In the wee hours of Saturday mornings, aromas of fresh baking bread fill the air in one of Tyler’s oldest brick streets – West Houston Street.

The neighbors never complain. After all, they have the pleasure of living near Sola Bread Co., a micro-bakery that has been spreading warm scents of firebrick oven-baked artisan breads every weekend since 2013.

“The smell is incredible and, hey, they get free bread,” owner Blaine Davis laughs as he points at homes visible from his backyard bakery.

Growing up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where his father worked in seminary planning, Blaine walked to a neighborhood bakery twice each day for fresh bread. Standing in line with others from the neighborhood, he got to know everyone and immerse himself into the community.

In Brazil, he attended school with kids from all over the world, including members of the Long family from Tyler. One of the family members, Karin, eventually became his wife.

After he finished Wheaton College in Chicago, Blaine and Karin settled in Tyler, where they teach at Grace Community High School. It wasn’t long before Blaine began searching for the experience with bread he so fondly remembered from his childhood.

“I missed that community shaped around great bread,” Blaine said.

 

SOLA

Sola Bread Co. is operated by the Davises and Tim and Lindsay Long (Karin’s brother and his wife). Karin has other siblings who help, including John Patrick Long and Tommy Long.

Family and community are at the heart of everything the Davis and Long families do.

They even prioritize eating meals together.

“We want our kids to be a part of doing something together,” Blaine said of his children (Anna Belle, 5, and Penelope, 16 months). “When the cousins are all here, we’re making memories. That is what’s important to this family. … We are family and we’ve been working together over the past year to literally build Tyler’s finest loaf of bread.”

Their mission is to bake bread worthy of companionship. The word companion literally means “with bread.” That’s a reason why they choose to sell at the Rose City Farmer’s Market, held on Saturday mornings in the parking lot of Juls, 7212 Old Jacksonville Highway in Tyler.

“The market is an amazing community of people, and we look forward to seeing our customers each week,” he says.

Blaine and Tim built a firebrick European hearth-style oven in Blaine’s backyard in 2013. To get started, they used “The Bread Builders” by Allen Scott and “Tartine Bread” by Chad Robertson as guides. “The Bread Builders” chronicles the history and science of bread-making and gives instructions on how to build a brick oven.

From start to finish, it takes 20 to 30 hours each week to make the bread they sell at the farmer’s market. Temperature and humidity affect the time it takes. Fermenting bread, rather than aerating it quickly with baker’s yeast, breaks down more gluten, makes more minerals and vitamins present and renders the grain fully digestible.

The process starts with their own wild yeast culture, flour and water. Unlike commercial leaven, which is comprised only of one strain that out-competes the other organisms, a natural leaven is a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (S.C.O.B.Y.) Wild yeast thrives in a symbiotic relationship with lactobacilli, the good bacteria associated with intestinal health.

They call it “natural leaven.”

Benefits of natural leaven include a loaf that keeps longer and is resistant to many bacteria and molds. Also, the bread is gentler for the gluten-intolerant. The long fermentation allows the S.C.O.B.Y. to greatly break down gluten strands in the dough.

Many who are gluten intolerant (not celiac) are able to eat this bread. And, it has a lower glycemic count.

Naturally leavened bread has a complexity of flavor, Blaine said.

“What’s different is all the time and attention given to each loaf,” he said. “And, it’s good for your body. I think people have consumed so much improperly prepared bread that could lead to the gluten-intolerance that many are experiencing today.”

They bake about 80 loaves for market each week and usually sell them all by 11 a.m.

“One of the favorite market moments is the expression on customer’s faces when they realize the loaf we hand them is still warm,” Blaine said.

 

CUSTOMERS

Sarah Burton, of Tyler, is Sola Bread customer.

“I am a regular at the farmer’s market, so I thought that I would try it out,” she said. “However, after I got there the first week (that they sold their bread), they had almost sold out after 45 minutes. I was one of the lucky ones that got to taste their original loaf.”

Due to the high demand, Sarah and others now pre-order their bread.

“It makes food so much more special when you know that someone woke up so early in the morning, sacrificing their sleep to make such delicious bread … obviously prepared with love and a passion for good eating,” she said. “It makes the dining experience much more enjoyable for me.”

Recently, while at a restaurant in Dallas, Sarah ordered a slice of leaven bread. “Sola beat it hands down.”

Alan Cumming, of Tyler, also is a fan of Sola bread.

“I think we finished eating that first loaf (we bought) by 11:30 that morning,” he said.

He is happy to support a local business. “We love the bread and (love) getting to know the people that make it.”

 

FUTURE

Blaine said it would be nice to have an oven twice as big – one that would allow for the baking of 200 to 300 loaves per week.

They hope to expand to a mid-week subscription/delivery service to provide customers with extremely fresh bread. A brick-and-mortar bakery also is possible one day.

Their goals are to continue introducing fresh-baked breads, working as a family and keeping “a lot of love in our home.”

“Being able to have something we can all enjoy and do together – you just can’t put a price tag on that,” Blaine said. “And we love it here, so we are happy to make something we love for the people of Tyler.”

Reach Sola Bread Co. at solabread@gmail.com or 903-316-9648.