Pressed Flour's storefront location at 111 W German Street in Shepherdstown, Wv has been open for about for about five months now, and I couldn't be happier with the warm reception provided by locals and out-of-towners alike. After all, the bakery would be without purpose if not for its customers, and I feel so fortunate to live in a place with such a ready audience. So many visitors have expressed happiness and thanks at the availability of wholesome, fresh, scratch-made foods, breads, and pastries, I can't imagine having opened the bakery doors on any other street, in any other town.
I am so eternally grateful to the patience of customers as I gain footing in the game of juggling weddings, private parties, custom special orders, and gently increasing wholesale accounts, all simultaneous with storefront hours. After a few weekends of selling out early on Saturdays and Sundays, the volume of production has steadily increased to meet rising demand, and the bakery's breakfast & lunch options seem to have effectively popped up on the town's radar. I am the sole baker inside the approximately nine-by-twelve kitchen upstairs, and the town's support as the bakery grows and takes on more and more has been incalculable in its value. Thank you, Shepherdstown, for the open-armed welcome.
I'd like to take this opportunity to provide a little insight into the values, practices, and history of Pressed Flour. I began cooking professionally in 2004, and grew serious about the field around 2006-7. Most of my culinary career had been spent as a cook on the hot line until I unexpectedly graduated to the role of pastry chef in 2010. Pressed Flour began in 2012 as a delivery-only wholesale and custom order baked goods operation utilizing borrowed space from outside bakery and restaurant kitchens where I was simultaneously employed. Then came farm market and pop-up vending, an exit from the restaurant scene, and eventually, this storefront.
With a background in fine dining (along with some less conventional cooking jobs and bakery work), I have a strong focus on quality and integrity. Essentially everything Pressed Flour offers is made in-house. Exclusively unbleached, non-bromated, flours are used, some of which are organic. European-style butter with a higher fat content and more smooth and luxurious mouthfeel is used, and I rely on fresh cream, whole milk, and whole eggs. No hydrogenated fats are used, nor are artificial sweeteners, corn syrups, unnatural chemical stabilizers, or unnatural preservatives. This is all in the interest of providing the best end result possible to the customer.
Having been fortunate enough to cut my kitchen teeth in a bountifully agricultural region, the availability and quality of locally sourced goods is also important to me as cook, baker, and lay consumer. Almost all of the bakery's proteins, much of its produce, and its coffee is secured locally. Some preferred vendors are: Fresh and Local CSA (Shepherdstown, Wv); Uvilla Orchard (Shepherdstown, Wv); Tudor Hall Farm (Middleway, Wv); Crestview Meats (Martinsburg, Wv); Shepherd's Whey Creamery (Martinsburg, Wv), Butler's Farm Market (Martinsburg, Wv), Orr's Farm Market (Martinsburg, Wv); Hypnocoffee (previously of Shepherdstown, Wv); Happy Creek Coffee (Front Royal, Va); Hopscotch Coffee (Winchester, Va); Baltimore Coffee & Tea (Frederick, Md).
I am working at present to provide a detailed and organized ordering guide for anyone interested in the bakery's goods, in both small and large volumes. Once the Pressed Flour website is live, you will find options for: sweet and savory pastries, breads, and both whole and individual desserts. Menu options for bulk lunch orders, hors d'oeuvres, petits fours, and special dietary requirements will be custom-crafted for every interested party, per a brief inquiring as to your preferences, aversions, and aesthetic goals. If you don't see something in tune with what you hoped to order? Don't worry, just give the bakery a call or shoot me an email. With adequate notice, I'll make anything to order, and it is my unending goal to provide exactly what the customer wants or needs.
In short, Pressed Flour is here to provide you the best product possible, made from scratch with great care and attention, with locally sourced materials, to make your morning pastry and coffee just as special as your wedding or birthday cake (or pie!). And though we are primarily a takeout space (with just a little table and chairs inside and a bench out front), fear not-- all of our goods are packaged in recycled or biodegradable materials. I look forward to seeing all of the bakery's regulars just as much as meeting new faces, and improving days-- one pastry at a time.
