Cozy Rochester bakery focuses on naturally fermented sourdough breads, cookies
There's supermarket sourdough bread and then there's Jen Dondero's sourdough.
The former is often made with commercial yeast and the "sour" is achieved by adding vinegar, acetic acid or yogurt. You may also find a long list of ingredients like preservatives to keep it fresh.
In contrast, Dondero makes sourdough breads with a few simple ingredients. They rise using natural fermentation, which some studies suggest offers health benefits.
Dondero's breads also have a taste and texture all their own. They are subtly tangy, with an open, moist crumb and crusts that range from crunchy to chewy, depending on the loaf.
After spending years baking out of her home, Dondero is now baking and selling her breads at JensArtisan, a cozy bakery at 682 Winton Road in the North Winton Village. Since opening over the holidays, she's been refining her home recipes for larger quantities and commercial equipment.
The move has enabled her to double her production, but she says that's not the best part of opening a bakery. Customers frequently chat with Dondero as she bakes in the open kitchen; the bakery sells coffee, which facilitates the interaction. Neighbors will ask baking questions and even bring in loaves of their own bread for her to try. "It's super fun," she said.
What to buy at JensArtisan
The best sellers at JensArtisan are round, decorative pain de campagne French loaves, as well as focaccia studded with various flavorful additions, like olives, San Marzano tomatoes, rosemary and/or garlic.
The week's bread baking schedule is posted online at jensartisanbread.square.site and every day Dondero bakes something different: Italian breads, spelt breads, baguettes, wheat bread and more. Friday is rye day, and Saturdays bring cinnamon buns, which often sell out well before the end of the day.
She also makes other baked goods ― crackers, babka, rolls, cookies, scones and so on ― incorporating her sourdough starter. Nothing contains commercial yeast, but some sweet products are leavened with baking soda.
The shop also sells an assortment of groceries, most of them local but a few from Vermont. Many items are things that go well with bread: milk, cheeses, vegan cheese, butters, meats, coffee, tea, chocolate and more.
How Dondero became a bread baker
Dondero grew up in Rochester ― not too far from her shop ― and graduated from Rochester's School of the Arts. She headed to Vermont to attend cooking school at the New England Culinary Institute. There, she leaned toward fast-paced kitchen work rather than baking.
While living in Oregon, she started baking bread at home. "I took the same recipe and made it over and over on a daily basis," she said.
She started giving loaves to friends and her child's teachers, who wanted to purchase them. She'd wrap the loaves in plain brown butcher paper stamped with the word "bread" and her phone number. By the time she left Oregon, she was delivering several dozen loaves a week, and was known as "focaccia Jen,” or “the bread lady.”
When the family returned to Rochester, she decided to make a go out of starting home-based bread business, which is legal with New York's home processor exemption. She would get up at 2 a.m. to hand mix huge batches of high-hydration dough and bake. "My family thought I was absolutely nuts," she said.
Her focus at the time was selling wholesale and at farmer's markets. It helped get the word out, but that aspect of the business is on the back burner as she learns the ebb and flow of her retail business.
If you go to JensArtisan
Where: 682 N. Winton Road
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Parking: Available in a lot behind the building and on the street.
Accessibility: There is a step leading into the front door.
Online ordering: Available at jensartisan.com but is usually necessary only if customers have their hearts set on something specific or are visiting later in the day.
Tracy Schuhmacher writes about Rochester's bakeries, restaurants, bars and more. Notice something new in your neck of the woods? Send tips to tracys@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Jens Artisan bakery in Rochester NY makes naturally fermented breads
