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Must-Try Treats From The Braided Bakery

What inspired you to open The Braided Bakery? My inspiration for TBB was not wanting to go back to a 9-to-5 job. I love baking and learned quickly that people enjoyed what I made, so why not make money that way instead of working for someone else?

How did you learn to bake? I am 100 percent self-taught and am very much a hands-on learner. Besides a pastry class I took in college in 2008, I’ve had no training. But that hasn’t stopped me. Where there is a will, there is a way!

What has the community response been like? The community has been wonderful. So welcoming and kind. I hear daily, “We needed a place like this.” Customers are always offering up ideas and plugging their favorite breads, hoping I’ll make that one next.

What makes The Braided Bakery stand out from other bakeries? TBB stands out from other bakeries in the fact that we don’t pretend to have it all together. I’m not a professional; I won’t pretend I know what I’m doing because I don’t. I’m simply doing what I love and sharing my passion for bread and other baked goods with those who want to tag along. You will be greeted with a warm smile and small talk every time you come in. Whoever you are, I hope you feel warm and welcome when you walk through our doors.

What are your plans for the future of The Braided Bakery? We are ready to branch out and start getting our products in other restaurants and stores. We are also working on breakfast sandwiches and hopefully a lunch menu soon.

The Braided Bakery, 126 E. Main St., Festus, Missouri, 636-208-4029, facebook.com/thebraidedbakery

CULINARY LIBRARY

Ryan Maher / Regional Manager of Operations, Field to Fire

WRITTEN BY MARY ANDINO / PORTRAIT BY CHRISTINA KLING-GARRETT

Ryan Maher has worked as chef de cuisine and helped open a variety of restaurants in St. Louis, but that’s not his only claim to fame. If you visit the Tower Grove Farmers' Market regularly, you know him as the mushroom expert at the stall for Ozark Forest Mushrooms; he sells and bags mushrooms and gives customers advice on how to cook with them. Soon, he’ll enter a new venture: managing and running another local producer, Field to Fire, which sells locally sourced prepared foods at festivals and events. Maher describes the revamped Field to Fire menu as “the food that I like to eat. You’re gonna have a lot of wild, foraged components,” he adds. In addition to foraging, another one of his passions is the intersection of cooking and science, and he shares three of his favorite books on the subject here.

"On Food and Cooking" by Harold McGee

“Understanding cooking really just boils down to science, and when something goes wrong, ‘On Food and Cooking’ is an invaluable resource.”

"The Art of Fermentation" by Sandor Ellix Katz

“It’s such a cool book that I always have fun playing with,” Maher says. The James Beard Award-winning book details how home cooks can DIY beer, sauerkraut, yogurt and more.

"Nature’s Garden" by Samuel Thayer

“People often ask me lots of foraging questions. A great book for a novice or an expert is ‘Nature’s Garden.’ It’s a great field guide and has good recipes as well.”

Field to Fire, St. Louis, Missouri, fieldtofirestl.com

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