined an article, "Run, Don't Loaf, to the Grand
Central Bakery!" Longtime food editor John Hinterberger praised Grand Central's
Italian-style Como loaf and lines formed the very next day. What was already
a brisk demand became impossible to supply; and the bakery obviously needed
additional space. Grand Central located 4500 square feet in Seattle's industrial
area, bought a used French hearth oven and started baking more bread.
Twelve years later, Grand Central Baking Company has five retail and wholesale
locations in Portland and Seattle.
Today, joined by a staff that includes tremendously talented bakers and some of
Gwen's children, Grand Central continues to develop and improve its breads and
pastries. Grand Central is proud of the small part that it has played in
revolutionizing the way we eat bread in the Northwest.
"Good bread saves a lot of cooking, " Gwen likes to say, and after you try Grand
Central bread, we're sure you'll agree.
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