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There’s a chill in the air. Tis’ the season for hot chocolate, sweaters and snowflakes, and most of all: warm, fresh pastries and bread. Luckily, Durham is anything but short of outstanding bakeries.
Ninth Street Bakery is the longest running bakery around, and has achieved consistency in their artisan breads and pastries. Loaf is a smaller shop with a friendly atmosphere, beautiful bread, and seasonal pastries that make your mouth water. Sweets by Shayda is one of the newest woman-owned bakeries in downtown featuring colorful French macarons and pastries.
“What makes us unique from other bakeries is our longevity and customer base,” Ninth Street Bakery owner Ari Berenbaum said.
The bakery is on Chapel Hill Street, but was on Ninth Street when they were founded in 1981. The building is characterized by a mural of golden wheat, and the smell of fresh bread. It has been a constant amidst the rapid growth of downtown Durham.
“I really like being a community anchor,” Berenbaum added.
People that live farther from downtown are in luck. The bakery’s products can be found across Durham.
“We also sell a lot of products wholesale, like to Harris Teeter,” Berenbaum explained.
Loaf is the next bread stop. They have different items on different days made fresh in their shop on West Parrish Street. Loaf uses a sourdough base for their products. A sourdough starter is a live, fermented culture of fresh flour and water that hosts natural yeast. The longer a starter is fed and maintained, the more the flavor and depth it develops.
“Our starter is 20 years old,” Molly Gavenport, Loaf’s front house manager, said.
The starter may be used to enhance the dough, but the process matters too. Both factors contribute to a layered, flaky, and all around spectacular croissant.
“We use a really unique lamination process to make our croissants,” Gavenport shared. “Our chocolate croissant is definitely the most popular item.”
However, behind success there are always some challenges. At their farmers market stand, the baguettes sell out fast, with other breads close behind.
Up W. Orange street, past the post office and to the right is Sweets by Shayda. This bakery sells sweets that are a little different from the previous options.
“We’re more niche, like French macarons, little petite pasties, and artisan croissants,” owner Shayda Wilson said. “We usually have an assortment of 24 flavors (of macarons).”
The macarons are colorful and creative, with flavors like chocolate passionfruit, smores, and cotton candy. Their quality reflects the time, effort, and finest ingredients put into making them. Sweets by Shayda is unique in that their Instagram is not only up to date, but also just as pretty as the pastries.
“We always post if we’re having a special that day… just to keep people up to date on what we’re doing,” Wilson commented.
People also get to see special orders, like birthday or other celebration cakes. It’s a part of the business, although not in the display case.
“People get to see behind the scenes as well, the process of different projects we’re working on," Wilson elaborated.
Ninth Street Bakery, Loaf, and Sweets by Shayda have their differences, but they have a couple things in common. They are all in downtown Durham. They all sell some sort of pastries. And most importantly, they are all made up of dedicated, hard working people.
“We work really hard to provide these tasty products,” Wilson concluded.
PHOTO CREDIT: LUCIA HARRINGTON
This mural depicting golden wheat stands proudly overlooking Five Points Plaza in downtown Durham. Vans are parked outside when they aren’t taking fresh goods to local stores, and inside, an open environment gives customers a look at piles of dough.
PHOTO CREDIT: LUCIA HARRINGTON
These croissants are one of Loaf’s most popular items. In the reflection of the case, a rack is visible - full of fresh out of the oven cookies, danishes, breads and croissants.
PHOTO CREDIT: SHAYDA WILSON
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple (and more): this display case is truly a rainbow of flavors. A lot of time and deliberation was put into making these unique pastries.
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