Photo by Kenan Hill
Baker Sarah Dodge, known for her delivery and wholesale business Bread is Good, is opening a brick-and-mortar location in the forthcoming Otto’s Apartment Hotel (formerly the Highland Inn) in Poncey-Highland. Slated to launch in October, Colette Bread will primarily serve as a production facility, but 15-20 percent of the business will be dedicated to retail, with another portion playing host to cooking and baking classes.
“During the pandemic, I honed in on what I felt the business could look like. I knew I’d never want a coffee shop/cafe. That’s just not for me,” Dodge says. “Our wholesale numbers were growing exponentially. People love the delivery model of coming home to a bag of fresh bread on their doorstep. And the cooking classes—I just love teaching people. It’s my favorite part.”
She envisions a bimonthly weekend retail schedule featuring loaves, cinnamon rolls, and bagels, as well as innovative test pastries. She hopes to eventually add one morning and one evening a week for locals to stop by to purchase fresh baked goods.
“It’s in a really fun part of the Highlands, so we’ll have a little self-seating outside,” she says, noting that Colette will offer coffee, too.
However, she says she’s most excited about the classes she’ll offer, from knife skills to cocktails to pasta to sourdough. She’s building out a roster of industry friends to lead some of the courses, ranging from two hours to full weekends. Costs will vary based on the type of class (demonstration versus hands-on). She says she’d like to offer pay-what-you-can community classes as well.
Photo by Sarah Dodge
Square Feet Studio is designing the 1,150-square-foot space, building it out with butcher block tables and bread-making appliances. Dodge signed a five-year lease for the space after raising more than $100,000 through crowdsourcing site Honeycomb, whose investors initially reached out to her.
She named Colette after her favorite author, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, whose story is one of feminine oppression, escape, and influence. “She just didn’t give a f*** later in life,” Dodge says. “[Her story] is very poetic.”
Dodge has been baking in various capacities in Atlanta for more than 10 years, working at 8Arm, popping up at Queen of Cream, and running a walk-up window on Elizabeth Street in Inman Park. She launched Bread is Good in 2018 with a local delivery option.
“I love the excitement Atlantans have for good pastry and bread,” she says. “I could see us needing a little bigger production space at some point, [but] my dream goal is to do this, and the next operation would be a B&B with a cooking school attached.”
