Sweet Community Sky River Bakery at

To Quality And People Is Baked In

“Rick” Leng purchased the bakery from its original owners of 33 years in the middle of the pandemic. It’s been a wild ride.

“Our goal for the first year has been to keep the ship steady,” Davis said. That meant quitting his job in fund development for the National MS Society. Leng had been working as an assistant manager locally, but the Cambodia native was eager to start his own business. The couple had planned to hire more help and transition to more hands-on work later but, as it turns out, pandemic times and the talents of one hired head baker are keeping the ship more than steady —they’ve rolled with the sticky buns and come out on top like frosting on the cake.

bun. It’s really like apple pie on a bun,” Davis said. More recently, the duo added Mel’s Roll, a sticky bun named after a favorite customer, Melanie Ryan, who put in a request.

The boozy caramel bun is only available on Sundays. That’s the day the bakery debuts some of their newest items. They want to honor the loyalties of their longtime fan base by keeping the best of the bakery’s menu, but they’re also creating a new base of customers and responding to their likes. And they’re making connections by being transparent and inclusive.

Sky River Bakery is located at 117 West Main Street, Monroe, WA. For more information, call (360) 794-7434 or visit www.skyriverbakery.com.

BY ELLEN HIATT

Would-be customers cup their hands around their eyes and peer into the bakery. Is it closed? Sorry — Sky River Bakery owner Darrin Davis delivers the news through the glass — we’re open again tomorrow! And when tomorrow comes, the little bell clangs against the storefront door and customers arrive for the savory biscuits, sticky buns, and maple bars. The community gathers appreciatively over treats made fresh inside the bakery in old downtown Monroe.

“They truly have the best maple bars and butterhorns around. We also love the breakfast biscuits,” local Kara Beckley says.

The breakfast offerings include a sausage and bacon biscuit, a ham and Swiss roll, and a three cheese biscuit served with bacon jam. Pro tip: If you get any savory biscuit, ask for a side of that amazing jam; you will not be sorry. In fact, take some home, spread it on a slice of the bakery’s honey oat bread with some arugula and brie. Davis thinks that combo would be perfect for when they begin to offer sandwiches. Indeed. It is perfect!

Davis and his partner Sirvuth

The sticky buns are actually a fine tell, if not a sticky metaphor, for the new owners’ success to date. Sky River Bakery already had a loyal following who appreciated the many sweet treats that came out of the bakery. They also didn’t want to see anything change.

“We still make a pecan sticky bun. But we added an apple sticky they named their new item the Mel’s Roll,” Ryan said. “They knocked the boozy caramel and bacon combo out of the park.

“We want to be respectful of every life,” Davis said. “As an LGBTQ-owned business, we felt it was the right thing to sponsor Monroe’s first ever Pride event.” Following the Pride event and their visible sponsorship of it, lesbian couples were arriving as couples, rather than separately, Davis said. They felt welcome, he added. Leng and Davis are also engaging with the business community through a business revitalization committee and a mural group.

Ryan noticed: “They’re deeply vested in this community and donate time, money and baked goods to support so many people and organizations.”

That investment in community is baked into their products, as well. They try to buy as much of their product locally as possible. Sometimes that means checking the box on their food delivery order for “local” and sometimes that means picking up their berries for the fruit tarts at Bahnmiller’s Berry Farm down the way.

“That’s a commitment we want to continue with,” Davis said. “We want to feed people with things that we are willing to put in our own bodies.”

Leng noted that everything is made in-house, including the almond paste for the almond brioche. “It’s very popular. It’s one of my favorites.” They also make homemade jams, homestyle white, honey oat, baguette and five grain breads.

Locally sourced, fresh and natural ingredients is all they want to use. “Everything in the bakery is made by us. The icing is made by us. No preservatives,” Davis said. That gets harder as pandemic shortages carry on. The duo chose to shut their doors on Tuesdays to give them a chance to shop. One grocery run that once took an hour of time took all day and a trip of 75 miles and nine stores. These aren’t easy times for small restaurants and bakeries.

Whatever the future holds for supply chains and community events, it’s a sure thing that Sky River Bakery’s new owners have a loyal following both for community, and for sweet treats.