Partners move out of their kitchens to open bakery

Sweet Tides Bakery co-owners Shawna Buness and Devyn Johnson, who have been working together almost a year, will open their new shop Thursday, offering cakes, sourdough loaves and pastries, along with deli sandwiches featuring cheeses and meats smoked on-site and served on freshly baked bread.

The store also will carry its own sauces and aiolis.

A ribbon-cutting at 11:45 a.m. will precede the opening at noon Thursday. They plan to open for breakfast at 7 a.m. the next day.

The bakery is in the same building as Twisted Root Market on Front Street, with an entrance down the gravel alleyway on the right-hand side.

You can't sit and eat, but that's a goal in the future, Johnson said.

Johnson and Buness first worked together on a "Toy Story" cake in May 2021, under Johnson's then-Moody Folks Bakery, an homage to Johnson's maiden name. "Devyn baked, I decorated," Buness said Feb. 22. "That was our first collaboration."

The pair started talking in June 2021 about going into business together, established Sweet Tides Bakery in August, then the location was purchased in September.

Buness and Johnson live on the same street and have small children, and, until now, baked and decorated out of their home kitchens. Their goods have been available at Drive Thru Brew, Twisted Root, the backseat of the car in Buness' driveway. Customers have left cash under a box full of bread loaves after popping the trunk to take their loaf with their name on the bag or pick up their order off the porch. It's a Wrangell thing.

Opening their own bakery felt like a dream, something to aspire to "when the kids are grown," Buness said.

But everything started falling into place. The space in September, then the equipment started popping up. Together with help from their handy husbands, Buness and Johnson have been getting the bakery ready for its debut, installing floors, doing the lighting, exhaust hood, oven, upright refrigeration, etc. The counter will be a slab of local cedar with the bark left on the edge - like the crust on a slice of bread.

A physical location opened the door to more food options, such as the line of deli sandwiches, including "The Tin Canny" for $14. "It's a little loaf of bread I bake in a can," Buness said.

The honey wheat bread is hollowed out and then stuffed with ham, lettuce, spicy mustard aioli, mixed berry compote, house-smoked cheddar cheese and red onion. There is also a gluten-free option, but that will come on a regular sliced bread, and the bread will not be baked in the can.

"The Blitzed Bird" for $15 is smoked turkey, smoked provolone on Sweet Tides pesto focaccia bread with lettuce, pickled red onion and a pesto aioli.

"The Cow Alley" for $15 is freshly baked sourdough sandwich bread with house smoked roast beef, horseradish sauce, pepper jack cheese, grilled onions, lettuce and yes, more onions.

Moving all the cooking and baking to the storefront has been a transition.

"Everything has to be done here," Johnson said.

There has been a learning curve with getting to know their new commercial equipment. The upside is their home kitchens will go back to being their family kitchens.

Johnson said having a physical location and phone number – 907-660-7709 – should help make it easier for people to place orders. Between text messages, phone calls, Instagram messages, Facebook messenger, comments and replies on social media – it was a lot.

Buness said it's difficult not to get teary-eyed at the support of the community.

"I follow (Outside) cake groups, and there are so many horror stories," Buness said. People who neglect to pick up and pay for a painstakingly baked and decorated cake, or dodge paying.

Sweet Tides will personalize its shop with a gratitude board.

"There will be a cork board on the wall where people can write to someone who they think deserves a special treat from our bakery," Johnson said. Each week they will choose a note from the board and deliver a fresh goodie to the person in the note.

And they're encouraging kids to bring a bag full of garbage they picked up from outside. In exchange, they will receive a free cookie, she said.