Bywater Bakeshop
Bywater restaurant is also downtown Warren ’ s new corner bakery .
The restaurant turned its Bakeshop side hustle into a permanent fixture . During the pandemic , Bywater shut down for takeout-only , but opened a crafty bakery window on the corner of Water and State streets . Guests stopped by for COVID-safe coffee and lattes , housemade croissants , cookies , breakfast and lunch sandwiches and fresh-baked bread , which could be pre-paid on the website or ordered on site and handed off through the window . Now Bakeshop has evolved into an indoor operation with morning and daytime service at the counter inside the restaurant .
“ It was definitely a pandemic baby ,” says owner Katie Dickson . She had experimented with sourdough at home for fun , and decided it was time to bring their fresh-made version to the neighborhood . They quickly applied for an adaptation grant through Rhode Island Commerce and earned the funds to make it happen in December 2020 . Dickson hired bakery consultant Kathryn Phelan to help scale up the bread business for their new bakery and she designated Sophie Short , who previously worked for New Harvest Coffee Roasters , to adapt their coffee program . They developed some fun lattes , including ginger masala and vanilla cardamom flavors , along with the usual espresso , cortados and cappuccino using beans from Little Wolf Coffee in Ipswich , Massachusetts .
Already on Bywater ’ s staff as a line cook , Ben Hayes had previously worked at Ellie ’ s and had pastry arts experience perfecting laminated croissants and other treats . “ We had a lot of great people come our way who had bread and pastry experience ,” Dickson says . “ It just clicked for me where I was like I would be such a fool to waste all of their talent and experience .”
They tapped into nearby Hope and Main for access to equipment and capacity . “ Our Bywater kitchen has one little oven ,” Dickson says . “ The whole Bakeshop is sourced out of Hope and Main .” The breads are freshly baked using natural leaven and a combination of locally milled white , wheat and rye flours from Ground Up stone-milled flours in Hadley , Massachusetts .
Now that Bywater is open for indoor dining , Bakeshop has closed the side window and invited guests indoors Wednesdays through Sundays from 8 a . m . to 3 p . m ., while Bywater restaurant opens later for dinner hours .
Eventually , Dickson knows that Bakeshop will outgrow its home . “ Everything is mobile ,” Dickson says . “ The aim is to keep it going and there ’ s potential to put it in its own separate home someday .”
The bottom line is , Bakeshop is here to stay . 54 State St ., Warren , 694-0727 , bywaterrestaurant . com – J . C .
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l FEBRUARY 2022 47