Hewn sticks with baking traditions

City officials and local business business owners gathered at Hewn, a new artisanal bakery at 810 Dempster St. in Evanston, for a ribbon cutting this morning.

But we figured you’d be more interested in seeing the baked goods, rather than another shot of scissors and ribbon and smiling faces.

So here are some of the items on offer — and we can provide personal testimony that the chocolate croissants are excellent.

In addition to the sweet and savory treats, Hewn’s co-owners Ellen King and Julie Matthei also offer loaves of fresh-baked breads.

Everything is made in-house, from scratch daily using a giant hearth stone oven. They source local and seasonal ingredients from small, local farmers when their flavors are at their peak – most recently from Evanston’s own Farmers Market.

All of the breads are hand-mixed, hand-shaped and naturally fermented without commercial yeast. And the owners say their seasonal sandwiches, salads and grains adhere to a philosophy of serving food that promotes a healthy body.

“The reason that the name is Hewn is because Hewn means to cut or shape by chopping by hand.” Matthei says.

And King adds that she “just fell in love with the whole process of baking bread while working at a cheese farm that had a wood-fired oven.”