Lake Chelan Artisan Bakery

Owner Catalina Jimenez stands in front of Lake Chelan Artisan Bakery before opening.

Lake Chelan Artisan Bakery maintains original vision, adds some Mexican choices

STORY BY KAREN LARSEN PHOTOS PROVIDED BY LAKE CHELAN ARTISAN BAKERY

In 2013 when Lindsay Evans founded the Lake Chelan Artisan Bakery she hired Catalina Jimenez as her baker.

Jimenez had graduated from Chelan High School in 2002 after coming to this country from Mexico at the age of 16. Since graduation she had worked in the orchard industry for several summers, and at the Chelan Red Apple Market for the previous 10 years.

Jimenez said that she knew nothing about baking, explaining that baking is not a part of everyday Mexican cook ing.

“I started from scratch,” Jimenez said.

Yet Jimenez loved the job. She started at 4 a.m. and was done at noon, giving her lots of time with her three children, who were young at the time.

She enjoyed baking, and felt sup ported by Evans, who she described as the “best boss.”

A tres leches cake is topped with fresh berries.

A breakfast burrito made with homemade tortillas makes for a well-rounded, healthy meal.

At that time Jimenez couldn’t have imagined that seven years later she would be the owner of the bakery, which she purchased from Evans in January of 2019.

Jimenez has stayed true to the original vision of the bakery, purchas ing the best quality organic ingredients from local producers and making everything on site from scratch.

She has kept many of the menu items that Evans developed, includ ing quiches, pies, pastries, muffins, scones, cinnamon rolls, cookies, bars, soups, sandwiches, bagels, specialty salads and fresh baked bread.

She has preserved close ties with the Bear Foods Market, from which she buys high quality organic prod ucts. The market in turn sells her bread and other baked goods.

She is slowly adding items of Mexi can inspiration. These include breakfast burritos made from homemade tortillas and her own original tres leches cake.