[Cubby]

A wonderful new bakery has opened. The decor is simple and beautiful. The bread looks great and everything I tried was delicious.

[chefken]

That's Tim Helea's new bakery on Division at 26th. Tim was former Head Baker at Pearl and our starting Head Baker at Kenny and Zuke's. He developed most of our recipes. He's also a terrific guy and a friend and I wish him all the luck in the world.

My daughter Clare will be working for him this Summer. From what I've had of his bread so far I think it puts every other bakery in Portland to shame.

[gal4giants]

Holy crap I had no idea he even found a space! We'll have to get over there today before pizza dinner.

I know this town thinks of itself as a bread town but I'm one who disagrees (it's the bay area girl in me). I'm really excited about this, & for him....he is one of my favorite bakers.

chefken, on May 31 2008, 01:31 PM, said:

That's Tim Helea's new bakery on Division at 26th. Tim was former Head Baker at Pearl and our starting Head Baker at Kenny and Zuke's. He developed most of our recipes. He's also a terrific guy and a friend and I wish him all the luck in the world.

My daughter Clare will be working for him this Summer. From what I've had of his bread so far I think it puts every other bakery in Portland to shame.

[ducky]

Woo-hoo! It's open! I been waiting for this. I hope he does really well.

Found this -
http://www.littletbaker.com/

post from March 30th
little t opened today at 4pm after getting our final approval from the city. Feel free to drop by this weekend and check out our sneak preview “soft” opening, while we try out some recipes and find our groove.

special opening weekend hours (for QDoc festival)

8am to 6pm Saturday and Sunday

We’ll be closed on Monday, then open regular hours starting Tuesday, June 3…

7am-5pm daily, except 8am-2pm sunday

Join us for a grand opening celebration June 17. More details to follow…

Thanks to all for the warm reception and support. We’re excited to be a part of the neighborhood!

[Will]

I checked his website last night and saw that they'd be open today, so I went this morning for breakfast. The rhubarb muffin is tart, fluffy and delicious, not overly sweet. The molasses cookie is chewy, dense, and flavorful. It's a very nice space, the staff was friendly, and the menu looks promising (ham and cheese pretzel? Yes please). For a soft opening, it was encouraging.

While I didn't have anything this morning that put all other Portland bakeries to shame, I wouldn't be surprised if Tim eventually does just that, once he gets settled.

[Laksa]

LTAB is an answered prayer and a truly exciting arrival in SE. The interior is crisp yet not at all hostile (lots of warm wood with the concrete and stainless) and it's one of those airy spaces which somehow encourage a sense of well-being--even in weather like today's. You could say it's the Pearl Bakery with better seating and lighting. (And now with cafe Pallino, two of Portland's most minimalist and Euro retail spaces are on Division.)

People can vapor on all they like about the exquisite triple-digit excesses of the Luciers of the world but a good bakery will have a more direct impact, over a more sustained period, on more peoples' enjoyment of food than any bijou restaurant ever will. Or so says I.

The rhubarb muffins were fantastic. I am somehow not at all worried that the bread won't follow suite.

[StMaximo]

Snippets from the little t Website

Opening June 2008 at the corner of SE 26th & Division.

Join us for a grand opening celebration June 17. More details to follow…

Regular hours begin June 2: Daily 7-5, Sun 8-2.

ph: 503.238.3458
info@littletbaker.com

little t american baker
2600 SE Division
Portland, OR 97202

[Laksa]

I'd like to know the reasoning behind closing at 5PM. There's a lot of commuter traffic on Division after 5 and some of those people would enjoy a dinner baguette. Or will the bakery be distributing to retailers and if so who?

[ExtraMSG]

Quote

I'd like to know the reasoning behind closing at 5PM

Probably that it's a pain in the ass to staff at a time few people will be coming in anyway and that they'll hopefully be out of most of their product by then and that all the other bakeries in town are closed by 6pm.

[Twitch]

Here I've been pissing and moaning for a good vernacular bakery in PDX and I just left Someone please FedEx muffin?

[EatinMachine]

Boy am I glad to hear these good reports. I live in the neighborhood and the construction of that building has gone on forever to the point of just becoming annoying. I'll have to bop over here and get my attitude straightened around. I was waiting for a bus at 26th & Division a month or so ago and asked one of the electricians why it was taking so long to build out. One reason was money; the other was that they sheetrocked a lot of the inside before any windows went in. They had to yank out a lot of the sheetrock and start all over again.

[EatinMachine]

EatinMachine, on Jun 4 2008, 09:24 AM, said:

Boy am I glad to hear these good reports. I live in the neighborhood and the construction of that building has gone on forever to the point of just becoming annoying. I'll have to bop over here and get my attitude straightened around. I was waiting for a bus at 26th & Division a month or so ago and asked one of the electricians why it was taking so long to build out. One reason was money; the other was that they sheetrocked a lot of the inside before any windows went in. They had to yank out a lot of the sheetrock and start all over again.

Geez, I forgot to tell you they had to tear out the sheetrock because one of those big winter rain and wind storms soaked a lot of it.

[ExtraMSG]

Stopped by today on my way in and picked up a bunch of pastries: rhubarb muffin, molasses cookie, granola cookie, pecan toast, baked currant doughnut, and pretzel bread. They were also doing all the usual coffee drinks, plus had some sandwiches like BLTs, meat loaf, ham & cheese, etc. I didn't see any full loaves of bread anywhere and I didn't have time to ask about them.

What I ate was tasty. The rhubarb muffin was moist with a nice tartness. The muffin itself was probably a little on the bland side, but the rhubarb picked it up. The molasses cookie was chewy and darkly sweet with nice big crystals of sugar to keep it from being too darkly flavored. The granola cookie was a highlight; it had a chewy consistency like an oatmeal cookie, but with nuts and dried fruits, I think. Very enjoyable balance of earthy and vibrant flavors. Pecan toast was a slice of a loaf-panned egg bread with a pecan-brown sugar topping finished with powered sugar. A little on the dry side perhaps, but tasty. The doughnut was another highlight. It was a yeasted doughnut studded with the currants and topped with powdered sugar. It was moist, slightly chewy, and delicious. The pretzel bread was a small roll with a mild and sweet interior with a bit of a crust and nice salt crystals on the outside. If you like the big soft NY street pretzels you'll probably really enjoy this.

Space is very clean and inviting. I like the fact that they're doing items you don't really see elsewhere. Other things included a 7 grain carrot bread, chocolate tart, crumb cake, more cookies, and a cupcake or two. Prices were all reasonable. Most things under $2, all that I remember under $3.

[doit]

I stopped in today around noon and picked up some bread (called the "long & skinny," like a ficelle), the pretzel bread, and a chocolate chip cookie.

The pretzel bread was like a long, thin log with just a bit of salt on the crust. It had true pretzel flavor and a good snap to the crust that gave way to the soft dough inside. The ficelle was great, a perfect vehicle for the miticrema I ate it with at home. I was kind of bummed about my chocolate chip cookie because it looked all soft & chewy but was actually pretty crisp, which just wasn't what I was looking for.

The place is very open and lovely, the people at the counter were beyond sweet and helpful, and the prices were very reasonable. I'm excited to try more there.

[Laksa]

The first loaf of French bread we had tasted so good we didn't quite believe our own reactions. We thought that perhaps we were indulging in wish fulfillment, ie we thought it was so good because we really want it to be good.

But we've now had three loaves and I can confidently say Little T's is serving delicious bread. Structure, crumb, flavor, it's all there. The price is right too.

[gal4giants]

I know it sounds silly, but I'm a fan of it & was well before I even met a baker. Tim (the baker) was this close to winning the Coup de Monde in 02 but Japan seriously kicked ass. I would expect nothing but the damn best.

Laksa, on Jun 8 2008, 05:22 PM, said:

I can confidently say Little T's is serving delicious bread. Structure, crumb, flavor, it's all there. The price is right too.

[jmatt]

gal4giants, on Jun 8 2008, 09:14 PM, said:

I know it sounds silly, but I'm a fan of it & was well before I even met a baker. Tim (the baker) was this close to winning the Coup de Monde in 02 but Japan seriously kicked ass. I would expect nothing but the damn best.

That's funny---the best bread I've ever had on a regular basis was at a tiny bakery--as in maybe 3 customers could fit in the place at one time-- next to Asagaya station, Suginami, Tokyo. Simply amazing baguettes, in addition to all the tasty Japanese/French hybrids.

[loofahgirl]

The pretzel bread is pretty good. Space wise, I feel like it could be a twin of caffe palino.

Not like there's anything wrong with that.

[tastyvittles]

I had the turkey sandwich with pesto and cream cheese on carrot bread and I also had the weird moment of "this bread is startlingly good." I'm the kind of person who is just okay with sandwiches, I don't typically crave them. In this case I not only enjoyed it, I ate both halves and thought about it again later. Though I always want a second pickle.

All in all they seemed quite busy on Saturday (good sign) maybe a little stressed/tense for it, but the food was delicious, quick, and not expensive at all.

I want to bring home another long and skinny as I feel they are an ideal size for not wasting. My first one seemed very fresh, my second a little less so (likely time of day of pickup is a factor for that.)

[Joy]

My sis lives a block from there and I concur on the PITA the construction made for the neighborhood.

However, I am totally there. I love good bread. I like Grand Central's bread in general, but lately their crumb has been a little too "open" if you know what I mean. I didn't pay for a crusty air bubble!