Tacoma bakery dedicated to gluten-free treats coming to North End ‘carriage house’

The pastry case at Wren’s Nest Baking Co., when it opens later this year in Ruston, will boast cookies, muffins, scones, brownies and cakes a-plenty, but they will all share a common, if uncharacteristic, trait: absolutely no gluten.

“Gluten-free has a bad reputation. We want to break all of that,” said Laureen Skrivan, owner of Wren & Willow, an interior design firm and general contractor now based on the second floor of the same 17,000-square-foot brick building at 5121 N. Pearl St.

Deemed “the carriage house at Ruston,” it also holds two residential units and a rooftop equipped with an outdoor kitchen and a stunning view of Commencement Bay. Bakery customers will have access to the rooftop and ground floor, including the central venue area they are calling “the stable,” the walls covered in reclaimed barn wood and the 20-foot ceilings in salvaged corrugated metal sheets.

While the space will be available for event rentals, by day it will be a haven for sweet and savory baked goods and coffee.

WHY GLUTEN-FREE?

A recent test day in the new kitchen revealed soft cardamom-peach muffins, perfectly fudgy-yet-crunchy brownies, super-moist coffee cake and a classic currant scone. The team was also finalizing a delightful soft pretzel and a chocolate-chunk cookie with a haunting nutty undertone — not uncommon in gluten-free baking, which, done well, highlights naturally gluten-free (and flavorful) grains like buckwheat as well as those crafted from actual nuts, including almond and chestnut.

Wren’s Nest does have a proprietary go-to blend, but lead baker Erin Walter politely declined to share those hard-won secrets. The trick, she said, lies in negotiating the right amount of starch, whole-grain, sugar and salt.

For almost two years, Walter, who was diagnosed with celiac disease as a teenager, has been working closely with consulting baker Coco Kislinger-Macaluso, owner of a gluten- and dairy-free bakery in Santa Monica, California. From a family of bakers, she trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris only to learn that she had an intolerance to dairy and gluten. After working for Zoe Nathan, co-owner of Huckleberry Cafe & Bakery in Los Angeles, she went out on her own a decade ago with Coco Bakes.

If you recognize the Macaluso name, you know which corner of Tacoma and Ruston to find the new bakery: just around the corner of that neighborhood Italian restaurant. Kislinger married into the Macaluso family; the couple moved to Tacoma a few years ago. Thanks to the familial and physical proximity, she met Skrivan. Walter, meanwhile, had been working in the kitchen at Macaluso’s: “I make their bread, but I’ve never had it!”

Celiac disease and gluten intolerance can develop at any age, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine; more than 2 million Americans have been diagnosed, but some studies have found that around 1 in 130 may suffer from it. Though the gluten-free diet picked up steam in the early 2000s, along with the tide of food blogs and “healthy” eating trends, its origins date back thousands of years. During the second World War, a Dutch scientist connected the re-introduction of wheat and bread — staples of the Western diet — with renewed reports of digestive ailments in some children, as outlined by a University of Utah School of Medicine professor in Discover Magazine.

The gluten-free foods that wriggled onto store shelves in recent decades started off on a bad foot, explained Adam Skrivan, Laureen’s son and business manager of the family firm, founded in 2008.

“Gluten-free has hidden behind too much sugar,” he said, and for a long time, products were trying to replicate their gluten counterparts, as opposed to approaching the process in a way that actually took advantage of the ingredients in play.

That principle will guide Wren’s Nest primary goal: to become a destination for stellar baked goods that just so happen to be gluten-free.

“There’s a really big gluten-free community, but this is a bakery for everybody,” said Kislinger-Macaluso. “We want to cater to as many people as possible. These days, there are so many good choices that lend more flavor, and a different flavor.”

Her style also focuses on high-quality and natural ingredients across the board, such as psyllium husk over xantham gum (as a binder), avocado oil over soybean and raw sweeteners like honey over processed sugar.

“I want it to just be bountiful,” said Laureen Skrivan. In addition to the aforementioned goodies, the team plans to offer tiramisu, layer cakes, cheesecake, macarons and loaf breads.

Skrivan developed a gluten intolerance later in life, but it wasn’t her own experience that inspired the bakery. Adam, her daughter-in law and other family members have grappled with it. She recalled going out to eat and watching them struggle to find something on the menu, especially dessert. Thinking of children with the disease, she realized they might not have enjoyed a doughnut or soft pretzel. Visiting relatives in Texas, where her husband’s Czech heritage led them to seek out the Danish-like, often-savory kolaches, finding a gluten-free version was a fool’s errand.

“It’s more than a nod — it’s a tribute,” she said, adding that they are pursuing gluten-free certifications. “We talked about, ‘Well, we’ll just offer some gluten-free,’ but I didn’t want cross contamination. They can pick whatever is on the table.”

WREN’S NEST BAKING CO.

▪ 5121 N. Pearl St., Ruston, wrensnestbaking.com

▪ Details: gluten-free bakery (dairy-free and nut-free options planned) in airy new space; target opening Fall 2023

This story was originally published July 12, 2023 at 5:00 AM.