Alterra bakery is bustling

July 2, 2012

By Chris Reinhoos

The baking operation is split where savory items such as little quiche tarts are baked in the east side of the bakery and the sweet items—cookies, muffins, bagels, are produced in the west side (above). —photo Katherine Keller

The ovens have been hot in the new Alterra bakery since June 5. The bakery occupies a major portion of the 15,000 square foot Alterra Coffee Roasters location at the intersections of Kinnickinnic, Howell and Lincoln avenues. The café is not scheduled to open for another six weeks.

The baking operation is split where savory items such as little quiche tarts are baked in the east side of the bakery (above) and the sweet items—cookies, muffins, bagels, are produced in the west side. —photo Katherine Keller

Alterra co-founder and co-owner Lincoln Fowler said the company is on target with its projected opening date for the café, adding that the mild winter helped construction move along.

Opening the Bay View location has been a long and sometimes complex process, including road construction on Lincoln Avenue and the reconfiguration of the Howell, Kinnickinnic, and Lincoln intersection. The changes provided Alterra with wider sidewalks and the city with a simplified intersection (one of the traffic triangles was removed) making access to the Alterra building, loading bays, and parking lot easier. Fowler said he is pleased with how the changes turned out.

Drew Waterman with a monster dough hook, an attachment for the stand mixer in background that is one of three enormous mixers found in the sweet side of the bakery. —photo Katherine Keller

“This facility gets to be experienced on all four sides and I think the unfolding vistas that you get as you move around the structure are great,” Fowler said.

Fowler said the bakery at the Bay View location, which takes up about 12,000 square feet, is producing a wide assortment of baked goods for all the metro area Alterra locations. Baked goods include sweet and savory offerings, including tarts, muffins, croissants and cookies. Fowler said the location will begin baking bread, but did not say for certain whether Alterra would sell bread directly to the public.

Fowler said the bakery has 40 full-time and two part-time employees and estimates that the café will have 15 full-time and four part-time employees.

One area of potential concern may be the loading bays, which are accessed from Howell Avenue. Fowler said there has not been any trouble so far with delivery trucks impeding traffic. “The loading bays have been operational for over two weeks and we have had no big issues,” Fowler said. “I expect our day-to-day delivery schedule will be fine.”

Fowler said local businesses, including Café Lulu and Café Centraal, have been supportive of the new location. Fowler also said community members have voiced their approval of the location in local meetings. “We’ve built this place for the long haul and look forward to many years of enjoying this great location,” he said.