A Permanent Home for the Bakeshop in Warren
Like many passion projects, The Bakeshop began during the pandemic.
Inspired by the sourdough bread-baking she had been doing at home and in need of some additional sales after her restaurant halted its in-person dinner service due to the emergence of Covid, Bywater owner Katie Dickson opened a takeout window in the restaurant, through which she served coffee, pastry, bread and sandwiches. By 2022, Bywater’s dining room was back to its normal operations and Dickson decided to “pause” the pop-up bakery.
“It was like the best market research or focus group I could have done because customers came out of the woodwork and were very vocal about what they missed about The Bakeshop and why,” Dickson says.
To keep the operation going, Dickson needed more space. Fortunately, she found the perfect spot right across the street from Bywater in the historic Carriage Shop Building at 277 Water St. At the end of 2023, Dickson opened the doors to a larger and permanent version of The Bakeshop. Since then, she has been gradually expanding its offerings and hours.
“We’re taking baby steps toward what I’m envisioning it will eventually become,” Dickson says.
The inviting, light-filled space includes café tables and seating, with more to come on the building’s second floor. There’s a full coffee and tea bar; options include a Warren Fog black tea latte, as well as a range of espresso drinks, including a vanilla cardamom latte.
In keeping with its pandemic origins, The Bakeshop focuses on naturally leavened breads made with locally milled grains. Currently overseen by baker River Navarre, the menu includes options like sourdough boules, baguettes and seeded loaves, made with flour from the Holyoke, Massachusetts, flour mill Ground Up.
“We are very committed to creating breads that are naturally leavened, which can be really challenging because you’re working with all different factors, like humidity, moisture and temperature,” Dickson says. “So, to do that on a commercial scale is a super challenge and it requires everyone to kind of put on their scientist caps. It involves a ton of record keeping and feeding everything on a super strict schedule. Sometimes the bakers actually bring the starters home with them so that they can feed them.”
The Bakeshop brings the same level of detail to its sweet offerings. Baker Sam Radov oversees the pastry program, which offers seasonally influenced delights including fruit galettes and tarts, rye chocolate chip cookies, sourdough croissants, and turmeric-ginger scones.
“Our two biggest expenses are probably butter and chocolate,” Dickson says, adding that The Bakeshop works with Askinosie Chocolate, a direct-trade microfactory based in Springfield, Missouri.
Baking is done a short drive away from The Bakeshop, at Warren food business incubator Hope & Main, but Dickson said she hopes to soon move operations to the kitchen at Bywater restaurant. Expansion plans also include adding sandwiches to the menu and possibly hosting events on the second floor.
There’s also a small shop component—a familiar offering for Dickson, who once operated a gift shop in a space down the road from where The Bakeshop now stands. It stocks a small selection of housewares and grocery items, including a fridge for local eggs and produce.
Dickson says that the most rewarding aspect of her work as the owner of The Bakeshop, as well as Bywater, which is a 2024 James Beard Award semifinalist (for outstanding restaurant), has been serving the community. She notes that she and her team wrapped up eight years in business with the Beard nomination, and she will be reopening the reimagined Bywater space in the summer.
“It’s so fun for me to be able to provide a space where someone can come sit and have a treat,” Dickson says. “A well-made little pastry actually does feel like a form of self-care, especially in today’s crazy world. And it feels like such a privilege to be able to add another element to downtown Warren, especially one that is family friendly and more accessible than a restaurant might be.”
Jenna Pelletier is a Rhode Island–based features journalist who has worked on staff as a writer and editor at Boston magazine, The Providence Journal and Rhode Island Monthly. Her food writing has also been published in Food & Wine and The Boston Globe.
The Bakeshop
277 Water St., Warren
On Instagram @bakeshopwarren
