12 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
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New bakery in Ilwaco
rises to the occasion
By LUKE WHITTAKER
FOR COAST WEEKEND
G
roggy fishermen now have a new
place to go to grab a bite and get
their caffeinated fix.
Sweet treats, savory sandwiches,
smoothies and espresso are now being
served fresh daily at 235 Howerton Ave.
SE in the Port of Ilwaco, home of the
new Ilwaco Bakery & Café.
The bakery joins SkyWater Home
& Gallery, Luisa Mack Jewelry & Art
and At the Helm Hotel & Waterline Pub
among the new businesses to open on
the port within the past year.
Busy business
A soft opening on Memorial Day in
late May quickly snowballed into a day
of brisk business, according to owner
Valerie Perkins.
“I actually had to close because I ran
out of product,” she said.
Perkins has since hired two employ-
ees to help to keep pace as she strives
to keep the shelves stocked with baked
goods that include cinnamon streu-
sel coffee cake, maple pecan rolls, bis-
cuit sandwiches and a variety of cookies,
scones and muffins.
Saturdays have been the busiest
days, she said, largely spurred by cus-
tomers coming to shop the Saturday
Market.
Buttermilk biscuit sandwiches served
with scrambled eggs, Havarti cheese and
a garlic-chipotle sauce, have emerged
as an early favorite. A veggie option,
served with veggie sausage, is also
available.
Teas, hot chocolate, Italian sodas,
lemonade and juice compliment a cof-
fee-based beverage menu. A dark Mex-
ican roast from Columbia River Coffee
Roaster was the chosen bean for their
espresso and drip-coffee drinks after
holding a blind taste test.
“When I chose the coffee, we didn’t
just go by what was recommended,” Per-
kins said. We taste everything. We tasted
all of their coffee and this was our favor-
ite. We’re all about quality.”
Buttermilk biscuits as seen at Ilwaco
Bakery & Cafe.
Ilwaco Bakery & Cafe
235 Howerton Ave. SE, Ilwaco, Wash.
360-777-3611
Hours: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily
www.ilwacobakery.com
Photos by Luke Whittaker
Perkins prepares fresh-baked biscuits and rolls inside her food-cart sized bakery daily.
Valerie Perkins opened Ilwaco Bakery & Cafe at
235 Howerton Ave. SE at the Port of Ilwaco in
late May. Perkins plans to eventually move the
business next door once a remodel is complete.
Vancouver to Ocean Park
The pastry menu as seen at Ilwaco Bakery & Cafe.
Bakery will move into bigger
building
The current food-cart sized building,
designed and built by her husband, is tem-
porary until construction is complete at
the bigger building next door, where they
intend to eventually move the business,
perhaps as early as next spring.
“What we’re doing with the food cart is
an introduction for what we’re going to do
in the building,” Perkins said.
“When we open the building it’s going
to more of an artisan bakery for breads and
different types of pastries. We will offer
some lunch items too.”
A remodel project is underway to pre-
pare the ground floor for the business and
Perkins gained experience baking from
home before completing a formal baking
program at Clark College in Vancouver.
the top floor for living quarters, where Per-
kins plans to live once the renovations are
complete.
The building, most recently The Port
Bistro, fell into disrepair in recent years
after sitting vacant.
“We had to completely gut the build-
ing,” Perkins said. “The front of the build-
ing had to completely replaced.”
Perkins said she plans to keep the ‘old
port style’ building theme.
Perkins relocated to Ocean Park about
five years ago from Vancouver.
“We bought this property a few years
ago and intended to open the bakery, but
things came up and put us behind but
we’re back on schedule now,” she said.
“We’re going to start the upstairs
remodel in September and hopefully have
it finished before next season. I’m shoot-
ing for April 1st.”
An opportunity to seize a prime loca-
tion on the port made Perkins reconsider
original plans to open the bakery in Mex-
ico. While baking has been her passion,
providing a place for community to gather
has long been her goal.
“I’ve been baking a long time and
opening a bakery was something I always
wanted to do,” Perkins said. CW