‘Flour, butter, tradition’

Sawyers Bakery combines Sandpoint heritage with European flair

By Soncirey Mitchell
Reader Staff

If you’ve stopped by one of downtown Sandpoint’s newest businesses — Sawyers Bakery — in the afternoon, you may have noticed a usually worrying sight: empty shelves. It’s not for lack of trying, but accomplished pastry chef and chocolatier Becky Sawyer can’t seem to bake enough to satisfy the hordes of hungry customers flocking to her shop everyday for pistachio twists, éclairs and steaming cups of tea.

Ever since Sawyer opened her first brick-and-mortar business, filling the old Image Maker space at 320 North First Ave. with European, monochromatic charm, the place has been packed with locals and tourists alike — which makes sense, because if the enticing aromas weren’t enough to draw you in, the longtime Sandpoint family name might. 

The Sawyers have been a prominent North Idaho family for more than 100 years, and have ties to the local bakeries that fed this historic town.

“I was born and raised here, and my family moved here in 1903 with the railroad,” said Sawyer. “My great uncle — my grandmother’s brother — was a baker at Harold’s IGA.”

That great uncle, Bode Kemmis, was also the baker at Haworth’s Bakery, which used to stand right down the street from Sawyer’s current shop. The taste of his famous maple bars, which locals still talk about, sparked her lifelong passion for baked goods. From there, she went from taking every 4-H cake decorating class to teaching those classes and becoming the go-to baker for family events — and then other people’s family events. 

During her more than 20-year career at Bonner General Health, Sawyer launched a successful business as a home baker. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it was time for a change.

Sawyer dove headfirst into an intensive, 400-hour pastry and chocolate program at the Pastry Academy outside of Las Vegas, studying directly under one of the foremost chocolatiers in the world, Amaury Guichon. She was so good, he invited her back for a special program alongside Food Network stars.

When she returned to Sandpoint, she took over as bakery manager for Winter Ridge before beginning her five-year search for a lease that would allow her to put in a kitchen. Once she had that, updating and renovating the space was a family affair.

“My whole family helped me with this,” said Sawyer. “I hired the contractors I was required to hire: the electrician, the plumber, HVAC person and the person that put the bathroom in, but everything else my family did.”

“Everything else” included ripping out carpet; tiling the floor, back wall and ceiling; painting; hanging lighting and artwork; and generally transforming the space so that it’s easy to imagine the bakery’s always been there. Pictures of those family members now line the window sills, and the genuine articles often make appearances in the bakery, too.

“We’re very family oriented — my family’s always in here working,” said Sawyer. “I just really like having the tradition, so our theme here is, ‘Flour, butter, tradition.’”

That tradition combines something entirely Sandpoint with classic European flavors and techniques, making for a bakery that would fit perfectly on the streets of Paris or Florence, but instead welcomes in North Idahoans off the sleepy morning sidewalks.

“I hear a lot of people say, ‘Oh, it’s the little French bakery in town,’ but we’re more of a European bakery,” said Sawyer. “We’ve got the French pastries, but we also have the Italian — we’ve got tiramisu and cannoli — we’ve got danishes, and then the British afternoon tea.”

As Sawyer explained, afternoon or “low tea” is a traditional, often upper-class tea service that bridges the gap between lunch and dinner, as opposed to “high tea,” which is heartier and eaten directly after work.

“Sundays at 2 p.m. we do afternoon tea service for 10 people, and it’s a sit-down, three-tier service,” said Sawyer. “The bottom layer is sandwiches, then a layer of scones and the top layer is sweets. They get an endless pot of tea.”

That tea service has been such a resounding success that, as of press time, it’s booked out until December. If you can’t wait that long, or aren’t ready to commit to the $49.99 price tag, drop by any time for cream tea: a bottomless cup of tea served with a scone, clotted cream and jam for only $10. Patrons can choose from 16 in-house teas by Lake Missoula Tea Company or try something new with a 45-cent bag of Ukrainian Lovaré tea, with flavors ranging from black to strawberry marshmallow. Special fall and holiday flavors will arrive soon.

All teabags and blends are available for purchase in the bakery’s store, which also offers an assortment of new and vintage baking accoutrements, a variety of flours and a local artists’ section, which displays pottery, candles, photographs and anything else made by area artisans. Anyone who enjoys a cuppa should also join the bakery’s equivalent of a pub mug club, the 28-Cup Society.

“They pay $28 a year to hang their own teacup, and then every time they come in and have tea, they get 28% off,” said Sawyer.

Current society members’ cups, each with a unique number on the bottom, already decorate the walls of the bakery awaiting their owners and a fresh brew. It’s not all tea, though; the shop also serves Paradise Valley Coffee, Italian sodas and, of course, enough baked goods to bring a tear to your eye. From turkey and gruyère croissants to gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, cakes, macarons, pavlovas and more, Sawyer caters to every person and every craving from sweet to savory.

“My favorite thing to make is the viennoiserie: It’s the croissants and the laminated dough,” said Sawyer. “We’ve been making croissant rolls, some crème brûlée, some pistachio. I would just say my favorite thing is working with croissant dough and creating fun, non-traditional flavors.”

Visitors can see Sawyer’s expertise with viennoiserie in action on Wednesday, Sept. 16, when she will demonstrate how to make a croissant from scratch as part of her weekly baking classes. Hands-on classes are held on most Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 5:30-7:30 p.m., and in September will include cake and cookie decorating and tart and crème brûlée making, among other tasty adventures.

Visit the business’ Facebook page for course offerings and sawyersbakery.com to sign up for classes and afternoon tea, but the only way to truly experience the bakery’s buttery goodness is to stop by Tuesday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and taste it for yourself.