Rolling in dough

Business is rising for Main Street bakery

When it came to baking, Hannah Bjornson's grandmother's advice was simple.

"Cook it 'til it looks done," she'd say. "Mix it 'til it looks like it's supposed to."

Rick Grimm, Bjornson's husband, grew up following the same sort of principle.

"I bake by feel," he said.

The vague approach worked well enough until the couple decided to open their own bakery. Then they realized they'd need something more concrete in order to train employees.

"Once we decided to open a bakery, then we really started to fine-tune recipes and really figure things out," Bjornson said.

She and Grimm opened Ceres Bakery in Kalispell at the end of January. Although it has been open just a little over three months, business already is growing.

"It's been really busy," Bjornson said. "I thought it would take a lot longer for it to catch on."

It's been stressful, but in a good way, Grimm added.

"The stress is because we're so busy," he said, "not because no one is coming."

Lacking customers was one of their biggest fears. Before moving to Kalispell in October, Bjornson and Grimm spent 10 years in Missoula. Grimm worked for a bakery, Le Petit Outre, and business there was good and growing.

Moving to a new city and starting a bakery on their own, with no guarantee anyone would shop there, was nerve-wracking.

"That first day when we opened the doors, it was like, 'What if no one comes?'" Bjornson said.

People did come, though, and more have come every week. Bjornson once confessed their initial worry to a customer who has since become a good friend.

"What, you think people in Kalispell don't like good bread?" he asked.

Apparently Kalispell does appreciate good bread, because Grimm has been up to his elbows in flour nearly every night. At one point he was averaging 200 pounds of dough a night; in recent evenings, it has sometimes exceeded 300 pounds.

All that dough requires a massive oven. The French hearth oven in the back of the bakery weighs 5 tons.

"You could put like six guys in it if you really wanted," Bjornson said. "Not that we want to. A better way of saying it is you can bake 130 loaves of bread in it at once."

Bjornson and Grimm bought the oven in Tacoma, Wash., just over a year ago. While they were there, they carefully labeled every piece and took pictures so they'd be able to reassemble it when they got home.

"We were still lost," Bjornson said with a laugh.

The oven is manufactured and only available in France. Bjornson and Grimm tried getting on the manufacturer's Web site, but everything was written in French. Then they called the manufacturer but couldn't find anyone who spoke English.

In desperation, they turned to the Bread Baker's Guild of America, a group that encourages and supports smalltime bakers. They went online asking for help, advice or instructions. They even said, jokingly, that they would welcome anyone who wanted to visit beautiful Northwest Montana.

An oven technician from New York City took them up on it. He had built up his frequent-flier miles and was more than happy to fly west if Bjornson and Grimm would pay for his hotel and food.

Hiring someone else to help with the oven would have cost them at least $8,000, Bjornson said, so they were happy to oblige.

It turned out the man knew their particular oven inside and out; he actually had worked in France for the manufacturer.

"He knew that thing so well," Bjornson said. "He knew all these little tricks."

"He's our connection now," Grimm added. "He can contact the company in France if we need parts or something."

Bjornson smiled.

"We actually won the baking lottery on that one," she said.

Grimm takes a great deal of pride in his artisan breads. He's had nine years of baking experience, beginning at a small cafe in Bismarck, N.D. After he had been baking loaves for the restaurant for some time, the owner asked if he'd like to try making bagels.

Grimm read up on bagel making, tried a couple of batches and eventually made bagels that sold well at the cafe. Soon after, he moved to Missoula and decided to put his bagel-baking expertise to work by applying for a job at Bagels on Broadway.

"I told them I had experience making bagels," he said, "but that was making a dozen at a time, not the mass production they do."

Nevertheless, Bagels on Broadway hired Grimm, and he worked there for four years. By that time, he was ready to try his hand at something new.

"I wanted to get into hand-formed, hand-crafted artisan bread," he said.

He considered going to school to learn more, but when he discussed this with his friend Leif Bjelland, owner of Le Petit, Bjelland had a different suggestion.

"Why go to school when you can come here and work for me and I can teach you?" he asked Grimm.

Under Bjelland's tutelage, Grimm learned how to make artisan bread. He also learned there were other ways to bake besides "by feel."

"My experience is more the fusion of science and art and paying really close attention to what you're doing and being more of a scientist about it," Bjelland said.

Bread making requires being very aware of your environment, Grimm explained.

You have to know what kind of flour you'll be using. You have to know how hard or soft your water is, and what its mineral content is. You even have to pay attention to the weather.

"It's important to tweak things

according to where you're at," Grimm said. "I'm constantly changing my recipes."

On a rainy day, he'll mix his dough a little on the dry side. On clear, sunny days, he'll make the dough a little wetter.

In addition to learning the science of bread baking, Grimm learned the ins and outs of running a business at Le Petit.

"I got to see a small bakery grow and what the growing pains are," he said.

It was Bjelland who suggested Grimm and Bjornson start their own bakery. He offered "fatherly type advice" throughout the process.

"He's kind of like our mentor," Grimm said.

"I think we'd call him our consultant, except he consulted for free," Bjornson said. "So that makes him a mentor."

Starting a bakery wasn't a huge jump for Grimm, who'd been in the business for years. Bjornson, though, had only baked for fun. In Missoula, she worked at the Good Food Store and as a substitute teacher. Her plan was to eventually become a history teacher.

So far, she has enjoyed the change.

"Even though the dough can sometimes be picky, it's a lot easier to handle than high school kids," she said, laughing.

Missoula already had a number of bakeries, so she and Grimm looked at towns across Montana to find a place to start their business. Everywhere they looked seemed to have a bakery similar to the one they were planning - except Kalispell.

They moved into what used to be Lucke's Craft Store on Main Street. At first, the space wasn't much to look at.

"This place was stripped to the studs," Bjornson said. "It needed some lovin'."

Getting the shop ready wasn't the only preparation they had to do.

"I thought, 'Somebody will have to do the pastries. I should probably learn how,'" Bjornson said.

She began experimenting. At first, her croissants were "funky," but she soon got the hang of it. Many of the pastries in the bakery are Bjornson's creations.

"A lot of my recipes are things I think would taste good," she said. "Some of my experiments don't leave the back table. Some of them do."

Those that do are selling well. Bjelland is proud of what Grimm and Bjornson have accomplished so far.

"The pastries look awesome. The breads look awesome," he said. "They're doing great."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.