Baking Up a Dream

Katie Dickson has been at the helm of Warren’s popular State Street restaurant bywater since it opened in 2015. With a menu highlighting local, seasonal fare and the flavors and tastes from trips abroad, a following grew, along with a very talented staff. Last year Dickson followed her desire to expand the restaurant and pursue her dream of a bakeshop with “flavorful dark sticky sourdough bread,” as she had experienced it in her widespread travels. Thus three sourdoughs—pan loaf, baguette and a seasonal boule—are the cornerstone of bywater Bakeshop, with Benny Hayes as head baker. Other big sellers are a croissant bun filled with chive cream cheese, cinnamon buns (with orange-cardamom glaze), a nut-free frangipane croissant (with sunflower seeds) and savory hand pies. The Bakeshop star is the fried chicken on a biscuit. Bywater’s answer to a chai latte became a year-round favorite: ginger masala. Plus, there’s a small gift section geared to specific holidays—next up: Easter and Mother’s Day!

54 State St., Warren. 401.694.0727; BywaterRestaurant.com; BakeShopWarren.square.site