Diet Restrictions Meet Their Match at Seattle's Flying Apron Bakery

By: Jessica Ivaska | August 09 2010
Posted in Seattle - Find It - Seattle

Photo: Jessica Ivaska

She recently sat down with two of the owners, Jeff Silva and Erik Chelstad, and Head Baker Bri Dolston, to find out more about the bakery and how they make their goodies taste so good.

The Local Dish: What made you decide to take on this venture?

Flying Apron: One of our owners has a restricted diet due to a health condition that keeps him from eating gluten. Another owner has a daughter who is highly sensitive to gluten. We also care about the environmental impact of our food. Plant-based food requires much less energy to produce then animal-based products. Plus, this type of cooking is taking off. It's becoming popular.

TLD: How has the response to your bakery and food been?

FA: People come from miles around. It's amazing. We have people who come in and it brings them to tears. They may have not had a pastry in 30 years. They get really excited.

Photo: Jessica Ivaska

TLD: And after tasting your food, I bet they get even more excited because it's so good. There's a lot of gluten-free and vegan food out there that's horrible. What's your secret to creating things that taste good?

FA: Quality ingredients. We pay more because we pay attention to where our ingredients are coming from. We want to make sure the food is appealing to everyone, not just those with restrictions.

TLD: What challenges do you run into with this type of cooking?

FA: There's a lot more failure than with traditional baking. It's difficult to mimic the flavor of wheat flour. Gluten-free baking is in its infancy stage, so there's lots of trial and error before making something perfect. Here at the bakery we experiment a lot.

TLD: Are there some ingredients that work better than others?

FA: It depends on what you're making. Combinations of flours work best, but there's a lot of trial and error. Many of our products have organic brown rice flour and garbanzo bean flour in them. We also use potato starch and arrowroot. It takes different combinations to get flavor and texture just right. We also use xanthan gum and flax seed to give our pastries the texture we're looking for.

TLD: What would you say to someone who is a bit hesitant to try a gluten-free, vegan cookie or muffin?

FA: A lot of people's pre-conceived notions of what gluten-free, vegan products taste like are all in their head. They're often surprised when they try it and like it. Plus, if they don't like it, we'll give them something else or a full refund. We want people to leave happy.

TLD: If people aren't near the Fremont bakery, are there other places they can enjoy your food?

FA: We've started selling our pastries in several Seattle-area grocery stores and are hoping to expand to more.

The Flying Apron Bakery serves all sorts of pastries, as well as savory fare like soups and salads. They even have mac and cheese and ravioli, and are planning to expand their savory selections. Everything is certified organic, gluten-free and vegan.

For more info about Flying Apron, check out their website or Facebook page.