4 minute read
Mise en Place
Mise en Place
TAYLOR PETREHN CRAFTS DECADENT, YEASTY TREATS AT NEW LFK DONUT STAPLE
By Kate Frick
Taylor Petrehn humbly balances three businesses, including the esteemed James Beard-nominated 1900 Barker Bakery (now with two locations) and Taylor’s Donuts (another gorgeous laundromat remodel), while also parenting his sprinkle-loving daughter Opal who is often behind the donut counter. Petrehn lets us in on industry diversification, bad bread, and a love for crossiants.
The Pitch: Were you a donut kid?
Taylor Petrehn: No, but our family had a weird flour mill and made whole wheat bread. It really was not good at all.
Have you made it since?
I’ve made it with my mom, maybe once, since I’ve been serious about this kind of thing, and I cringed the whole time.
You’re a self-taught breadmaker?
I started with the mindset that if I could learn really good bread, the simplest form, it would travel through all the rest of the products that I’m interested in making. And that, I think, is very true. Our donuts are very similar. It takes three days for them to get from flour sack to fryer.
Are you an inherently patient person?
I think so. Most of the time.
Taylor’s Donuts is your second converted laundromat. Are you secretly an urban planner?
Honestly, that’s a super special piece of the business. Even downtown has a different vibe. People show up in their PJs here—they just walk out the door because they can smell donuts all the way down the block. That’s super special.
How’s your work-life balance?
When I was building this place out, our daughter Opal was still in a pack n’ play. Sometimes I would put her to sleep in a pile of mop heads while I finished laying tile. I usually start my days here, so if daycare’s cancelled, she comes with me. She knows people’s names and has started to get the hang of saying “Thanks for coming in” to customers, which is like, tear-jerking. She knows I go to work at the “Dodo shop.” That’s what she calls it.
What’s your favorite donut?
I think my favorite is probably the vanilla glazed. It’s what I gravitate to most of the time because I like simplicity.
Do you still love making croissants?
Yes, I don’t get to do it all the time, but I do still love it. The equipment that we have here is Cadillac, and very fun to use. It takes a lot of the physical exertion out, which as the administrator, it makes it easier to train new people, and we’re able to have a more diverse staff of talents.
You’ve built a beautiful baking empire, and you keep getting James Beard nominations.
Our last semi-finalist nomination was the year that COVID started. And then the Beard Foundation took a two-year hiatus from their awards. We have not been on it since that break. So, we were nominated from ‘17 through ‘20. Now we’re off the radar, and I don’t expect to get back on it, necessarily. It’s kind of nice not to have the pressure of expecting this big announcement in March. The first year was pretty stressful and amazing. The second year was kind of also amazing. But then the third year was like, “Okay, they’re gonna announce it tomorrow. I can’t think about anything else now.” When I was among the nominations, it felt really special to me because my peers in the industry are making amazing stuff, but at the same time, all the awards came from this boys’ club of bakers. I never felt like I fit into that, per se. I’m happy that it’s diversifying away from that.
