What’s New at the Market: Bringing fresh bread, pastries to the market

The Sequim Farmers Market is the only place on the peninsula that you will find Bell Street Bakery’s freshly baked European style crusty breads and pastries on Saturdays.

Yes, Sequim’s very own Bell Street Bakery will be at the market every week throughout the market season, with some of your tried-and-true favorites like their fluffy loaf breads and buttery artisan cookies, as well as with some new delicacies they are making just for the Farmer’s Market, like Almond Twists and Cinnamon Twists made with organic puff pastry dough.

I had the opportunity to talk with the baker Russ Lewis late one morning when the day’s baking was finished. Although he moved to Sequim with his family to open Bell Street Bakery only two years ago, his experience baking artisan breads and pastries goes back to 1988 in Burlington, Vt., where he learned the craft when he was hired to work at a local bakery.

In his early years learning about European sourdough starters and mastering bread making, the magic of creating breads from scratch hit home instantly for Lewis. The only part of baking that took some adjustment was waking up at 3:00 in the morning. After five years he opened his own bakery, and then in 2016 opened the doors at Bell Street Bakery in Sequim. Now his workdays begin at 1:30 a.m. and wrap up about 12 hours later.

What sets Bell Street Bakery’s baked goods apart?

“Timing is pretty much everything,” Lewis explains. “Our bread still has quite a bit of warmth when it gets to the markets. It is so fresh that it overwhelms the area with its fragrance.”

His daily repertoire includes variations of fruit breads and savory breads made with seasonal vegetables from Nash’s — in the early spring he made roasted leek mozzarella bread, and currently he is making a roasted raab french bread. One of his favorite breads is the Honey Irish Oatmeal sliced loaf.

“It took a year-and-a-half to gain popularity, but I stuck with it because I believe in it,” Lewis says. “It is a good bread. It makes the best turkey sandwich!”

Well, now I know what I’ll be making for lunch …

You can find Russ and his wife Linda at the Sequim Farmers Market every Saturday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on the Sequim Civic Center Plaza.

This Saturday, May 19, is Senior Appreciation Day at the Sequim Farmers Market! Stop by the market booth, where we will be distributing $100 in coupons which can be redeemed with any vendor at the market, while supplies last! Senior Appreciation Days are made possible by Park

View Villas and will recur monthly throughout the season: May 19, June 16, July 14, Aug. 18, Sept. 15 and Oct. 20.

A special thanks goes out to Bell & Davis Law, Brokers Group Real Estate and First Federal Savings & Loan.

Elli Rose is the Sequim Farmers Market manager. Contact her at manager@sequimmarket.com or 360-582-6218, or see www.sequimmarket.com.