Slow bread, steady hands.
Founded in 2016, Flour & Ember began as a simple belief: that artisan bread deserves time, that relationships deserve attention, and that the neighborhood deserves better.
Born from a love of ritual.
Sarah started Flour & Ember after a year in rural France, learning from bakers who treated their work as meditation. She returned home convinced that good bread—real bread—could anchor a community.
The first loaves were baked in a shared kitchen. The first customers came from word-of-mouth. A decade later, Flour & Ember occupies its own space, employs four bakers, and feeds hundreds of people each week. The philosophy hasn't changed: slow fermentation, single-origin flour, and a steady hand.
Meet the bakers.
Sarah
Founder, head baker, dreamer of grain futures
Marcus
Lead baker, 4am specialist, sourdough keeper
Jen
Pastry baker, almond croissant architect
David
Espresso artist, morning ritual curator
Grain tells the whole story.
Heirloom Flours
We partner with three family mills in the region, each specializing in heritage grain varieties. These flours cost more, yield less, but taste like actual wheat—not the industrial neutral we're conditioned to expect.
Our Rye-Spelt blend comes from a mill that's been stone-grinding for 40 years. They know what they're doing.
Natural Fermentation
Every levain ferments for 48 hours minimum. We use wild yeast cultures we've maintained for a decade—the same culture Sarah started with in France. No commercial yeast, no shortcuts.
The long ferment develops flavor and makes the bread easier to digest. It also means we can't rush. That's the point.
Seasonal Coffee
Our espresso rotates with the seasons and our relationships with small roasters. Right now we're brewing a Colombian micro-lot from a cooperative in Huila.
We taste with the roasters. We choose by flavor, not price. The cost is fair.
Butter & Chocolate
Our pastry butter comes from a dairy farm an hour north. It tastes like the grass the cows eat. The chocolate for our croissants is from a small maker in Vermont who sources directly from bean farmers.
Good ingredients compound. A croissant is only as good as its worst component.
What sets us apart.
48-Hour Ferment
Every loaf naturally leavened, never rushed.
Single-Origin Flour
Heritage grain varieties from mills we know.
All-Butter Pastries
Real lamination. No shortcuts. No margarine.
Neighborhood Owned
Baked for people we see every morning.