Entrance
On a Monday afternoon, this town of less than 150 is a source of inspiration; a place to see success is possible in a small community. The destination is Our Daily Bread Bake Shoppe and Bistro, a business beating the odds and gaining clients by the mouthful in Barnes.
The building, constructed in 1906, resembles the ideal general store from the early 1900’s, with white siding and a wooden overhang above the sidewalk. Red screen doors greet customers at the top of the cement steps.
A comforting scent of freshly baked goods fills the entrance. The room has a rustic feel; it is dark with wood paneling on the walls, though paintings and signs reading Bible verses make the room more inviting.
A large glass case on the south side of the room houses cookies of various flavors, cranberry-orange muffins, oatmeal bread, and Italian French bread. Wooden shelves on the east wall display cookbooks, dressings, jellies, t-shirts, postcards and other knick-knacks.
A peek into the adjacent room reveals a stark contrast from the first room, and the world outside. Classical music plays in the background. It is a garden oasis, with a hand-painted countryscape scene on the north wall, surrounded by potted plants. Cement columns break up the scene. Ornate pressed tin covers the ceiling.
A little boy runs toward the front carrying a bottle of bubbles. He zips past tables and chairs, yelling “Grandma! Grandma!” over and over. A woman greets the boy and calls him Will, then picks him up and helps him blow bubbles. Her name is Cindy Hiesterman- a very cheery woman, with grey hair and a permanent smile. Two other women, Connie Wilkens and Kate Olson join Hiesterman in the Garden room. They bring with them plates of sandwiches and a tiny baby wrapped in a blanket.
“Later on this time of day, we do the ‘fam thing’ as we call it. Everybody just sits down,” Hiesterman says. It feels good to be part of the family, if only for a few hours.
Our Daily Bread
“We had never intended to open as a restaurant. We had never been in the restaurant business. It opened as a bake shop.” Hiesterman smiles.
The business began on December 15, 2002, in her parents’ two-car garage. The inside left little room for anything but a kitchen.
“What we found was people coming in tour buses. They wanted some place to sit down and they were putting them around my mom’s kitchen table.” Hiesterman thought the easiest solution would be to add on a makeshift structure to the front of the garage. Her husband had another plan.
“Ernie had talked about this building. It was sitting here packed full, like a lot of old buildings. He kept trying to get us to come over. And you know, finally we came over here and we walked in that day and we said ‘Oh my goodness. This is where we should be.’”
By August 2003, the bake shop moved to its present location.
“Everything went in stages. It wasn’t like we had this grand design. This room was not finished. We had a few tables set up out front so people could just come in, sit down and have a cinnamon roll. Then we had soup and sandwiches, ‘cause people would say ‘There’s nothing open past two o’clock.’”
Gallery
